Thanks, Andi. I will e-mail the vet. We have tried those Hip + Joint treats with no apparent change.

I thought I had mentioned them to you before. Sorry about that. I hope your veterinarian is willing to try a pain med without another visit.

No need to be sorry, Andi. I appreciate, very much, your knowledge and willingness to share.

The vet just called. She is so great. We are going to try some powdered glucosamine. Kitty, being the old cantankerous lady that she is horrible about being medicated. Hopefully tuna flavored powder on her food will help. If we don't see a difference in a couple of weeks, we will try some transdermal tramadol. I just hate to go to narcotics if we don't have to. That can't help her balance and footing. But I hate the idea of her being in pain and not letting us know.

The first little vial of kitty-specific opioid they gave Harvey, I made it last for almost a year. These things are smaller in volume than the old Avon lipstick samples. Pretty sure I could have been more liberal with it. I spend a lot of thinking, "Is he getting off my lap because he has to pee (making a cat drink 9 ounces of broth every day will do that to a cat), or is he not able to get comfy because he's in pain? Give me one more sign, tell me if you need your medicine." To be fair, I believe there have been times Harvey has asked for his med. It's made to be absorbed in the mouth, under the tongue or between cheek and gums. Harvey does not appear to like taking it, but sometimes he will stand in front of me licking his chops, smacking his lips. I give it to him then, for sure.

Interesting. Does it make him loopy or just more at ease? My doc said if we went with the narcotic, it would be rubbed in her ear.

I pick up the glucosamine tomorrow. As I guess we give that through the end of Oct to see if she moves easier.

I hope Miss Kitty gets relief from the medicine.

The first time we gave it to Harvey, about twenty minutes later, he started running around, playing, chasing Sammie, with a vigor we had not seen in quite a while. We interpreted this as, "Holy schnickies, I feel AWESOME! " But we could see how some people might interpret that as opioids making a cat manic. Sometimes when Harvey gets his med, he simply goes to sleep. But often, that happens at times when we have observed him being too restless to settle down and sleep. I have never seen any signs of adverse reactions such as dizziness or a more unsteady gait.

Does it make him loopy or just more at ease?

Obviously cats and dogs are different, but Kato has Tramadol for pain, and if we give him 1 whole tablet, he's kind of stoned and just lays on his his bed and stares at his paws, but if we give him 1/2 a tablet, he's still alert and is just able to move around more comfortably.

I would think it would be the same with a kitty -- how she's affected would depend on the dose -- but I'm not sure. Plus it can be a tricky thing to find a dose that's strong enough to make them comfortable while being low enough to let them remain alert.

Thank you, Buffistas. She is such a sweet Kitty and I want to do what I can for her.