Every year the Guster gets his annual exam from our holistic veterinarians, Creature Comfort. He does not like going to the vet. He meows and meows and meows and nine car rides out of ten pees in the cat carrier. Such fun!
Last year, we discovered that he had arthritis in his hind legs and that he was a whopping 17 pounds! His rings of fat only make his arthritis worse. Poor buddy.
Since that development, we’ve been working diligently on getting him to lose weight — even going so far as to subbing out some of his food for mashed pumpkin! He was really unhappy with that in the beginning, but he’s acclimated alright. He meows to high heaven all day long because he’s starving, but if he were starving, wouldn’t he have lost more than a pound in the past year? Sure you’re starving, cat, sure you are.
The vet was sure to point out that losing a pound is quite an accomplishment for an older kitty like Gus. It’s over 5% of his bodily mass after all! Five points for our furry hero.
I shared with the vet that overall he’s pretty happy (besides the starvation complaints) but that he’s having trouble jumping up on the bed. To combat that, Dr. Jenny recommends that we sprinkle Nutramax Cosequin for Cats on his dinners to help with his joint health. He’s turning 12 this year and Cosequin for Cats is apparently a good addition for any aging feline. Good joint health means a happier kitty. Done.
Sidenote: Do you have a recommendation for some sexy pet stairs?? I’m in the market. All the pet stairs I’ve found are terrifyingly ugly. Gus has an eye for style, you know. He’s not going to use just any pet stairs to get up to the bed. I’m thinking something that makes him feel like the king he is…fuzzy red carpet…luxurious padding…
We won’t know for a few days how his blood work turned out, but Gus was sure a sport about the whole thing. He only peed in the cat carrier once! How’s that for a happy ending? Five more points for the Gusman!
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