Cattitude - Episode 271 Arthritis & the Aging Cat: What Every Cat Parent Should Know

<v Speaker 1>Live. This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
<v Speaker 2>Hello, cat friends, Welcome to cat tud I'm your show
<v Speaker 2>host Michelle Fern. So us cat lovers. You know, we
<v Speaker 2>love our cats, but then they get old. We wonder
<v Speaker 2>do they have arthritis? So they just slowing down? Is
<v Speaker 2>my cat getting lazy? Why isn't she running around anymore?
<v Speaker 2>Or if maybe they were never that energetic and you
<v Speaker 2>want them to be energetic. Well, my guest today has
<v Speaker 2>a lot of answers for us, so I cannot wait
<v Speaker 2>to introduce you to her. So stay tuned. We'll be
<v Speaker 2>right back.
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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome doctor Kelly Fishman.
<v Speaker 2>She is the founder of Strutanimal Mobility Specialists. Welcome doctor Kelly.
<v Speaker 5>Thank you, Michelle. I'm so happy to be here.
<v Speaker 2>I'm so happy to have you. So one of the
<v Speaker 2>things that we always worry about with our cats is
<v Speaker 2>that they're stoic creatures, right, so it's hard to tell
<v Speaker 2>when something's going on, and as they age, they hide
<v Speaker 2>their pain, so you don't know what's going on. So
<v Speaker 2>how did you come to specialize in this? And then
<v Speaker 2>we'll get into, you know how maybe some ideas of
<v Speaker 2>how we can tell what's going on with our cat.
<v Speaker 2>But how did you come to find animal mobility specialists?
<v Speaker 6>So it all started off in vet school when I
<v Speaker 6>actually thought it'd be a cat specialist veterinarian and I
<v Speaker 6>was vice president of the cat club and I organized
<v Speaker 6>this event where the vetinary acupuncturist came down and we
<v Speaker 6>all had to bring our cats in. And of course
<v Speaker 6>we're all in the cat club and I have two
<v Speaker 6>kiddies at a time, and we bring them all in
<v Speaker 6>and she's going to show us how she acupunctures cats.
<v Speaker 6>And it's this sterile room with high top metal tables
<v Speaker 6>and all these little nervous kitties in their carriers and
<v Speaker 6>she just kind of pulls them out one by one,
<v Speaker 6>puts acupressure needles in them, and the entire room of
<v Speaker 6>cats just like goes to sleep.
<v Speaker 5>I was like, Wow, that's really cool.
<v Speaker 6>What is this magic that she's doing acupuncture and it
<v Speaker 6>works in cats?
<v Speaker 5>Wow?
<v Speaker 6>You know, I didn't even know, I mean know it
<v Speaker 6>worked in people and maybe dogs, but you know, kitties.
<v Speaker 6>So I then wanted to go above cats and just
<v Speaker 6>understand how we could use things aside from pain medication
<v Speaker 6>to help make animals feel better. And those things are
<v Speaker 6>you know, acupuncture, cold laser therapy, massage, gentle chiropractic, or
<v Speaker 6>physical therapy exercises to build strength and body awareness. Because
<v Speaker 6>of that, I went into what's called animal physical rehabilitation,
<v Speaker 6>and that's the science of you know, making animals were
<v Speaker 6>in pain physically feel better. Okay, yeah, you're so, You're
<v Speaker 6>right about kiddies with hiding stuff, you know, gosh, like
<v Speaker 6>they hide pain. There are little predator and praise species.
<v Speaker 6>As we are taught in vet school, you know, so
<v Speaker 6>being a predator to a small mice and things like that,
<v Speaker 6>they're certainly top dog, but they're also prey animals, so
<v Speaker 6>they love to hide pain.
<v Speaker 5>You're right.
<v Speaker 2>I had my own situation with how while they hid pain.
<v Speaker 2>I didn't even realize it because Dennis was my first
<v Speaker 2>cat and he found me and he ended up with
<v Speaker 2>having crystals in his urine. So, and it was so bad.
<v Speaker 2>I had no idea. It was so bad that one
<v Speaker 2>place I brought him said oh, he's gone, forget it,
<v Speaker 2>just put him down and I said, I will not.
<v Speaker 2>I took him out of there and went to another
<v Speaker 2>vet and they had to do a surgery. It was
<v Speaker 2>a whole big thing. Dennis's part main coon. Everybody loved him,
<v Speaker 2>and you know, he was two, he's about I think
<v Speaker 2>he's fifteen now, So I mean that was a surgery situation.
<v Speaker 2>But that just goes to show I had no idea
<v Speaker 2>he was in pain. At one point he made some
<v Speaker 2>little like owl sounds, you know how they have chirpy
<v Speaker 2>sounds sometimes. Yeah, but I had no idea. Yeah, it's serious.
<v Speaker 2>So it's just even if you're in tune with your cat.
<v Speaker 2>So I was a new cat pet parent. But even
<v Speaker 2>if you're in tune with your cat, it's hard to
<v Speaker 2>tell what they're hiding, really hard.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's so hard.
<v Speaker 6>And I think, you know, when I think about pain
<v Speaker 6>and cats, it's really about changes and behavior, and those
<v Speaker 6>are really hard to tell because those are seen over time.
<v Speaker 6>So for example, one of the ones that I kind
<v Speaker 6>of watch out for and then my own cat was
<v Speaker 6>actually showing me this weekend is perching on the edge
<v Speaker 6>of the litter box to use the litter box or
<v Speaker 6>any kind of litter box change in behavior, and most
<v Speaker 6>cat parents know that that's a big red flag. But
<v Speaker 6>even just wanting to use the litter box in a
<v Speaker 6>slightly different way, like cats are such creatures that habit.
<v Speaker 6>They want to like have their litter box always, like
<v Speaker 6>you know, in a certain place and use it in
<v Speaker 6>a certain way. And when anything changes, that's a really
<v Speaker 6>good way to start being you know, attention to things,
<v Speaker 6>and and that thing could be again, in general, signs
<v Speaker 6>of pain. You're in a bladderstone's, it could be arthritis,
<v Speaker 6>it could be constipation, you know, inability to like want
<v Speaker 6>to pee or kind of be blocked, so so many
<v Speaker 6>different ways. But yes, it's really these subtle changes in behavior,
<v Speaker 6>and those are hard to notice because we're busy. Our
<v Speaker 6>kiddies are mostly sleeping during the day and maybe doing
<v Speaker 6>some play, so it's hard to really track.
<v Speaker 2>So how do you notice these slight changes?
<v Speaker 6>So I think it's tough because I don't have an
<v Speaker 6>easy answer for that. It's a little bit easier when
<v Speaker 6>I'm thinking about arthritis, which is that's the one that
<v Speaker 6>I have experienced with. Every one of my cats has
<v Speaker 6>had arthritis. And actually we're learning now that sixty one
<v Speaker 6>percent of six year old kiddies have arthritis, and we
<v Speaker 6>have no idea. And then when they get to ten
<v Speaker 6>or eleven, which is considered a senior, it's ninety percent.
<v Speaker 6>That is a huge number that it shocks me. But
<v Speaker 6>then I look at my cats and at that age,
<v Speaker 6>they're all showing signs of arthritis pain, and what are
<v Speaker 6>those signs?
<v Speaker 2>Look how far we've come. We're recognizing arthritis and our
<v Speaker 2>cats all turn into ways of treating pain. This would
<v Speaker 2>be on the horizon as something to think about even
<v Speaker 2>five years ago.
<v Speaker 5>No it wasn't.
<v Speaker 6>And the other thing that's getting exciting is, you know,
<v Speaker 6>some of the pain, like we didn't have really good
<v Speaker 6>ways to treat pain medically. So you know, cats like
<v Speaker 6>they don't love to be medicated, you know, so we
<v Speaker 6>have some good options.
<v Speaker 2>Really hard. Okay, yeah, let's go back to what you
<v Speaker 2>were saying. So with arthritis and cats, the only thing
<v Speaker 2>I could think of. So my cats were never jumpers,
<v Speaker 2>you know, they were not climbers. But I noticed that
<v Speaker 2>Molly hesitates when she does a little jump, even it's
<v Speaker 2>small jump. I'm thinking that might be arthritis.
<v Speaker 5>Does that sound right?
<v Speaker 6>Or that's absolutely arthritis, that's absolutely arthritis. So that that's
<v Speaker 6>actually what my little Sophia did. And she would do
<v Speaker 6>the same thing where she would just do micro jumps.
<v Speaker 6>So she wanted to get to the table, so she
<v Speaker 6>would jump from the chair to the higher chair to
<v Speaker 6>the table, or she would when she wanted to use
<v Speaker 6>a cat tree, she would go instead of jumping to
<v Speaker 6>the third rung, she'd go up little steps or jump
<v Speaker 6>to the couch to get up there.
<v Speaker 5>And it was arthritis.
<v Speaker 6>She had it in her little actually in her little pause,
<v Speaker 6>which actually made nail trims really difficult.
<v Speaker 5>She was always good with them and then.
<v Speaker 6>Got bad with them later in life because she got arthritis.
<v Speaker 6>In her little feet, So absolutely right, that's one of
<v Speaker 6>the big signs. The other one is not grooming as much.
<v Speaker 6>So a lot of times they'll just be rooms. You'll
<v Speaker 6>look down in your kitty and be like, why is
<v Speaker 6>their coat not as good? Or why are they leaving
<v Speaker 6>litter on their paws? Like cats like to be clean,
<v Speaker 6>you know, and that could be a sign that they're
<v Speaker 6>not wanting to bend down and be as fastidious as
<v Speaker 6>a groomer and grooming. And then also the other thing
<v Speaker 6>is just coming up and down stairs in different ways.
<v Speaker 6>That's a really big tell as well. So for example,
<v Speaker 6>one of my kiddies used to always walk upstairs and
<v Speaker 6>then he started a bunny hop up and that was
<v Speaker 6>a big sign that he had arthritis in his hips
<v Speaker 6>that I was also not aware of.
<v Speaker 2>I guess as long as we're somewhat aware, they do
<v Speaker 2>give us some hints. We just have to know what
<v Speaker 2>to look.
<v Speaker 6>For, yes, exactly, And we had to kind of we
<v Speaker 6>had to pay attention, you know. And that's it's like
<v Speaker 6>I said, I wish I had an easy way to
<v Speaker 6>do it, you know, certainly when we're thinking about cat pain,
<v Speaker 6>if your cat is not grooming as well, if they
<v Speaker 6>are hesitating to jump up or down, or even going
<v Speaker 6>up and down the stairs. If they're one of those
<v Speaker 6>three and they're over the age of six, there is
<v Speaker 6>a great possibility that they have arthritic pain, just given
<v Speaker 6>the numbers of cats that we know have this, and
<v Speaker 6>then edny one of those pain signs, Like I would say,
<v Speaker 6>Molly should be screened to see if she has arthritis.
<v Speaker 2>Yep, she should. So what can we do to ease
<v Speaker 2>our cat's discomfort? And are there supplements that we should
<v Speaker 2>be giving them or do they work?
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, So with kitties, if I'm thinking about arthritis, I
<v Speaker 6>really want to do something that supplements the joints, and
<v Speaker 6>I like to do things that supplement the muscle and
<v Speaker 6>things that you know a joint supplement. Some really great
<v Speaker 6>examples would be fish oils or green lipped muscle. Those
<v Speaker 6>things are anti inflammatory. They're really really good for joint health.
<v Speaker 6>So that would be a great thing to supplement with.
<v Speaker 6>Now I have a very hard time getting my cats,
<v Speaker 6>all but my orange one to take a fish oil.
<v Speaker 6>You think they would do it, but for some reason
<v Speaker 6>they do not like fish oil, so I'm not being
<v Speaker 6>able to get it. But that would be a great
<v Speaker 6>supplement to do.
<v Speaker 2>I just ordered fish oil for Mollie.
<v Speaker 5>Good luck.
<v Speaker 2>Well, right, I'll try. Yeah, you would think, I mean, okay,
<v Speaker 2>I don't like it, So then what do we do?
<v Speaker 2>Can you give it to them in their I was
<v Speaker 2>going to put it in our food.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, you could absolutely give it into their food.
<v Speaker 6>Or there's certain prescription diets, so if you want to
<v Speaker 6>feed your cat a prescription diet that has a fish
<v Speaker 6>oil already incorporated. The other thing I actually find that
<v Speaker 6>cats do tolerate a little bit better and like better
<v Speaker 6>is green lipped muscle and green lipped muscle. Instead of
<v Speaker 6>being a fish oil, which is where they kind of
<v Speaker 6>render down the fish and kind of concentrate it, green
<v Speaker 6>blip muscles actually derived from muscles, and so it's a
<v Speaker 6>little brinier. Like my kitties love actually have a supplement
<v Speaker 6>that has the green lip muscle in it, and they
<v Speaker 6>still seem to really like that.
<v Speaker 5>The other thing you could do is sardines.
<v Speaker 2>What was it called green lipped muscle, lipped muscle?
<v Speaker 6>Yep, okay, so that's a great one. So those are
<v Speaker 6>things that are great for the joints.
<v Speaker 2>And then sardines, like, yes, sardines yeah, okay.
<v Speaker 6>So you could try to give your kitty a little sardine.
<v Speaker 6>So thinking about the joints, which is these things that
<v Speaker 6>are anti flammatory and support the joints that are getting older,
<v Speaker 6>they're breaking down. I also love to do things that
<v Speaker 6>support the muscle. So we know that cats are chest
<v Speaker 6>they're because we have our most door kitties are indoors,
<v Speaker 6>and they're older.
<v Speaker 5>They're a little bit doe. I should say that, like,
<v Speaker 5>you know, uh, not well muscled.
<v Speaker 6>If I had a dog, I could do squats with
<v Speaker 6>it or push ups, but my kitty, like the cat
<v Speaker 6>exercises are you know, asking them to stretch with a
<v Speaker 6>laser pointer or use a toy to get them in
<v Speaker 6>and out of a box, but exercises to build muscle.
<v Speaker 6>Like my cats, maybe they're interested for about a minute
<v Speaker 6>of play and then they're done. So I like to
<v Speaker 6>do things that try to support the muscle and build
<v Speaker 6>back muscle. So I like to feed an ingredient called
<v Speaker 6>bordotropin and fordotropin, which is spelled fo r E. Tro pian.
<v Speaker 6>It's scientiffilicate backed and proven in cats in kitties, not
<v Speaker 6>just dogs, but also in kitties to build lean muscle
<v Speaker 6>and to be really well tolerated, so it doesn't make them,
<v Speaker 6>you know, have stomach upset, and it's really easy on
<v Speaker 6>the kidneys. And so I also give those to my
<v Speaker 6>kiddies if they're suffering from arthritis because it's building the muscle.
<v Speaker 6>And they also have an ingredient or a product with
<v Speaker 6>the green lip muscle in it. So if you kind
<v Speaker 6>of wanted, that's what I do with my cat. So
<v Speaker 6>I feed hototropein, which is found in this myos pet.
<v Speaker 6>They have a feline version and it has the green
<v Speaker 6>lift muscle, so I feel like it's an all in
<v Speaker 6>one when my cats love it. So that's what I
<v Speaker 6>do personally for my own kitties with arthritis.
<v Speaker 2>This is such fascinating information. All Right, we're gonna take
<v Speaker 2>a quick break and we'll be right back. Mollie, here's
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<v Speaker 2>Welcome back everyone. We're speaking to doctor Kelly Fishman about
<v Speaker 2>things we can do to slow down your cats aging,
<v Speaker 2>to build up their muscle, to help them with their arthritis.
<v Speaker 2>And doctor Kelly, there's such fascinating interesting information. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I had no idea that cats had arthritis so many
<v Speaker 2>of them in their senior years. I think it's because
<v Speaker 2>it's hard to tell. With dogs. You walk them. You
<v Speaker 2>can see that when they start to drag, you know,
<v Speaker 2>as they get older. Because I had dogs before I
<v Speaker 2>had cats, so you can see that in dogs. With cats,
<v Speaker 2>you don't see it as much. You have to be
<v Speaker 2>a detective.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, it's true, and vets don't even know. It's one
<v Speaker 6>of those things where even your veterinarian, if you go
<v Speaker 6>to your vet, you have an older cat that's kind
<v Speaker 6>of slowing down. And now there's more awareness because Soilentia,
<v Speaker 6>there's a which is a pain medication made for cats
<v Speaker 6>with arthritis, because the company that makes that has done
<v Speaker 6>a really good job of like providing awareness to veterinarians.
<v Speaker 6>Most veterinarians are now learning. But a few years ago,
<v Speaker 6>most veterinarians would have no idea why your cat was
<v Speaker 6>suffering or even that they were. So it's not even
<v Speaker 6>like us, it's our pet parents. It's also like us
<v Speaker 6>as and vetinarians too.
<v Speaker 2>We have to get more knowledgeable about what our cats need.
<v Speaker 2>What about exercise? Is there anything you could do for
<v Speaker 2>exercising to help your cats? I mean, I know it's
<v Speaker 2>hard when they're their birthrights to get them to move.
<v Speaker 2>And like you said before, your cats are interested, you
<v Speaker 2>know and moving around for about a minute. Mind, it
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't matter what the toy is. They just don't only engage. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>they like boxes and bags, you know, I know, for
<v Speaker 2>five minutes then they're just you know, tired of it.
<v Speaker 2>So I've done a lot of shows. Some of them
<v Speaker 2>there's been some tricks and tips, but they never seem
<v Speaker 2>to be engaged for more than a short time.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I agree.
<v Speaker 6>I kind of do wonder if it's just because of
<v Speaker 6>like how the cat play is stimulating, you know, their
<v Speaker 6>predator behavior. They have to chase them mouse or get
<v Speaker 6>the birds. So it's almost like it's done this for
<v Speaker 6>a few minutes and I've should have caught this thing,
<v Speaker 6>and I'm going to give up.
<v Speaker 5>But you know, it's funny.
<v Speaker 6>The kitties I can get into things like swimming or
<v Speaker 6>the underwater treadmill are orange male cats Maine coons like
<v Speaker 6>Dennis and Bengals actually will go in the underwater treadmill
<v Speaker 6>or do swimming, believe it or not. And then some
<v Speaker 6>of the other ones. I again, I don't have a
<v Speaker 6>lot of great answers either. Sometimes I'll do things like
<v Speaker 6>incorporating boxes for them to jump in and out of,
<v Speaker 6>and then I like to do a wall stretch. That's
<v Speaker 6>my favorite, where I just take a laser pointer and
<v Speaker 6>put it on the wall. And then my kitty. Who
<v Speaker 6>has my kitty right now, Nelson. He's a ten year
<v Speaker 6>old white domestic short hair. I put a little laser
<v Speaker 6>pointer on the wall and he has to kind of
<v Speaker 6>grab it and he stretches out his when he stands
<v Speaker 6>up on the wall, he stretches out his spine and
<v Speaker 6>his hips. And that's a great one to do. So
<v Speaker 6>just I think, listen, we can't get them to build muscle,
<v Speaker 6>but we have supplements that can do that. We can't
<v Speaker 6>get them to keep moving, but we can do little
<v Speaker 6>things and we can do those stretches. And maybe it's
<v Speaker 6>not kitty squads, but it's something.
<v Speaker 2>It's something. What about for younger kiddies that maybe have
<v Speaker 2>a little bit more energy. I know that people have
<v Speaker 2>been walking their cats for a while now, at least
<v Speaker 2>probably at least ten or probably more years than ten
<v Speaker 2>twenty years, But how hard is it to get your
<v Speaker 2>cat into harness to be walked.
<v Speaker 6>Well, I've done this with three of my kiddies, so
<v Speaker 6>you definitely you could harness train them when they are kittens.
<v Speaker 6>So that basically involves putting the harness on indoors where
<v Speaker 6>they're nice safe space that they know, they feel comfortable,
<v Speaker 6>and you just like provide treats and let them wear
<v Speaker 6>the harness indoors when they're comfortable, and then what you
<v Speaker 6>do is you then attach a leash. You get them
<v Speaker 6>used to walking around with a leash and having pressure,
<v Speaker 6>and then you bring them outside. And then most of
<v Speaker 6>the time you bring them outside and sixty percent of
<v Speaker 6>the cats kind of go into the crouch mode and
<v Speaker 6>get freaked out until they realize that they're in a
<v Speaker 6>safe place. But certainly harness training is really helpful. The
<v Speaker 6>other thing I did with my most recent cat is
<v Speaker 6>I trained him to sit, and I trained him to
<v Speaker 6>like jump on and up like through hoops. So I
<v Speaker 6>think if I had a kit and again, I would
<v Speaker 6>certainly do that, and then do that as like a
<v Speaker 6>way to like maintain fitness, you know, like so he's
<v Speaker 6>always sitting when he gets a treat where he has
<v Speaker 6>to jump through a hoop to get a treat. And honestly,
<v Speaker 6>teaching my cat to sit was way easier than teaching
<v Speaker 6>a dog. You just hold a little treat over their
<v Speaker 6>nose and he sits right away.
<v Speaker 5>They learn.
<v Speaker 6>They're so much faster like learners and dogs are. It's
<v Speaker 6>just if they want to repeat the behavior or not,
<v Speaker 6>that's up to the kiddie. But they're certainly good learners.
<v Speaker 5>There.
<v Speaker 2>You go and ages ago. I had him through my
<v Speaker 2>other show on pet Life Radio, Best Bets for Pat's.
<v Speaker 2>I had a kiddie harness, so I thought, I'm gonna
<v Speaker 2>put it on Dennis and take him out because he's
<v Speaker 2>part of me and couldn't say he's very easy, like
<v Speaker 2>he's real easy, which I'm grateful for. And so I
<v Speaker 2>put the harness on, took him outside. I'm thinking, I'm
<v Speaker 2>gonna walk him like a dog. You're right, and and
<v Speaker 2>I'm probably like most people, I don't have a ton
<v Speaker 2>of patients for certain things. So I just thought, we'll
<v Speaker 2>do this. Come on, Dennis, we'll do this. I think
<v Speaker 2>I maybe had treats. He took a couple of treats,
<v Speaker 2>and then you're right, he just sat there. It's like
<v Speaker 2>put the heck on a cat. I don't do this.
<v Speaker 2>So that did not last too long. I probably could
<v Speaker 2>have if I was more patient, trained him a bit.
<v Speaker 2>But you know, it's funny. He's the oldest of my
<v Speaker 2>cat crew and he's the one that jumps around the
<v Speaker 2>most interesting.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I was still screening him just because you said
<v Speaker 5>he's fourteen fifteen. Yeah, yeah, he probably has it.
<v Speaker 6>I mean, coons are big kiddies, so you know they
<v Speaker 6>I was like worry about. So the cat's actually the
<v Speaker 6>place they get ARTHRT. It's it's important they get in
<v Speaker 6>their elbows and their hips like the most common spots.
<v Speaker 6>So yeah, I think Mankon's maybe kind of like Bengals,
<v Speaker 6>like they just like have like a dry like they
<v Speaker 6>just like kind of want to like they have a
<v Speaker 6>drive that like makes them want to keep going, you know.
<v Speaker 6>So I think that's also part of it, like maybe
<v Speaker 6>they kind of work through stuff pain and don't show it.
<v Speaker 5>As much as other cats. Breeze.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, I don't know, that's my own personal thought, like
<v Speaker 6>I don't have any evidence for that, or I think
<v Speaker 6>just being a cat owner.
<v Speaker 2>And he's not that big of a main coon. He's big,
<v Speaker 2>but he's not that big.
<v Speaker 1>You know.
<v Speaker 2>On Instagram there's a few people that have pictures of
<v Speaker 2>Maine coons that are i mean, what like thirty inches
<v Speaker 2>forty inches long, like crazy huge.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, yeah, they could be quite big.
<v Speaker 2>They have a great personality.
<v Speaker 6>So yeah, Maincon and my and orange kitties and tuxedos
<v Speaker 6>are yes, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Well I have Tuxedo, but she's a cat with attitude,
<v Speaker 2>so she's typical cat. That's what I say about her.
<v Speaker 2>You could have to do it by her way. So right,
<v Speaker 2>we've talked about a lot of things that cat parents
<v Speaker 2>can do to detect, you know, arthritis and if their
<v Speaker 2>cat's not feeling well and what to look for. What
<v Speaker 2>are some overall things that cat parents can do to
<v Speaker 2>make their cats happier and healthier, because it could be
<v Speaker 2>overwhelming and there's so many things out there now, you know,
<v Speaker 2>acupuncture and arthritis, and there's we didn't even touch on
<v Speaker 2>probiotics because that's I don't think that's in your real
<v Speaker 2>but that's out there too. That's you know, not probiotics.
<v Speaker 2>But there's all kinds of different things coming up, and
<v Speaker 2>it could be so overwhelming. So what would you say
<v Speaker 2>to the cat parent, you know what, of all the
<v Speaker 2>things to focus on, these are the top maybe three
<v Speaker 2>or five items that you should really, you know, keep
<v Speaker 2>in mind.
<v Speaker 6>So first of all, I wrote the probiotics. Actually, I
<v Speaker 6>have recently started to become a big fan of probiotics
<v Speaker 6>and not forgetting that, like the gut is such an
<v Speaker 6>important organ. So I actually also feed my kiddy probiotics
<v Speaker 6>and that's been very helpful because it's helped with some
<v Speaker 6>of his chronic occasional vomiting that he had, and just
<v Speaker 6>making sure he had a nice flora has been really important.
<v Speaker 6>So I definitely think probiotics are a great addition. And
<v Speaker 6>also there are some great calming probiotics in cats and
<v Speaker 6>four cats that are great for separation, anxiety and other
<v Speaker 6>kind of behavioral issues. So yes, probiotics, you already broughth
<v Speaker 6>it up. That's something I like and recommend. So I
<v Speaker 6>think that the thing that I would say is, you know,
<v Speaker 6>I think as vetinarians we've done a bad job of
<v Speaker 6>really understanding how to feed cats and what to feed cats,
<v Speaker 6>and I don't, unfortunately have the answer.
<v Speaker 5>Because we don't know.
<v Speaker 6>It seems to be that as much as possible, I
<v Speaker 6>would tell people to not feed kibble. And the reason
<v Speaker 6>is cats, when they eat in their natural state is
<v Speaker 6>they like to eat several times a day, like as it,
<v Speaker 6>five to six times a day, many meals of high protein,
<v Speaker 6>high water content. So maybe that would look like one
<v Speaker 6>mouse and several insects or things like that, So that's
<v Speaker 6>how they naturally eat. They're kind of a solitary predator,
<v Speaker 6>solitary hunter. Many meals eat snack eat snack right and sleep,
<v Speaker 6>so that's kind of what they naturally do.
<v Speaker 5>And when we have kibble, kibble.
<v Speaker 6>Is very dry and it doesn't provide a lot of
<v Speaker 6>moisture to it. So cats, who again are desert creatures,
<v Speaker 6>probably also got a lot of their water from their food.
<v Speaker 6>So I would try as much as possible to stick
<v Speaker 6>away from kibble because it seems to be it's the
<v Speaker 6>least natural way to feed the kiddies just because it's
<v Speaker 6>again it's not very hydrating. And then what happens is
<v Speaker 6>because it's so it's almost like eating a bag of chips.
<v Speaker 6>Like the cat, thein who wants to go to it
<v Speaker 6>and have many micromeals constantly is grazing at the kibba
<v Speaker 6>bowl and then they become overweight and Obesit is a
<v Speaker 6>huge problem in cats. Not only does it make things
<v Speaker 6>like arthritis work, it predisposes them to diabetes and all
<v Speaker 6>kinds of problems. So if we could just prevent obeseeding
<v Speaker 6>cats by you know, trying to feed them in ways
<v Speaker 6>that prevents obesity, which is trying to move away from kibble,
<v Speaker 6>try to do that. So I switched my kiddies to
<v Speaker 6>they both eat all my cats eat canned food as
<v Speaker 6>much as possible.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so even if your cats drink water, you'd say
<v Speaker 2>minimize or eliminate kibble entirely.
<v Speaker 6>Yes, yes, And actually cats who eat kibble will drink
<v Speaker 6>more water than cats who don't because they're or get
<v Speaker 6>dehydrated and they then seek out water.
<v Speaker 5>So when you have a cat, if you're always.
<v Speaker 6>Fed kibble and then you switch to a wet food,
<v Speaker 6>then you'll notice that your cat's water intake will go
<v Speaker 6>down because you're getting more water from the food.
<v Speaker 2>What if you do a mix, You could do a mix.
<v Speaker 6>You could definitely do a mix. It's just as much
<v Speaker 6>as possible. Minimize the kibble. So you know, if I
<v Speaker 6>have to do a kibble, I like to feed it
<v Speaker 6>as a treat. It's like a little treat.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah.
<v Speaker 6>So that's my thing is you know, and hopefully one
<v Speaker 6>day we learn even more about cat nutrition how to
<v Speaker 6>feed them better. But it certainly seems that doing things
<v Speaker 6>like you know, the kibble unfortunately isn't as well. It's
<v Speaker 6>easy and convenient, and then I had to feed it
<v Speaker 6>for you know, my kiddies. At certain points in my
<v Speaker 6>life where I was busy, fat student, and you know,
<v Speaker 6>I went on vacation and I couldn't get.
<v Speaker 5>Someone to come watch them, and I had to feed kibble.
<v Speaker 6>Or with my first cat, who I got when I
<v Speaker 6>was quite young, I fed kibble. They could never get
<v Speaker 6>her off it even if I tried. She could not
<v Speaker 6>eat canned food. You know, there's certain circumstances, but as
<v Speaker 6>much as possible, try to stay away from it.
<v Speaker 2>That is good advice.
<v Speaker 5>Any other tips, No, I don't really have any.
<v Speaker 6>I mean things, just you know, our kidies are such special,
<v Speaker 6>loving creatures and I think, I don't know, I just
<v Speaker 6>think that like paying attention to them and just you know,
<v Speaker 6>loving them as much as possible.
<v Speaker 5>It is such a great thing. They just are such
<v Speaker 5>such great little animals.
<v Speaker 2>Yes they are, and they could teach you a lot.
<v Speaker 2>We just have to open our minds and our eyes
<v Speaker 2>and just listen, you know, because in our world where
<v Speaker 2>we're rushing around and doing multitasking and all this kind
<v Speaker 2>of stuff, sometimes, you know, we expect our fur babes
<v Speaker 2>to behave that way, and cats, for one, do not,
<v Speaker 2>at least mine don't. And from what I learned from
<v Speaker 2>them is you really have to pay attention to them
<v Speaker 2>and what they want. They have their own personalities and
<v Speaker 2>needs and you just have to focus in on what
<v Speaker 2>they want.
<v Speaker 5>Yes, that's really well said. That's exactly right.
<v Speaker 2>So tell us where people can find out more about
<v Speaker 2>you and learn more about struct Animal Mobility Specialists, and
<v Speaker 2>just find out more about you in general.
<v Speaker 6>So you could certainly find me on my website strutanimal
<v Speaker 6>dot com. And I'm on Instagram and Facebook also at
<v Speaker 6>strut animal and ever. You know, it's always free to
<v Speaker 6>reach out to me, send me a message. I'm always
<v Speaker 6>happy to answer questions about cats or dogs or anything.
<v Speaker 2>Doctor Kelly, I want to thank you so much for
<v Speaker 2>coming on Catitude.
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, thank you, Michelle. It was lovely talking to you
<v Speaker 6>about kitties.
<v Speaker 2>I hope you all enjoyed the show. What fascinating information
<v Speaker 2>that doctor Kelly Fishman had I would like to mention again.
<v Speaker 2>She is the founder of strut Animal Mobility Specialists. Strutanimal
<v Speaker 2>dot com is our website. Please check it out. This
<v Speaker 2>is great info about our kitties. Thanks to my cat
<v Speaker 2>crew Mollie, Charlotte and Dennis for teaching me about cats
<v Speaker 2>and I could just learn and learn and learn. There's
<v Speaker 2>so much we don't know about cats, even though We're
<v Speaker 2>getting better all the time. So thanks catcrew, and of
<v Speaker 2>course thank you so much to my listening audience. Thank
<v Speaker 2>you for listening to Catitude for all these years. I've
<v Speaker 2>been hosting it for eight and I just appreciate you
<v Speaker 2>so much, so thank you for your loyal listenership. And
<v Speaker 2>of course the show would not be the same without
<v Speaker 2>the magic of my producer, Mark Winter, So thank you Mark,
<v Speaker 2>and remember, lose the attitude, have Catitude.
<v Speaker 4>Let's Talk pets every week on demand only on petlifradio
<v Speaker 4>dot com.