Losing Fur

[Furballsmom]

Oh, good point about the fish oil - I don't know of anything else that might have a similar benefit to the coat/skin/fur?

 

[Animal Freak]

Oh, good point about the fish oil - I don't know of anything else that might have a similar benefit to the coat/skin/fur?

I don't know. I'll have to look into it though.

 

[Kflowers]

I've noticed that the barometric pressure rising, falling, moving at all seems to make arthritis more noticeable. Not necessarily pain, but a stiffness. Also what you try to do maybe what sets it off. Running maybe fine, bending your spine to wash your back leg, maybe not so much.

I've been told that Physical Therapists say the pressure doesn't effect arthritis, but they were all in their 20s. My information comes from a more seasoned set who believes in practical experience.

It's possible the boys are just tired of washing yoga.

 

[Animal Freak]

I've noticed that the barometric pressure rising, falling, moving at all seems to make arthritis more noticeable. Not necessarily pain, but a stiffness. Also what you try to do maybe what sets it off. Running maybe fine, bending your spine to wash your back leg, maybe not so much.

I've been told that Physical Therapists say the pressure doesn't effect arthritis, but they were all in their 20s. My information comes from a more seasoned set who believes in practical experience.

It's possible the boys are just tired of washing yoga.

That's interesting. I should try to pay more attention to when it's bothering him more. I haven't noticed any links to weather or anything, but I don't know about pressure. Some days are worse than others, that's for sure.

I don't know much about arthritis and what can cause it or what causes it to flare up. I probably should since my mom and my cat have it and my dog is almost guaranteed to get it due to luxating patella. I should do some research.

I do think it might be a combination of things though. Maybe the weather and arthritis. It's happening a bit too frequently for a slight lack in groom, because he does groom. I just don't know if he does it as much as he used to. But I brushed them tonight and within an hour he had some matting going on. Again, easy to remove.

 

[Animal Freak]

Frost seems to be doing it too now. He's not doing it as badly, but I've definitely noticed some loose tufts and he's getting knots deeper in his coat rather than in the exterior like Ash. I'm really hoping this is just the weird weather or something temporary. It wouldn't be a huge deal if I had to brush them every day instead of every other day, but this is more like every hour. Ash pretty much constantly looks like I don't take care of him.

 

[Jem]

With Ash' arthritis, has he gained a bit more weight? Overweight cats tend to shed more also.
I really think the combination of arthritis and less grooming is why he seems to be getting more mats. If he always looks "disheveled" that would also signify lack of grooming, as he is not removing his natural oils, so the fur just always looks clumpy/separated. Do you find his fur feels a bit rough/greasy/dirty in some areas, especially in his lower body or along his spine?
Also, chronic UTI's could be a result of not grooming his bits very well, especially if you noticed he's getting them more often as he ages.
I have a cat who was always grooming the other cats but was terrible of keeping himself clean, he always had easy to pull out clumps (early mats). Brushing daily kept him cleaner.

 

[Kflowers]

There are joint care meds for cats now. About time. Sweet Gum's had arthritis since she was a year old, well, that's when we discovered it, I think she was born with it. She takes dasuquin and it really seems to help. That's like cosuquin. The vet has some meds, but she was allergic to them, so she's stuck with the cheap stuff that works for her.

 

[Animal Freak]

With Ash' arthritis, has he gained a bit more weight? Overweight cats tend to shed more also.
I really think the combination of arthritis and less grooming is why he seems to be getting more mats. If he always looks "disheveled" that would also signify lack of grooming, as he is not removing his natural oils, so the fur just always looks clumpy/separated. Do you find his fur feels a bit rough/greasy/dirty in some areas, especially in his lower body or along his spine?
Also, chronic UTI's could be a result of not grooming his bits very well, especially if you noticed he's getting them more often as he ages.
I have a cat who was always grooming the other cats but was terrible of keeping himself clean, he always had easy to pull out clumps (early mats). Brushing daily kept him cleaner.

No, he never gained weight. He actually lost a tiny bit of weight recently. The vet said a lot of cats lose a little weight when they go from dry to wet food and we had increased the amount of wet he was getting.

I have not noticed any dirty or greasy fur on him. I have noticed Frost actually seems to make himself look more disheveled by grooming though. The fur on their necks and chests is too long, so they always seem to end up messing it up by licking it and getting it stuck in their mouths.

Ash, on the contrary, has actually always been almost obsessive with grooming his privates and he's been getting UTIs for years. Since before he was diagnosed with arthritis. The frequency hasn't changed. It's been one or two a year since his first one. It's also possible some of those UTIs were caused by stress since Ember tends to lash out at him when something makes her feel threatened/uncomfortable. We're not sure if her attacking caused the UTIs or if the UTIs caused the attacking though.

I'm still kind of hoping it's something more temporary because I'm afraid even brushing them once a day wouldn't be enough. It seems a bit odd that Frost has gotten the same issue around the same time too. Nothing like Ash, but still a noticeable change.

There are joint care meds for cats now. About time. Sweet Gum's had arthritis since she was a year old, well, that's when we discovered it, I think she was born with it. She takes dasuquin and it really seems to help. That's like cosuquin. The vet has some meds, but she was allergic to them, so she's stuck with the cheap stuff that works for her.

When Ash was diagnosed with arthritis, he was prescribed glucosamine. He gets that once a day in his food and it's certainly helped quite a lot, but I'm not sure if completely takes his discomfort away. There are some days that are worse than others. He might need something different.

We're pretty sure Ash is actually deformed and the vet said it's possible there's more deformities we can't see that could be causing some of his problems.