Joint Health

Do any of you with older kitties give them anything, e.g. glucosamine
to help support their joints? I'm starting to see the least little
bit of stiffness in Stinky in the past week or so-- he likes to cross
rooms without touching the floor, and he is in the habit of making
majestic leaps from furniture to furniture. ;)
Anyone use a supplement they like?

Victor Martinez...

We haven't had the need yet, but my mom and sisters swear by just eating
jello every day. If your cat will eat it... :)

Theresa

Make Levees, Not War

Lois...

We use green lip Mussel capsules, break them open and sprinkle over her
food, this is for my DH very elderly cat Cleo, she is about 16 years old.
She was estimated to be about 2 years old when she chose him at the local
RSPCA.

Lois...

Forgot to say that we gave Cleo the Mussel capsules on the advice of our vet
friend.

Purrs

Lois

Tish Silberbauer...

We used metacam for Ted(RB), which is a medical anti-inflammatory
rather than a dietary supplement. It worked very well for her and she
suffered no ill-effects (except galloping diarrhoea when we
accidentally double-dosed her). We put a drop on her food in the
mornings and she literally lapped it up (it must have tasted good to
her). The list of potential complications and cautions for metacam is
quite long and is a bit confronting, but it worked for Ted and kept
her moving easily for years.

When I was researching (i.e. searching the web) glucosamine for Spock's urinary
crystals and bladder inflammation, I read that in humans at least
diabetics must be careful using glucosamine. The article didn't go

William Hamblen...

Some people with diabetes, but not all, have experienced increases in
blood glucose levels while taking glucosamine. People concerned about
this should talk to their doctor.

into any details about *why* diabetics should be careful, but it might
be something to bear in mind. All the stuff on pets that I found on
the web said that there have been no large, scientifically rigorous
studies on the effects of glucosamine on bladder inflammation in pets,
but that anecdotal evidence suggests that it works for some animals
and there are, to date, no obvious problems.

I decided, after a lot of thought, not to use glucosamine on Spock
because it would mean a life-long treatment for him and, at only 3
years old, I considered that if there *was* a link between glucosamine
and diabetes then I would rather not use it on him long-term.

Sorry, that wasn't any kind of answer to your question - just a jumble
of my impressions and minor experience.

Karen...

I'd get a vet check first and make sure it isn't soemthing else and
talk to your vet about Cosequin which is a condroitin glucosamine that
you sprinkle on food.