Arthritic cats -an alternative remedy

[TamzinGrey]

Has anyone else here tried green lipped mussel tablets? After two months use the change in our old girl is amazing. She's leaping onto furniture like a cat half her age now, having struggled before, and I watched her jump over a plant in the garden today like a young gazelle (well that might be a bit of an exaggeration but I was very proud of her).

Here's a link if anyone is interested www.ace-canine.com/shop_flex_cats.html

Sorry - link didn't work. I'll try again www.ace-canine.com/shop_flex_cats.html

I've heard of them but no experience of taking them yet, does she mind taking them?

I'd be interested to hear about these. The only problem is - don't they taste quite fishy ? (Seniorboy has arthritis for which he's on conventional meds but detests nearly all fish flavours.)

I don't know if they taste fishy Cozie, but as a true litter tray supporter I am willing to actually eat one myself and report back. It will have to wait until tomorrow though as I don't think that I can face one at the moment.

Fluffy - she loves them - scoffs them down like treats and we're talking about a Very Fussy Cat Indeed here.

If you ring the number on the website a very helpful lady will happily send you completely free samples of the tablets and also the powder version so that you can see if your kitties will eat them before forking out any money.

Oh good. (I'll confess to always tasting just a morsel of Seniorboy's meds so that I know what he's tasting and can judge his food. Lone would probably give me Hell for that.)

I think I may have to get some of these for our old boy. He's only 12, nearly 13, but has arthritis in his hips. He is notoriously fussy but loves fishy flavours.

He struggles to get up onto the sofa or onto beds, sort of has to drag himself up. He can still manage to get up the ladder to DS3's bunkbed, but has to yowl to be helped down.

I'd be interested to see if this'll work for him. Thanks for the link.

I haven't heard about it in cats (except via google) but I've seen some amazing results with turmeric on horses - also works for humans!

Aw Drama - it's horrible to see them struggling like that when they've previously been so sprightly. My old girl was finding it difficult to jump up onto her favourite chair and was starting to drag one leg. She's fine now. It did take a couple of months to see any result though, so don't expect to see a change overnight.

Cozie - well, as promised I have just eaten one of her green lipped mussel tablets and it tasted of ...........mussels. Which is reassuring as I now know that the ingredients shown on the bottle are genuine. So it tasted slightly fishy with undertones of sea water. It was crunchy but quite soft and easy to chew.

I can now understand why my girl is happy to chomp on one every day as they probably taste like cat treats to her (I'm not about to eat a cat treat to compare the taste - there is a limit on what I am prepared to do for my fellow Litter Tray Posters).

Seniorboy might be ok with them as the taste is not overpoweringly fishy. You could ring up and ask them to send you a free sample so that you can try him with them before buying.

Yuk - I hate mussels. Just off to rinse my mouth out.

Oh Well done, Tamzin. I'll maybe give them a buzz tomorrow and see if I can persuade them to send a free sample to test on him.

(Gawd knows what his vet will say - but she's pretty used to me by now.)

My sample has arrived so we'll see whether he'll eat it and whether it helps. Poor lad is getting more additive than nosh in his food these days.

Ooh, cozie please report back on the sample. I haven't called them yet as I doubt they'll agree to send a freebie outside the UK, so I might just have to bite the bullet & invest. If puss doesn't eat them, the dogs certainly will.

Good luck Cozie - fingers crossed. I recommend moulding a piece of treat stick around the tablet to disguise the smell if he hates fish.

It might be worth asking for a freebie Drama - the lady who answers the phone is really kind and helpful, so you never know.

She was very nice with me, certainly.

I've received the sprinkle which was what I asked for. (Seniorboy and his 5 remaining teeth wouldn't suit a capsule or pill so the sprinkle is my best bet.) Supper this evening is the crunch.

PS - the product is for both dogs and cats, Drama so any leftovers would certainly suit any pooches you have.

Have you tried it yourself?

Not yet - but I shall, this evening - if only to see what it tastes like for him. (And it's apparently bonzer for humans as well as animals.)

OK - the sprinkle smells a bit fishy when you open the pack but more a shellfish smell (to me.) Sort of like a strong prawn cracker. The actual taste of the sprinkle isn't that fishy at all to a (admittedly) human tongue: more salty-seeming and with a slight sharpness.

Seniorboy hasn't eaten any of his supper gloop yet - he seemed more interested in whether my grapefruit would mysteriously transmogrify into a tasty morsel - so we'll see later on.

Keep us posted Cozie - the suspense is killing me!

He's eaten a dessert spoonful of gloop so it can't taste that bad to him. (That's a fairly standard amount at this time of night - he'll snack occasionally if the mood takes him between now and breakfast.)

Wow that's sounding hopeful. Let's hope that you come down to a clean dish tomorrow.

My oldie snacks through the night too.

He's eaten all his supper bar a smear on the side of the bowl so looking good for Stage 1. (Will he eat the stuff?) The next few days will confirm.

Hooray! That's great news Cozie. Well done Seniorboy- Good Cat

It definitely helps for our old boy although not as drastically as for yours TamzinGrey. He loves them, keeps asking if he can have more!

Well Seniorboy is exceedingly perky this morning - he came downstairs just after 9 o'clock even - so I think it's probably safe to say that it doesn't disagree with him which is as good as you can have at this early stage.