Holly has been limping and avoiding jumping down even small distances for months. The Vet couldn't feel any swelling or lumps so we took X-rays and then sent them out to a radiologist (sp) for a consultation. Holly is only about 10 but she has terrible joint mice in her shoulders and knees. Cats don't usually get bad arthritis and especially not fairly young cats. Holly is a rescue but she was young when she chose me - so I don't know what her life had been like before. The only thing I can think of that, at very least, aggravated the problem is that I let her get really, really fat for a long period of time and that put pressure on her joints. She has slimmed down in the past 4 years since her pesky furother (Wallingford) joined us. I have made a solemn vow to not let my furkids get overweight ever, ever again.
I have added glucosamine to her food and am making sure that she gets plenty of meat with connective tissue and she seems better. She doesn't appear to be in much, if any, pain and when it gets bad in her later years, she can take anti-inflammatories. For Christmas, Santa Paws is planning on bringing her a heated bed of her very own. *wink*
So I want to remind all of you that a fat cat is not necessarily a healthy cat. And even if it is very hard to do, you can help them get down to a "fighting weight".
The only problem is - now that they are svelte - they call ME "fat cheeks" behind my back! I guess if I wanted grateful furkids, I would have gotten dogs. LOL
Happy Holidays one and all!
Peace, Plenty and Purrs,
Memory and the cats
