Joint pain in cats can be caused by a variety of underlying causes including injury, illness or age related changes to the joints. It is essential that owners are able to recognise the subtle and early signs of pain or joint discomfort in our feline friends, to ensure they receive adequate care and management.
Sadly, cats with joint pain often go unnoticed, as they will rarely limp or cry in pain. This can significantly impact their quality of life, as it makes day-to-day activities such as walking, climbing or using their litter tray more challenging.
It is reported on average that 40% of all cats will have clinical signs of osteoarthritis, that go undiagnosed and under treated, as the signs are often dismissed as a “normal” ageing process.
Therefore, we at Vetsy want to highlight the typical symptoms and ensure our feline friends don’t suffer!
Arthritis is a general term that refers to inflammation of a joint. This may be caused by injury, infection to the joint itself, illness or degeneration of the joint.
Types of arthritis include:
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that tends to affect older cats. It leads to loss of cartilage and synovial fluid within the joint over time, causing the bones to painfully rub together. Obesity and previous injury to the affected joints are potential risk factors, that can increase the likelihood of OA developing.
OA is a chronic condition that cannot be cured or reversed but can be slowed and managed carefully.
Though there are multiple types and underlying causes of arthritis, most cases have similar symptoms, which include:
If you detect any of the above mentioned symptoms in your cat, we advise consulting a vet, to see if we can diagnose the cause of pain and restricted mobility. Through Vetsy we can perform a video gait assessment, to review your cats mobility levels and detect subtle signs of discomfort.
We may suggest x-rays to determine the extent of joint disease. Blood tests can also be valuable to rule out concurrent medical concerns, which may influence our medical management.
Alternatively, we can perform a pain trial on a particular medication to review what effect this has on your cats daily activities and overall mobility.
Based on your cats assessment, we can create a treatment plan specifically tailored for you. Treatment options include;
With appropriate management of osteoarthritis, cats can live a long, happy life. How long often depends on how advanced the disease is, therefore it is key to detect those early and subtle signs, so we can intervene sooner rather than later.
If you worry your cat is displaying symptoms of arthritis or joint pain, please do not hesitate to consult with a Vetsy vet today.
