I am not a cat owner, but as a dog owner have used slippery elm for several mucus issues in the past and it has worked very well. I found a great summary of it's use and specifically info for cats. Hope this is helpful.

"Slippery Elm Bark

As you may know, it is potentially dangerous to give certain herbs to pets, especially cats. Many people commonly extrapolate a dose of hebs by using the pet's weight compared to the "standard" 150-pound human. A large dog, however, has a comparatively slow metabolism, while a small dog's rapid heart rate and high energy level may make it difficult to get the desired effect. Cats have very different metabolism and enzymes, and many compounds that are safe for humans and dogs (like aspirin) can be toxic to cats. Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) is an exception to the fears and cautions surrounding the use of herbs in animals. It is very safe and non-toxic. The part of the tree used is the inner bark, which is soft and stringy. Herbalists attribute many wonderful healing properties to Slippery Elm: demulcent (soothing, mucilage-forming), emollient (soothing and protective for skin), nutritive (providing specific food nutrients), tonic (promoting healthy function of one or more body systems), and astringent (constricting, binding or drying effect). It can be used both internally and externally. Slippery Elm is one of the herbs used in the original formulation of "Essiac," an herbal brew widely promoted as a cancer-fighter.

In the gastro-intestinal tract, Slippery Elm acts directly. It can be thought of as a sort of natural "Pepto-Bismol." (Pepto-Bismol itself should not be used because it contains salicylate, a.k.a. aspirin). Its mucilage content coats, soothes, and lubricates the mucus membranes lining the digestive tract. Slippery Elm is an excellent treatment for ulcers, gastritis, colitis, and other inflammatory bowel problems. It is high in fiber, and so helps normalize intestinal action; it can be used to relieve both diarrhea and constipation. It may also help alleviate nausea and vomiting in pets suffering from non-GI illnesses, such as kidney disease. A syrup made from Slippery Elm Bark can be used to help heal mouth ulcers from all causes.

Slippery Elm is said to relieve inflammation of virtually any mucus membrane, and has been used in the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the lungs (bronchitis, asthma), kidneys, bladder (cystitis, FLUTD symptoms), throat (tonsillitis), and joints (arthritis).

Slippery Elm contains many nutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, calcium, and several trace minerals) that can be beneficial for recuperating pets, and it may stay down when other foods are not tolerated. Slippery Elm may interfere with the absorption of certain minerals and pharmaceuticals, so is best given separately from any concurrent drug therapy.

In the case of cystitis (bladder inflammation), Slippery Elm is thought to soothe the bladder lining. However, it is somewhat high in magnesium, so may be contraindicated in dogs who have an active infection with an elevated urinary pH, where struvite crystal formation may be a risk. (In cats, urinary tract infections are very rarely bacterial.) Slippery Elm bark contains natural pentosans, a class of complex sugars that contains the same compound found in the drug "Elmiron®,"the major pain-relieving treatment for interstitial cystitis (IC) in women. Pentosan has been used by the pharmaceutical industry as an anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory for more than 40 years. (Anti-coagulant effects are not seen with normal oral administration.) Since bladder disease in cats is very similar to that in women, slippery elm may be especially beneficial for our feline friends.

Externally, a soothing paste of Slippery Elm powder (mix the powder with a little cold water) can be used as a poultice for hot spots, insect burns, rashes, scratches, ulcerated areas, or other shallow wounds. Native Americans used Slippery Elm bark to stop bleeding. It forms a natural "bandage" that can be left in place for several hours, if you can convince your dog to leave it alone!

To give internally, mix about 1/4 teaspoon of Slippery Elm bark powder with cold water for every 10 pounds of body weight. For very small dogs, it is fine to use the same 1/4 teaspoon dose. The bulk powder may be very fluffy, so pack it down as much as possible to measure it. Slippery Elm powder will absorb many times its own weight in water, so be sure to add enough to make a moderately thick gruel. This gruel can be given before meals by syringe or added to food. It has a slightly sweet taste and is usually well-tolerated by cats and dogs when mixed with food. Give a dose 5 minutes before meals for sore throat, and before or with meals for digestive tract problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease, until symptoms resolve. "

Thanx LadyBug, I appreciate the info on the Slippery Elm Bark, sounds like it has a lot of healing properties to a lot of ailments.

BTW, LOVE the username, it is one of many nicknames I have for Elsa; LadyBug, Your Highness, Tilly, Mz Elsa, The Queen, and the list goes on.

Doc advised to go to once a day and only ONLY give it to her on a full stomach which won't be difficult; Elsa's second most favorite thing in the world is eating, her first and absolute most favorite thing to do is dinning. :-) :-)

I asked doc about Elsa not purring anymore and he said in his experience, that it is just something common with older cats. Does anyone have any experience with this?? I really miss her deep, rumbly purr every night as I am drifting off to sleep. Beautiful sleep serum.

Thanx in advance for your responses, I appreciate your help.

~Karen

I found mixing a teaspoon or half a cap of Apple Cider Vinegar with quarter or half a cup of water helped relieve my cats cystitis. I gave it to him via a little oral syringe I got from vet when my female cat got cystitis due to stress. I gave it to my cat several times a day for about a week and then I would give him extra water via the syringe too just to make sure he was hydrated and kept him inside that week to keep an eye on his peeing and eventually he came right, no more blood in his urine and no longer continually going to the toilet trying to pee. I also stopped feeding him dry food for couple weeks and only wet food with some water and/or a little olive oil mixed into his meat, he still had an appetite thankfully. I have also found since giving him ACV he has no fleas (as I had not recently flead him as per normal with bought chemical treatments but was due) and his coat is just so soft and shiny. He is back to his happy, smoochy self and now I always give him a little ACV with water daily and add some olive oil every now and again to his meals just for good measure and health. So much cheaper than going to the vet. ACV keeps worms at bay too, really great natural form of healing :)

Another way to get your cat to take ACV is add it to some tuna and the juice they don't seem to notice the ACV in the tuna :)

WOW pjanedapain, that is amazing about the vinegar, I use a lot of vinegar with cleaning, I don't like a lot of chemicals around the cats and ferrets and vinegar has a lot of uses.

Our male cat Curly, a H U G E DSH solid black cat developed urinary problems and he had to be catheterized a number of times and our vet told us look guys it is like this, Curly needs the surgery or it is time to put him to sleep. We couldn't imagine putting him to sleep, he was a stray that showed up one day, hubby began feeding him out on the back porch and one day he held the door open and invited him in and in Curly walked, strolled right up the hallway into the kitchen, sat down on the floor, looked up at me, blinked his beautiful big green eyes as if to say "hi mom, watcha got cooking" and I was totally hooked. He is such a fantastic cat and I could not imagine having to send him to the Bridge just over dollars. Dollars meaning the surgery is quite expensive. Our vet couldn't do the surgery and I called our ferret vet in Louisville KY and he said he could do it but the surgery was $1500.00. John said to me we gotta pay it, Curly is too good of a cat to put him down over money. I agreed to take the money off a CD I had in the bank to pay for it and never regretted it a bit and it has been 3 years. He has to have a special food, the dry is about $40.00 for a 7 pound bag and a case of the small cans of canned food is $43.00 but he is worth it. I make sure he gets the correct food; he eats in the bathroom to keep the others out of it. Amazingly the food is made from pork. He gets cystitis once in a while and I will certainly try some of the vinegar on Curly and Elsa both from now on.

Thanx a bunch and I sincerely mean that. I can't afford that much money again for Curly or anyone else. lol lol

I am too tired to read the thread now, but do you clean her litter box with anything containing chlorinated (clorox) products? In my experience, these can cause cystitis and when discontinued, it stops. Just something to think about.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 14:21

Karen, I have reworded my post so it should be clearer. Your email contained spam of some sort. ? I am just saying clorox can cause cystitis, if you use products that contain it to clean the litterbox. Just a note of caution. Sorry my message was unclear.