Older cat care

[Gobolino80]

My beautiful moggy boy, Disco, is 11 years old and I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that he is walking rather stiffly after getting up, and he's started using one of the garden chairs to get on and off the table, almost as though he knows his old legs can't leap like they used to. He's a happy and healthy cat otherwise, still spending lots of time outdoors and hasn't gone off his food or displaying any out of character behaviour. I wondered if there's any over the counter treatment I can buy for his joints or if it'll be a trip to the vets? Including a pic so you can all see how gorgeous he is!

This is an excellent resource on degenerative joint disease on cats. A glucosamine and essential fatty acid joint supplement can benefit some cats and is not a bad thing to try, but a good assessment by your vet is also essential to understand how severe the problems are.
I was involved in one of the early clinical trials in arthritis in cats and we video the cats before treatment and then after a month of treatment, we also did owner questionnaires and what came up time after time was that the owners had put things down to being an older cat slowing down when in fact it was pain from arthritis.

Thanks for posting that article @Lonecatwithkitten and for the excellent advice, I've just booked him in at the Vet for Saturday morning.

He's a lovely puss. When I brought my cats back with me from a country with a hot climate to live in a country with a colder climate, the vet told me to assume that all older cats, (can't remember the exact age, but I think around 7 years of age), in colder countries need a supplement/painkiller for joint pain. My 11 year old cat has been on Loxicom for 5 years. Loxicom does have side effects, but I don't want her to suffer with painful joints. She does have slight mobility issues anyway, so I have little boosters to help her jump up onto her preferred spots.