Infrared Light Therapy for cat's arthritis pain?

My cat Dexter is 11 1/2 years old. He is a big cat. For the past few months,  every morning when when we first get up, after he uses the litter box and eats, he sits really close to a light bulb in one of our lamps. I suspect that the heat from the lamp light eases minor pain and stiffness of  beginning arthritis. 

I was reading a thread today that had a brief mention about a person who uses infrared light  to ease arthritis pain for her cat. I did not want to disrupt that thread by asking about it there but I am hoping that some of you might be familiar with this  and give me some feedback about it.

Thanks in advance. 

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

Dexter is not on any treatment right now....

but when I saw the mention of infrared light therapy, I realized that he might be finding comfort from the light bulbs heat.

The laser therapy sounds like it might be an excellent solution for some  humans and animals.

I just realized that I need to research what infrared light is and what it might be able to do.

Apparently it's use is not very common, at least in the US. 

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.

Thank you Tricia, that is exactly the information that I was looking for. 

I know that you are in the UK but if it is still available will you share the site link where you got yours and let me know which model you use. That can serve as a guide for what I would be looking for here.

Last night I looked an a couple of US sites, but the systems were very expensive. I am hoping that once I understand what I am looking for, I will have a better change of finding what I need and can afford.

I have never heard of this until I read what you told Jana in her thread about Mrs R using it on Miezi. 

I have arthritis myself so Dex and I could both use it....

no doubt Isis would want her time with it too. 

I am excited about this Tricia....

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 have been looking about the net....
so many are for horses and snakes.
I like the stand on yours Tricia.

Why was the hand machine not working ...to weak? That would be a waste of time then. The company that make yours had a few of the tall thin bulb stands. That is what I would really like because I could put if over where Dexter sleeps but so far the tall stand has been over $100. That is not in our budget right now so I will have to took for another solution.

I am going to continue looking, I like this idea a lot.

Do you know if a bulb will fit into a regular lamp socket.
That would simplify things.

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.

Because your feedback made sense, I am ruling our hand units.
I will begin my search for something that is reasonably priced.
When I find possibilities I will share them here for review.
Dex is going to love this. :rub:

Thanks Tricia :bigthumb:

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.

xocats said:

Because your feedback made sense, I am ruling our hand units.
I will begin my search for something that is reasonably priced.
When I find possibilities I will share them here for review.
Dex is going to love this.

Thanks Tricia

Click to expand...

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.

Ducman69 said:

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.  

Click to expand...

Heat is exactly what I am looking for. With infrared I could warm our old joints, keep our hamburgers warm and our snakes happy...all at the same time. Sounds good to me.

Because my boy likes early morning, pre-sun, heat and my petrified desk top will not suffice, I am checking out infrared as a viable, inexpensive option although I must admit, a quad-core would be nice. :lol3:

Thanks for your feedback.

After reading through this thread I went to the BigR store yesterday, got a 125Wat IR bulb for around $5.-, a clamp fixture for heat bulbs for about $15.- (but they are much cheaper online), and as soon as I rigged it all up, my cat (arthritis) started using her "solarium" straightaway.

Thank you all for the inspiration.

"... 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. ..."

Dear JCat,

would you be able to ask that "somebody" for where to get that motion detector for the infrared lamp?

Thanks, Hearthstone.