After watching Cosmo come out of her shell the last couple months I have to pass on a public service announcement. If your aging pet shows signs of pain or arthritis, I urge you to talk to your vet (or multiple vets), about the options available.

Sometimes you do not realize a decline in activity over time. They sleep a bit more, they walk tentatively a bit more, but when you are around them every day it is not as obvious especially in cats what is going on (same goes for weight gain, weight loss, and other slowly progressing issues). We tried a couple pain meds on her in the past for her arthritic front feet and hips but they had zero effect. Supplements had helped previously but had lost their effectiveness over time. I did not aggressively pursue more medications because from my perspective she was still fairly happy. She was always around us (just sleeping), eating well, normal litter box use, etc.

After getting a new vet this year who had new ideas, we decided to try something different on Cosmo. Suddenly she isn’t sleeping all day, toys are constantly being dragged out of the box, and lately I have even caught her zooming around with Mia. Sometimes you don’t know what was missing until it suddenly returns.

Here are a few of Cosmo’s recent antics this weekend. Normally she won’t do anything in front of us, but she seemed to forget I was sitting on the couch and I subtly turned the camera on.

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I don’t want to discuss particular medications here for a couple of reasons.

Cats are very sensitive to these type of meds especially when it comes to their liver and kidneys. So consulting your vet and getting pre-med bloodwork is a really good idea.

Another reason, I REALLY am against pharmaceutical advertisements in general (human and pet), as the responsibility should not be on the patient to chose the med, but on the professionals with first hand knowledge. As a side note, what works on Cosmo does not work to the same degree on Dexter, so it definitely is a very individual situation.

I urge you to seek a vet with a lot of experience prescribing arthritis meds to felines. Make sure you feel comfortable with their knowledge before proceeding. Dogs and cats are very different, so sometimes finding a specialist is not a bad idea. Cats tend to mask pain really really well, so I will say a lot of the practices I worked for in the past did not have many owners who actively treated pain in their felines. Its growing, but most vets have more experience with canines so ask questions and find out how frequently they utilize particular medications in cats.

With Cosmo, we know there are risks in what she is taking and have weighed them thoroughly. I would rather her bounce around playing and interacting with the other cats enjoying life then sleeping. So for her the benefits outweighed the risks.

“Mia here, and I have some bad news. Mum up and left us last week and not only THAT, she ran out of time to create posts about us BEFORE she left!

She tried to tell me that packing food for the furkids (and dad) and cleaning litter boxes before she left was more important, but I am not so sure.

Well, maybe not the food for dad at least….

Not only did she leave us behind, she went to a GIANT sandbox! She even said there were lots of birds and lizards to play with! NOT FAIR, she didn’t bring a single one home either!

Well, she is back now and she promises to get our photos and videos back up starting Monday. She better, I have been saving up all my energy for a whole week!!”

Here is a short clip to start your weekend off with a smile.

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Hope you have a fabulous Friday and great weekend, and remember, no nipping and driving tonight at happy hour!

Mia continues to be just a goof. She is also getting a bit more talkative, especially when she knows it will get attention or it is close to a meal time (shhhh…can’t say that too loud, she might hear!).

Let’s just say she knows how to work it, I am not smitten at ALL!

Here were a couple of our conversations recently, hopefully they give you a smile to help start your week off!

Iz Too Hawt!! (it was 86 F here on Saturday, but it is 36 this morning…Colorado weather at it’s best)

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Not Cute At All

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Mia’s morning naps = not much hooman work getting done.

And those pushed up little cheeks!! They slay me!!

Oh, it gets worse. I couldn’t get a good photo, so here is a short clip to show the depth of her stretch napping technique.

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Decided to try a new medication for Cosmo’s arthritis since we were testing things on Dexter.

She is not showing major signs that she is feeling better, BUT, there are a few subtle ones.

Like when I go out to run an errand I return I find all the stuffed animals pulled out of the toy box…….

and the huntress sleeping among her prey.

Guess she is feeling a bit better to tackle the lion, the bunny, and the kong kicker all in a single afternoon.

I think its safe to call this modified frog pose…

The Toad

I mean that in the most endearing way

Sorry Miss Mia, I know I know, I called you a toad. Forgive me?

Mia knows how to start a Monday right (bunny feet and all)!

“rub my bellie pweese”

Hope you start the week off with a smile

Its FRIDAY!! I am sorry posting has been late and light the last couple of weeks. Bad blogger I am!

I have a few things in the works, including some how to videos on making cat trees (how to wrap the carpet, supplies, etc). I have completed most of the filming, hope to finish the rest shortly and get those up for your viewing pleasure.

Dexter is going to be seen by a vet that does chiropractic and acupuncture procedures, will let you know how that goes. He is doing good energy and activity wise, (he actually just zoomed by in hyper mode while I was writing this), BUT, his back legs are still super weak so we will keep trying.

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Lets have a bit of fun to start the weekend off right….

I wonder whose frog legs those could be???

Well, that wasn’t too hard to guess

Here is a bit of fun Bayou and Mia had with packing paper.

I missed a prime photo op yesterday when all FOUR cats were asleep in some part of the paper together. My memory card was in my computer and by the time I got it in the camera they were all staring at me in the kitchen hoping it was dinner time. Blogger fail again!

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Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!