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-   -   Joint or Mobility Diet for Aged Cats? (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76717)

Longblades April 29th, 2011 10:06 AM

Joint or Mobility Diet for Aged Cats?
 
Our 18 year old is quite arthritic and the 15 year old is starting to limp too. The 15 year old has the added complication of Cholangial Hepatitis and is a crystal former.

Our Vet has recommended Royal Canin for the joint problems. I'm not going to simply discount it out of hand or use it either without some research of my own. One concern of mine is, I am leery that introducing such foods at this stage of arthritis will have much effect. My understanding of the glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM and other supplements is that they do the most good as a preventative, not as a cure. And with my dog the amount of any of these things in dog food is so small as to be insignificant in effect so I don't see why cat food would be different. Guessing on the relevance of my dog food experience with cat food though, and not made up my mind.

I just did a google of the major Vet brands and one has, get this, no meat product at all that I can see anywhere near the top. It's a U.K. brand though and I don't know if I can even get it here, not that I would, made up my mind on that one. The other's aren't impressive though. And NO commercial varieties came up in 4 pages of searching. None? There are none? Hard to believe.

If it is possible to get the urinary care in with the joint care that would be great and to be honest, Royal Canin is the only one I've found so far that makes this claim. I haven't yet got to compare it to the urinary food we now use.

Our 18 yr old is not a fussy eater but our 15 yr old HATES wet food. She gets ursodiol and prednisone in her wet food and must, must, must keep on getting them. Honestly, it's amazing she's been with us for as long as she has.

I'm not expecting anyone to do my due diligence for me but in the not unlikely event someone else has older cats with these relatively common (except for the cholangial hepatitis I guess) problems, what works for you?

sugarcatmom April 29th, 2011 11:45 AM

My cat, Aztec, is going to be 18 in a week and he has severe arthritis (as well as diabetes, CRI, and HCM). For the arthritis, he gets green lipped mussel extract, MSM, Adequan injections, acupuncture, osteopathy treatments, and heating pads and orthopedic pet beds in various spots around the house. Although none of that is a cure, it does help to keep him happy and reasonably mobile (he can still go up and down stairs, jumps up on the bed, bops the kittens on the head when they're annoying). I personally would stay away from the prescription diets, but that's just me. The ingredients are horrific (as you can see below), and you can supplement your cat's diet on your own for much cheaper. Look into Omega3 fish oils, green lipped mussel, Cosequin or Dasaquin, and talk to your vet about Adequan injections. :2cents:

[QUOTE][COLOR="Red"]Pearled Barley, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal,[/COLOR] Chicken Meal, [COLOR="red"]Rice, Wheat Gluten,[/COLOR] Chicken Fat, [COLOR="red"]Oat,[/COLOR] Natural Flavour, [COLOR="Blue"]Fish Oil[/COLOR], [COLOR="red"]Powdered Cellulose, Soybean Oil, Chicory Pulp,[/COLOR] Calcium Sulphate, Potassium Chloride, [COLOR="red"]Ground Psyllium Husk[/COLOR], Fructo-Oligosaccharides, DL-Methionine, [COLOR="blue"]Green Lipped Mussel Powder[/COLOR], Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, [COLOR="red"]Brewer’s Yeast Extract [/COLOR](Source of Mannan-Oligosaccharides), Potassium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Taurine, L-Lysine, [COLOR="blue"]Glucosamine Hydrochloride[/COLOR], Vitamins (DL-Alpha-Tocopherol [Source of Vitamin E], L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source of Vitamin C], Niacin, Biotin, Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement and Vitamin D3 Supplement), [COLOR="blue"]Chondroitin Sulphate[/COLOR], [/QUOTE]

Longblades April 29th, 2011 02:38 PM

Supplementing on my own, as I do with the dog, was my first thought. Do you mix yours in with wet food? It's so easy with the dog, drop something that looks remotely like food, that would be anything in his food dish or lying on the ground, LOL, and he eats it.

I will have to check my receipt as we did try an injection but it was not Adequan. It did seem to give slight relief for one day.

Our old girl is quite mobile yet. She can get up and down from her cat stand, though I try to lift her. Yes, she will bop the dog on the head when he gets out of line too, though she won't stand up to the other two cats, silly old thing.

Thanks, I'm going to check out your ideas and Adequan.

kathryn April 29th, 2011 02:49 PM

Zukes makes great cat treats that have added stuff for the joints. My cats think they are quite tasty! They are inexpensive too. I'm on my phone or I'd copy and paste the link for you lol but its zukes and they are made in the usa

sugarcatmom April 29th, 2011 04:42 PM

[QUOTE=Longblades;1007091]Do you mix yours in with wet food? [/quote]

I do. Aztec actually gets quite the smorgasbord of meds and supplements all mixed into his food because he's an absolute b!tch to pill. I taste everything first (although really it's the smell that counts most where cats are concerned) and then start with a miniscule amount, very gradually working up to the required dose. If he starts to get finicky, then I back down to the previous amount that he was okay with and stay there for a while longer.

Another trick is to find a food treat that your cat goes coo-coo for. Plain chicken baby food works well in my house, and it has a strong smell that easily covers up the aroma of whatever you mix into it.

One thing Aztec has no tolerance for is fish oil. It has such a strong odour and he thinks fish is totally gross. Too bad, because the EPA and DHA would be so very beneficial for pretty much all of his health conditions. However, the green lipped mussel powder (which has no smell, so he's okay with it) supposedly contains omega3 (and chondroitin), but I don't know how much. There are some good pet-specific products with glm (I like Glyco-Flex) along with other joint strengthening and anti-inflammatory ingredients that could be worth trying as well.

[QUOTE=Longblades;1007091]I will have to check my receipt as we did try an injection but it was not Adequan. It did seem to give slight relief for one day. [/quote]

Might have been a steroid. Adequan is a polysulfated glycosaminoglycan that requires an initial loading dose of injections either once or twice a week for 4 weeks, then tapered off to once a month (more or less, depending on the pet's needs). It's traditionally administered intramuscularly by a vet, but they're finding that subQ injections also work, making it easier for people to do themselves at home (makes it a bit cheaper, although it's still a pricey product). Here is some info on it. Although the article refers to dogs, the premise is the same: [url]http://www.caberfeidh.com/Adequan.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=Longblades;1007091]She can get up and down from her cat stand, though I try to lift her. [/quote]

That's great! Aztec has long abandoned his condo-climbing days :(. I did get him a scratching post that's at a 45 deg angle, which he loves to use. It was getting too painful for him to use the straight-up vertical ones, and he was never one for horizontal scratching. Whatever it takes to keep him happy!

cabanagirl3 July 27th, 2011 03:12 PM

Joint diets
 
My 19 yr old cat has been on Medi-Cal (Royal Canin) Mobility for over a year now. Prior to my diet choice I did bloodwork which indicated early renal, so picking the right arthritis medication became very important. Since being on the diet her renal function has not progressed and her activity has increased. She even jumps over the dog gate like a kitten again. I find there to be alot of misconceptions towards ingredients. I just know from my experience that my cat is doing awsome. Great hair coat, regular bowls and help her pain associated with arthritis.

If you do not want to change the diet. I was also considereing UBA VET Gold powder addative which includes green lipped muscle.

Hope info help :crazy:


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