Cats have a reputation of being purr-fect sleek, elegant creatures. All grace and majestic pride.
If you own one, you know that’s not necessarily true. But they are agile and flexible.
From fitting themselves into small spaces, to lifting legs over their heads for grooming, to always landing on their feet, cats are able to manipulate and contort their bodies in all sorts of ways.
So it’s important to look after your cats’ joint health so they can stay feline good and ready to move.
On your own body, the joints are the connection between at least two bones, with fluid and cartilage sitting between, like your knees or your elbows. They serve the same function in your kitty.
Joints are an important part of how cats are able to move around and contort themselves the way they do.
So if your cats start having issues with their joints, it’s their mobility that will be affected.
Not to mention the pain joint issues can cause.
Issues with joints can lead to further health issues down the line, like arthritis in senior cats.
So it’s important to maintain joint health while your kitten is healthy, and to strive towards joint health, or at least alleviate symptoms of joint issues if your cat faces those, too.
And there’s a lot we can do as owners to reduce cat joint pain, or maintain cat joint health.
One of those ways is with cat supplements for joints.
There are many different reasons you may want your cat to take a joint supplement. Some of those reasons include:
Cat arthritis is a common issue in cats that occurs when the cartilage protecting the bones from each other in a joint wears away. Eventually, the cat’s bones will be rubbing into each other as your cat moves.
This can cause a lot of pain for cats. Supplements for cat arthritis will focus on alleviating arthritis symptoms and repairing any cartilage left.
Hips and other joints are common problem areas in cats. Hip and joint cat supplements work to strengthen cartilage and prevent cartilage breakdown in the cat and hip joints to maintain strength and prevent future joint issues (like arthritis).
Some joint supplements target the period before or after surgery to maintain your cat’s joint flexibility and mobility during that time.
Some supplements for cat joints are used pre-emptively, while your cat’s joints are still healthy. This way, your cat will be getting nutrients to keep his or her joints flexible and healthy, which should hopefully help prevent joint issues down the line as your cat ages.
The reason you give your cat joint supplements is so your cat’s joints can be as healthy as possible. But what does that actually mean?
Let’s break it down into a few different steps:
If your cat is struggling with joint issues, then your cat is probably in pain, particularly when forced to move the affected joint.
Cat joint supplements work to alleviate some of that pain and inflammation so your cat can be more comfortable, and hopefully a bit more active, too.
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is one of the ingredients that can be used in supplements to reduce joint pain and inflammation.
The loss and weakening of cartilage is one of the issues that can negatively impact joints. So, it’s important for cat joint supplements to strengthen or repair that cartilage.
Glucosamine can be used for this purpose. It has two forms that can be used for joint care, both of which can be found in TRI-ACTA for Pets:
Another step to caring for joints, especially those that have already been compromised, is to stop further breakdown of the cartilage.
Chondroitin helps with this by inhibiting the enzymes that destroy cartilage.
It can be bovine or porcine sourced. It can also be sourced from sharks; however, this can have significant negative impacts on ocean ecosystems.
And finally, if your cat’s joint health is purr-fectly fine, there are still supplements available to you to make sure they stay that way.
For instance, our Tri-Acta for Pets supplements allow owners to be proactive in maintaining the health of their kitties’ joints.
A proactive approach for developing and younger adult pets to maintain optimal joint health mobility, minimize inflammation and fend off age-related ailments.
When you’re trying to pick the purr-fect joint supplement for your kitty, there are some considerations you’ll want to make that may differ slightly from what we took into account when creating this list.
Our considerations when creating this list were
You may have extra considerations that include:
When curating our list of the top cat joint supplements, we did pay attention to the reviews associated with different supplements.
Looking at ratings, though, doesn’t just mean that we looked at the highest-reviewed joint supplements and called it a day. Oh no.
First, we balanced the highest ratings with the number of reviews. A 5-star joint supplement with one review may not actually be as good as a 4.5-star supplement with thousands of reviews.
Next, we of course also looked at the ingredients …
We want to make sure we’re bringing you information on some of the best cat joint supplements, and not just the most popular. So we’ve also looked at the ingredients included in the supplements on our list.
We want to make sure we’re recommending supplements with less filler and more beneficial, joint-strengthening ingredients.
The ingredients in particular that we were looking for are:
Luckily, we’ve included the ingredients in the cat joint supplements we’ve listed below, so you can make an informed decision when perusing our list.
Different supplements will specialize in different joint benefits, as we’ve described above. When you’re picking the best cat joint supplement for your fuzzy little friend, you’ll want to make sure it’s targeting exactly what you need when it comes to joint care.
If it’s arthritis-symptom alleviation your cat needs, then make sure you’re purchasing a cat joint supplement that targets arthritis.
If it’s hip joint strengthening, then make sure you’re purchasing a cat joint supplement that targets hip joints.
And so on, and so forth.
But make sure you’re matching the joint care your kitten needs with the joint supplement you’re giving him or her.
The dosage you’ll be giving your cat may partially depend on the size of your cat. So when choosing a cat joint supplement, make sure the dosage of the medicinal ingredients is proportionate. You don’t want to over or under administer supplements to your cat.
This point goes along with the previous one, to an extent. Make sure you’re paying attention to the expiration date on your cat joint supplements, and do the math in your head if your cat will be able to finish, or mostly finish them by that date, given what would be the appropriate dosage for your cat.
In a perfect world, the cost would be no obstacle to giving your pets the best care possible.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world, and we understand that cost does come into play when choosing the best cat joint supplement.
We just ask that you balance quality with cost. Don’t give your little kitty poor-quality supplements just because they’re cheaper. You still need to ensure the supplements are going to work for what you (or your cat, more accurately) need them for.
One last thing to consider is how well your cat takes supplements, particularly pills, and how well your cat joint supplements can accommodate that.
Maybe there’s a certain flavour your cat likes. Maybe there’s a certain size you can hide in his or her food.
Whatever the trick you need to use, make sure to keep it in mind when you’re choosing cat joint supplements.
Otherwise, you’ll be creating a daily battle for yourself and your poor little furry family member.
This list of cat joint supplements has been curated using ratings on Google, and the ingredients listed. Cat joint supplements are listed in no particular order.
Of course we need to mention Integricare. In particular our best-selling joint supplement for cats and dogs, Tri-Acta H.A for Pets for the purposes of this list. Having no filler, only 100% active ingredients, and loaded with mobility and recovery benefits really set this one above the pack.
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Our maximum strength formula is optimally designed to accelerate the formation of cartilage, minimize inflammation, expedite the healing process, and improve joint conditions.
With two of four of our looked-for ingredients, and a rating of 4.6 stars on Google with nearly 5,000 reviews, GlycoFlex by VetriScience easily finds its way onto our list. Unlike TRI-ACTA, which uses 100% active ingredients, the filler in this product is the one major downside. But, chews could potentially make ingestion easier for your kitty.
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| Dosage/Serving Size | For the first 4 to 6 weeks, give 2 chews daily for 10 lbs of body weight after that give only 1 chew for every 10 lbs |
| Cost | $21.51 CAD for a package of 60 chews |
This cat joint supplement hits three of four of the ingredients on our list, and has 4.3 stars on Google with over 5,000 reviews, plus it’s another chewable joint supplement. Really, that makes it a shoe-in for our list, despite a large number of inactive ingredients, including yeast and two different types of flours.
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| Dosage/Serving Size | Recommended dose is two daily – you can double the dose for the first 4 weeks |
| Cost | $11.79 CAD for a package of 30 chews |
With this chewable cat joint supplement we have three of the four looked-for ingredients again, with a 4.4 stars on Google and over 1,000 reviews. Although this brand has several inactive ingredients, as well, it still earned its spot on our list.
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| Dosage/Serving Size | 1 chew daily for those 10 lbs and below
2 chews daily for those 11-39 lbs …etc for larger sizes The daily amount can be doubled for the first three weeks |
| Cost | $24.52 CAD for a 30-day supply of 70 chews |
Another NaturVet product to round out our list, this cat joint supplement hits on all four of the looked-for ingredients, and has 4.5 stars on Google with nearly 600 reviews. It still contains inactive ingredients (unlike Integricare’s Tri-Acta H.A.), but it’s clearly a well-formulated supplement that deserves to be on our list.
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*The daily amount can be doubled for the first three weeks |
| Cost | $29.99 CAD for a 30-day supply of 70 chews |
If you’re looking into supplements for your cats, you should speak to a vet to best decide what supplements would be best, especially considering their current diets, health, and any medications they may be on.
Joint supplements can absolutely work for cats. However, you’ll want to make sure you’re using the right supplements for your cats.
Obviously, we’ve listed some effective cat joint supplements above. However, if you’re unsure about what joint supplements would be best for your cat, don’t hesitate to reach out to your vet for advice.
We might be biased, but we think Integricare’s Tri-Acta and Tri-Acta H.A. joint supplements are the best for cats.
However, we have to admit that although some joint supplements are objectively better than others on the market, it’s also important you pick the joint supplement that’s best for your cat.
Again, we must reiterate, if you’re unsure about what joint supplements would be best for your cat, don’t hesitate to reach out to your vet for advice.
With our top picks for the best cat joint supplements, you’ll be able to keep your cat moving and grooving for years to come.
And just as a reminder, our top picks were:
If you’re interested in getting joint supplements for your pets, shop our collection of joint supplements for pets.
And if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to contact us.