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Old April 29th, 2011, 04:42 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Location: Calgary, AB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Longblades View Post
Do you mix yours in with wet food?
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:
Originally Posted by Longblades View Post
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.
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: http://www.caberfeidh.com/Adequan.htm

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longblades View Post
She can get up and down from her cat stand, though I try to lift her.
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!
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