How do I get rid of my cat's stiffness?

[la dee da]

Hello everyone! I have a cat, Kit, who is at least eleven years old. We suspect she's closer to twelve or thirteen, as she was fully mature when we found her. She's a large cat, both a little overweight and large structure. Some friends said she looks like a tom cat due to her size and shape. Recently I noticed she's having a harder time climbing out of my lap and is in general acting like her joints are stiffer than they used to be. I know she shouldn't be overweight (to be honest I only suspect she is, as I don't know what she's supposed to look like), but that's easier said than done so please don't preach to me on that.

What I want to know is, is there a supplement or something I can give her to ease her stiffness? I know when I get stiff a couple fish oil capsules helps a lot. Her food is Taste of the Wild: Beef and Smoked Salmon formula.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Sorry, but the best way to help her with this is to get her weight down. The added weight causes undue stress on her joints. That is a good brand of food, do you feed canned food? The excess amount of carbohydrates in dry food are a major cause of obesity in cats. A great book I found is Your Cat by Elizabeth M. Hodgkins, DVM. But, in the meantime, there are glucosamine and chondroitin joint supplements that may help ease joint stiffness. Your vet or local pet shop will be able to supply you with these.
Good luck!

 

[Jubilee1111]

A high percentage of cats actually develop a form of elbow dysplasia in later life. Being overweight is a huge contributor to that. You can take her to the vet and ask for an anti-inflammatory to give her on really bad days.

TOTW is an awesome food but it is high calorie. Portion control is really the only way you can help her get that extra weight off. Cats are designed to eat 15-18 tiny meals per day. You can give her tiny portions several times a day to keep her feeling satisfied and it will give her metabolism a boost.

 

[la dee da]

I don't feed her canned food, and I don't think we could afford it (I'd also be hesitant to try it, as I've heard many terrible things about it). The reason Kit is overweight is because I can't portion control. I gave her and Bat, my sister's cat, each 1/2 cup of food a day, which they ate throughout the day (from either bowl). That was working to both give Bat some weight and get rid of Kit's excess weight (they sleep, eat, and potty in the same room, my bedroom). The problem came when my parents took in my brother's cat, Bella.

Bella lives in the main house, meaning her food is also there, and my dad refuses to let us feed her once or twice a day because he feels bad about it (he's a sucker, really). Her food is out 24/7 and we've tried many ways to keep Kit out of it, but every time we think one way works, Kit finds a way around it or my mentally impaired sister helps her eat it.

I hope (think) we have finally found a way to keep Kit away from the food, but now my sister thinks we have to keep Kit and Bat's food dishes full all the time. It's going to take some time and patience to reteach her, and frankly I'm a little to overwhelmed to do it right now. Since I don't know what Kit's supposed to look like at the right weight I don't even know if she really is overweight. Anytime I ask a vet they say she isn't overweight, but whenever anyone else sees her they say she's fat ...it's quite frustrating. She also gains weight in winter and loses it in summer, so her weight flexes all the time.

I'll try and see if the fish formula has fewer carbohydrates, though I doubt it does it'll be worth a try. I'll look into the joint supplements also. I don't think it's bad enough to require anti-imflammatories, but I'll ask the vet about them when we take her in for her rabies shot.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

I would advise you not to feed fish, as the amount of phosphorus in it can create a calciumhosphorous imbalance.

 

[la dee da]

So don't feed the fish formula? It would be Taste of the Wild fish formula.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Yep! It's best to avoid it.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I had a 17 year old cat with some arthritis in his shoulder. Vet recommended Cosequin for cats and it really helped him.

 

[la dee da]

I looked up cosequin and it looks like it could work-and is cheap enough! I'll ask our vet about it, thanks!

 

[cafarmgirl]

I order mine off of Amazon and it's pretty reasonable.