Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

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I love cats—actually, I love all animals, but especially cats—in fact, I adopted a cheetah. Yes, a cheetah! His name is Echo and he lives at the Australia Zoo. Look how handsome:


Now, we’ve all heard that pets can make us feel better, but can a cat be a personal trainer? Well, Libby Sentz’s cat has certainly got her moving. Poked & Prodded has more:

I know that people and their pets are supposed to end up looking alike, but limping alike? I found out last week that she shares my diagnosis—severe osteoarthritis of the hips.


Mine is so bad that I’ll need a hip replacement eventually. But somehow she’s been doing a much better job than I am with managing her symptoms…

…My feline friend is setting such a good example that I’ve been motivated to develop my own take-care-of-myself routine. I’ll call it the Wonder-Kitty Plan.

1. After hitting snooze in the mornings, I will put my heating pad on my hip. (My cat sleeps there, so this will help her too.)
2. I will begin my stretches in bed, just like she does.
3. When she starts hopping around and climbing bookshelves, I will roll right into the tedious strengthening exercises that physical therapists of surgeries past have urged me to stick with.
4. I will take my supplements with breakfast when she takes hers.
5. And once a week I will shell out for some form of manual therapy. Or maybe I can bribe my husband to massage the kitty and me together.

Makes sense to me, I used to spend plenty of time exercising with my cat—chasing her butt around the house!