? Arthritis supplement suggestions?

I have a tomcat who I brought into the vet after a few days of just seeming "off". After doing every test under the sun and finding nothing wrong, the vet can only assume he's having some arthritis issues, something I've suspected he might have for a while now. She gave me some Onsior pills for the pain and said if needed he can be on it indefinitely but can't have them more than every three days. I would rather not put him on meds if I don't have to but obviously I don't want my baby aching.

Since you guys are so thorough with cat health I've been browsing the forums seeing what kind of stuff you use. I have already ordered some Nordic Naturals Omega 3 and have also seen suggestions for Adequan and Cosequin. I am currently blasting through my savings with my sugar baby (my tomcat is not diabetic) so I'm looking for low-cost helpful supplements to make him feel better. Can I give him more than one supplement? What else could I be doing for him? I gave him his last Onsior pill (gave 3 total, once every 24 hours) and he's still very achy and just wants to lay down.

I also learned during the testing that my fella is HIV+ and read that you want to be careful what kind of vaccines and such go into them. Would any of these supplements affect him poorly? Thanks for any advice!

 

Sorry no one responded earlier. Sometimes there are so many posts, things get buried.

I found this previous thread that may help, has some suggestions.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/very-bad-arthritis-supplement-advice.210075/#post-2329353

Not sure about FIV, but don’t think supplements would hurt. The main concern with them is introducing vaccines into their system because they can have a lower immune response. If FIV positive but not sick (FIV positive kitties can live normal lives for many years) should be fine, but may want to check with vet on a specific item.

FIV kitties should also have calm environment, lots of stress is not good because it can stress the immune system as well.

 

Natural stuff:
Fish oil
Turmeric "golden paste"
Green lipped mussel powder
CBD oil
Acupuncture

Supplements:
MSM powder
Hyaflex (Hyaluronic Acid)
Duralactin
Cosequin

Meds:
Adequan
Gabapentin
Medacam
Buprenex

 

@Julie and Honey It's okay haha, it's a very busy forum! Thank you for the link. I didn't think supplements would affect him but didn't want to assume. Currently he is not showing any signs of illness from FIV and I hope it stays that way.

@Bronx's dad Thank you so much for the lists, that's so helpful! Pleasantly surprised to see turmeric here, that stuff is amazing.

 

My arthritic old boy, Bertie, was on Onsior every day. But that is in Europe, not USA, and I expect there are different prescribing rules here. He also had Gabapentin on an as-needed basis at my discretion.
His absolutely favourite thing was the heated mat that he slept on. And my other arthritic kitty also adores sleeping on a heated mat. Having arthritis myself I well know the soothing benefits of warmth!

Really hoping you can find something that helps your boy.

Eliz

 

Glad to see this thread...I was just coming to post something similar. We've tried adequan and due to side effects we're not continuing (he gets pukey, which in turn affects his BG and insulin response, and he's peeing in the bathroom again...all around not good for him or us). We have the added complication of CRF, however, so gabapentin isn't an option according to my vet. I'll start a new thread with my questions, tho, so I don't hijack yours. ;-)

 

A heated mat is a great idea, thanks for sharing! I'm not sure how useful one would be to him outside the winter months...we live in a very hot climate, summer seems to be nine months out of the year. I do have a couple self-warming mats I got for my dog and the cats, maybe I'll take the bigger one from my pup and see if he wants to use it.

Aw poor baby! I hope you find a solution for him too. And I don't mind you jumping onto the thread at all, it'll make it easier for future people with similar questions to see everything at once! ^-^

 

My civi Moxies is on Cosequin, and gabapentin and Adequan. I first started with the Cosequin, then added the Gab and lastly added the Adequan.

 

Can you tell if they're helping or not?

 

I had a kitty that lived to almost 23...she got acupuncture for her arthritis in her later years and it helped a lot.

 

Yes, the meds have helped. I really noticed the improvement from the gab and even more improvement when I added the Adequan.