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3 Alternative Therapies for Your Arthritic Cat

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If you're cat is suffering from arthritis, and you have exhausted all of the medical treatments, and are looking for some alternative therapies to try, then you are in luck. There are quite a few things that you can try and incorporate into your cats life to help them and ease their suffering. Here are three ideas to consider. 

Switch Your Cats Diet to Grain-free Food

One thing that you might want to consider is a grain free diet. These diets are based around the idea that gluten (the protein in certain grains) can cause and exacerbate inflammation. You see this in human diets as well, many people who believe they are sensitive to gluten and dealing with joint pain try an elimination diet. 

Cat food is particularly tricky because so much of what you find in the stores is filled with grains. This is because it is cheap, provides bulk nutrients in the form of carb calories. So, what you should look for is a dry food that specifies that it is either extremely low in grains, or completely grain free. These will be made up of lamb, chicken, turkey, fish, or some other protein, as well as vegetables (carrots, peas, etc...).

You should not get disappointed if you don't see results right away, so you should expect to keep the cat on the diet for a while.

Try Special Supplements

Another nice idea to try out are supplements such as glucosamine chondroitin. These are naturally derived from shellfish, and they are marketed to humans, as well as animals. You will find them in pet stores (big dogs in particular, who are subject to joint pain, are a big market) as well as in the health food stores or supermarkets. You might even be taking it yourself for joint pain. What you want to do, however, is get a pill that is designed for a cat. Dogs, and certainly humans, are much larger than cats, so the dosage won't be the same.

Consider Veterinary Acupuncture

Another thing to try is acupuncture. There are specialists who understand how to administer veterinary acupuncture to treat your cats ailments. The process involves using small needles that are inserted into your cats skin and hit "trigger" points. The needles are not large, in fact they are so small and fine that they won't draw blood. The process is very soothing for your cat. It can help ease the muscles surrounding their joints, and might even be able to help alleviate overall musculoskeletal pain that arises from the cats arthritic joints.

To learn more about ways to treat your arthritic cat, visit resources like http://www.1stPetVet.com.


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