cat leg pops out of place.

Question
I just came from taking my cat to the vet. My cat is not suppose to jump on things for 2 weeks to a month. The vet prescribed him Metacam for 5 days. Now I have been reading about this medication and I am a little afraid to give it to him.

I don't want to see my cat have to have surgery. Would you suggest that I use this medication.
My cat is 3 yrs old and 15.8 lbs. I know he needs to lose weight. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Answer
Metacam is a pain drug and anti-inflammatory, like aspirin or ibuprofen. I would not recommend using it due to many cases in which it has induced kidney failure. A safer pain medication for cats is Buprenex (buprenorphine) which is an opioid and has a very good safety record in cats. I am sure your vet thought the anti-inflammatory properties of Metacam would be helpful, but I think this drug should be used only as a last resort in cats.

You are correct that the best thing you can do for your cat is to have him safely lose weight. Hip displasia in cats is almost always caused by or worsened by obesity - usually there is a genetic factor especially in a young cat like yours. Please read the following website for information about how to have your cat safely lose weight so he can be healthier: It is important that your cat eats a high protein canned food or raw food diet - NO dry food (all dry food is high in carbohydrates, which in cats are converted directly to fat).

http://www.catinfo.org./?link=felineobesity

I recommend you switch your cat onto one of the following high protein raw food diets or canned food diets, transition slowly and at first do not reduce the amount of food per lb of body weight. Most cats require 2% of their body weight in canned or raw food per day so for his weight that's about 1/3 lb of food each day. Switching to the high protein meat based food may be enough to allow your cat to lose weight, without reducing the portions.

In addition, there are 3 oral supplements I highly recommend for any joint disease:
1. krill oil (Now brand is the one I use - pierce the capsule with a pin and squirt the oil onto food, most cats like it).
2. Cosequin or the new type Dasequin - you can buy this online or from your vet
3. Duralactin (duralactin.com)

These supplements work well together to reduce inflammation and repair and lubricate joint tissue.

Recommended raw meat foods:
Home made (catnutrition.org and felinenutrition.net have recipes and instructions)
Rad Cat (radfood.com)
Feline's Pride (felinespride.com)


High protein canned foods. Some of them are hard to find in stores but you can buy big cases at onlynaturalpet.com or petfooddirect.com

Evo 95% meat (not the "regular" Evo)
Newman's Own Organics Canned Cat Food - only the Organic Beef, Beef and Liver and Liver that do not contain grain
Wyson Au Jus
Ziwipeak 'Daily-Cat' Cuisine
Wellness grain free varieties
Merrick Before Grain
Natural Balance Salmon/Chicken/Duck & Green Pea