Arthritis Question

I don't have this issue at the moment but figured I would ask your input on Esme.

Every so often, I would say, a couple of months, Esme will limp or occasionally lift her paw. When we noticed it, we would give her Cosequin and it would clear up in about two or three days.

We haven't asked the vet about it yet, but will, but could this be an early indication of arthritis?

She doesn't jump around a whole heck of a lot, but we noticed her jumping into bed wasn't so good, so we got her some stairs.

So I guess, if this is an early indicator is there anything naturally we can do to minimize how it affects her? She is 9 years old and in good health otherwise.

Well, you could consider keeping her on the Cosequin. You could also look into using hyaluronic acid - either alone, or with the Cosequin. In people, HA works really well in combination with glucosamine, chrondroitin, and MSM. :nod: Just make sure she doesn't have asthma or heart issues, as glucosamine and chroindroitin would be contra-indicated. (I just did a lot of research for arthritis for our Flowerbelle, but she has early stage asthma and high blood pressure).

You could also consider an omega 3 supplement - maybe squeezing a few drops of salmon oil onto her food (if you feed her wet food) at every meal. This is also anti-inflammatory, and can help with arthritis pain. This is what we're doing for Flowerbelle.

Thanks! I actually just bought some salmon oil recently but haven't opened it yet, so I will try that for now and see how she does..