Infrared Light Therapy for cat's arthritis pain?

Do you mean laser therapy? Or is infrared light therapy something different? My vet uses this company:

http://www.companiontherapylaser.com/Pages/products/applications

I definitely intend to go this route with my next kitty who needs severe arthritis pain relief. Is Dexter on cosequin for cats or other glucosamine supplement?

Another option would be adequan injections, they are done sub q now, so much less invasive than they used to be.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/adequan.html

Lei, an infrared heat lamp was suggested by our vet years ago when our dog had arthritis in his hips, and I've been using one ever since (also on myself). The warmth seems to offer some relief, because the dog, and now Miezi, stay(ed) under it. It improves blood circulation by dilating the blood vessels and supposedly goes deeper than a heating pad. You have to keep checking that it isn't getting too hot - a half hour once or twice a day is usually enough, though I know somebody who has one rigged up to a motion detector directly above a platform on the cat tree, and his cats use it constantly in winter.

I myself believe in this. there are a lot of products in the market. Some very costly, some more cheap...  I know too little to know if the costly are really much better.

 

these should work for humans, but why not for cats too?  Besides, most cats do love warmth, so you get use of them whatever, as long as the cat doesnt get burned on them.

 

There are also small modells for lizard-terraries, and similar.

 

 

Btw, infrared lamps do looks redish, it is the most easy way to recognize them.   

Wow, ours has been around for about 20 years now, and I'm surprised I found it on the Internet. We have a Schott Infra-Med It's 150 watts and doesn't have a timer. Most seem to be 250 watts nowadays, so when this bulb goes we'll have to replace the whole thing.

I don't remember how much it cost back then. They're pretty expensive, going by Amazon, unless you get a hand-held one. I personally wouldn't bother with the "massager" ones. We got one as a gift and it didn't do anything.

I was wondering that myself. The bulbs for ours wouldn't. Your best bet might be to go to a DIY store and ask. Walmart, Target, Walgreens or similar stores might have cheaper ones.
The massage one we got as a gift isn't warm enough (75 watts) or big enough.

Ours is basically a "desk unit", which I put on a small snack table next to a pet bed. The tall floor lamp type would be a lot more flexible.

Looking forward to seeing the results of your search!

 

Skipping ahead here, but just wanted to throw in a little science, so you aren't duped by misleading statements by marketing groups like those that sell those magnets making fantastic claims.

 

An infrared lamp is nothing more than a lamp designed to release most of its energy as heat rather than light.   Its what keeps hamburgers warm at McDonalds and reptiles warm in their enclosures.  Expect warmth, no more or less.

 

Applying cold or heat to joints has been used for centuries, so that is certainly valid, but just don't expect anything different than if the cat were to simply sun on a window-shelf for free or toast his furballs on a room heater or quad-core laptop.  

 

Lasers have to be second only to magnets on unsubstantiated marketing claims.   If powerful enough, they can cut and cauterize due to very directed application of heat, and are thus excellent for use in medicine or various industrial cutting applications.   However, we surely don't want to be cutting joints and weak lasers are not going to regrow hair like you see with cheapo products online or really do much of anything other than entertain your cat if you point it on the floor or wall and move it around, as otherwise it is nothing but directional light with wavelength in phase to produce a single color.