My cat has arthritis...

[Shaboba]

...and bless her, she's still trucking. My 13-year-old obese kitty is newly arthritic. Wondering if any fellow cat people with elderly cats have any advice on anything I can do to make her life a bit easier?

[daglob]

I have one live to 20, but it was all her doing. She nearly died as a kitten, and just refused to pass on. She had arthritis in her back legs, so I got a kitty condo-thingie she could climb up on easily and step from there to the couch. Like the version here but without the perch:

http://coolkittycondos.com/cat-condos/grreat-choice%C2%AE-kitty-condo-with-perch/

If she gets up on the bed, do something similar (I had a chest at the foot of the bed she could climb up on).

My cat wasn't an alpha female, she was queen.

[BentonGrey]

Awesome.  I'm glad your cat is still going strong.  We're very much cat people in the Grey household and had an old campaigner for years and years.  I think DG's advice is good.  That's more or less what we did.  Also, be sure you take whatever advice your vet gives.

[daglob]

Oh, don't let the cat know what you are doing.

If you don't have a cat, you will think I'm being silly. If you have a cat...

[BentonGrey]

Ha!  True.