Have you ever lived with a cat that had Arthritis?

Anne

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We are focusing on living with chronic diseases in cats this month, and I'm working on an article about Feline Arthritis. So, interviewing you, our community members


If your cat has Arthritis, or if you ever had a cat that suffered from Arthritis or Osteoarthritis, could you please share your experience with us in this thread -

1. What symptoms did/does your cat display?

2. What kind of treatment was/is provided?

3. What adjustments have you made to make life easier on the cat?

Please share the story in this thread in as much detail as you can. Pictures are always nice too!

Thank you!
 

skippymjp

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In her final years, Turvy Demeter (RB) suffered from arthritis in her hips.  She could still jump up on furniture and objects, but when she jumped down, she would sometimes make a little cry, or would "go to ground" for a few moments.  She was less social with the other cats too, acting kind of timid when they were around.  She would still cuddle and groom with them, but when the younger cats were in their rampunctious moods, she would stay well clear of them. 

After diagnosing that it was indeed arthritis, Dr. Cathy's first suggestion was Cosequin, which seemed to work quite well.  In fact, I have a photo somewhere of her even having jumped to the top of a kitchen cabinet a couple months after starting on her meds.  But I still made adjustments to make things easier for her.  One of her favorite past times was sitting on a window sill looking outside.  I bought some of those inexpensive plastic shelves from Target and arranged them in a "stair-step" pattern, so instead of having to jump from the floor to the window, she could get there with a series of small hops up the shelves, then had the extra wide top shelf to lay on.  I also got a few sections of drain tile, like a 10" plastic pipe about 4' long, to give her additional "hiding places" throughout the house for when  she wasn't feeling her best. 
 
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momofmany

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My old boy Stumpy had severe arthritis at the time he crossed last December just shy of 18 years old. The fact that he was the alpha cat in the house forced him to try to hide the discomfort of the disease for a long time, but I knew him well enough to see that he started feeling discomfort from the arthritis when he was about 15 years old. I have arthritis in my hands, so completely emphathized with him.

The goal in my household in general is to feed my kids a good quality diet and keep stress at a minimum. Stumpy had an auto-immune disease most of his life, and as he got really old, I added my special "Love and Cheese Danish" therapy to his daily routine. Love and Cheese Danish was a therapy I stumbled upon when an old dog of mine developed an aggressive cancer and was given 30 days to live. Eighteen months later, she died from an old age disease (stroke). On the day she returned from the vet after surgery, we discovered that she really loved cheese danish. We spoiled her with all the love and attention we could muster, and gave her any food she liked. We find every one of our kids "cheese danish" sweet spot when they become seriously ill, and we find that it makes them want to live longer. With Stumpy, his cheese danish was dog food, complete with glucosomine to help his arthritic condition. While arthritis is not necessarily a terminal condition, using the love and cheese danish treatment did help keep him comfortable. We also gave him glucosomine supplements.

In the last year of his life, Stumpy started having a really difficult time climbing up on things. We added step stools to key areas in the house (our bed and the food bowl) so that he could climb up on things. As alpha, he always wanted to be up high, and his arthritis prevented him from doing this. I had been making cat hammocks for many years and he spent a lot of time in those hammocks. Hammocks provide relief from pressure points when they sleep, and are considered ideal for any pet with arthritis. I had been pondering making multi-tier hammocks for a long time, so one day I figured out that if I kept stacking hammocks up taller and taller, Stumpy could stair step up to the top, and still have a comfortable place to sleep. I called this a Cat Condo, and have sold a lot of these online and at Cat Shows. He loved to drink water from the kitchen sink, so I placed a condo next to that counter so he could help himself to the sink. The Condo became a means for him to get up to high places, which is critically important to keep the stress levels low in an old alpha cat with arthritis issues.

Stumpy loved to drink water from the kitchen faucet:

Stumpy is on the second tier from the top:

One of his last visits to our old wood cat trees. He could no longer jump up from level to level when the arthritis got really bad:
 

ritz

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I fostered for around three months Twiddledee.  I removed him from the cat colony I help take care of  because he was holding up his front right paw, limping and not putting much weight on the paw. I didn't know if the paw/leg was broken, sprained or a muscle torns.  Also, I was concerned that he wouldn't be able to run fast enough to catch mice, dumpster dive or to escape predators (including dogs).

These symptoms disappeared as quickly as they appeared.  I did give him 1/4 baby aspirin every third day for a week or two. 

The initial vet visit was inconclusive; Tdee did not react to extensive manipulation of any limbs.  So the vet suggested I bring Tdee in when he was exhibiting the symptoms.  I did so and he showed some pain when the front right paw was stretched out; x-rays indicated arthritis.  I immediately gave him Cosequin.  I also put steps by the window that he could climb on--he never went on them. He was a happy, calm cat.  The only sign of pain was in fact his limping.

I ended up returning Tdee to the colony (long, sad story) and see him periodically.  Every once in a while I see him limping.  His weight is good, his affect the same.
 

cattails9

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Two of my current boys have arthritis type issues.  My 13 year old Lucky cat has a stiff hip.  My 6 year old Treeno has arthritis in his spine.    Both are doing so much better with the addition of Pet Kelp joint and bone formula supplement.  I also offer Pet Naturals Hip and Joint chews but they aren't big fans.  Sometimes they take them sometimes they don't.  the Pet Kelp turned my Treeno into a new cat in two weeks time!

For accodomations I have put furniture in a different arrangement so they, especially Lucky, don't have to jump to things and can almost step up.
 

stephanietx

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My Callie girl (RB 12/30/10) lived with arthritis for about 6 years.  One day, I noticed she was "gimpy", walking slowly, slight catch in her getalong, and no longer jumping on the counter to get a drink of water from the bathroom sink or jumping up in bed to sleep with me.  After an initial trip to the vet to check her out, x-rays confirmed some calcium build up in her hips, thus the "gimpyness" and slower than normal walking.  The vet gave her an injection to help decrease inflammation and suggested we give her Cosequin as needed.  She initially started out with one a day only when it was cold, but as she got older, we eventually gave her one a day, sometimes, twice a day if she was really struggling.  It took about a month to see how much the Cosequin helped her, but she was able to jump again and walk more easily.  As she got older, she also developed arthritis in her front paws (she had come to us declawed) and it made it difficult to cover in the litter box.  We learned to scoop more often.  A couple of years after her initial diagnosis, I got her a pet bed warmer as the heat would also help her move easier.  She loved it!!  To help her, we provided some kind of step, whether it be an actual step or a series of things she could jump on to get to her final destination.  That way, she didn't have to jump up as far or come down as hard on her paws either.  
 

ldg

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I'd like to chime in with Flowerbelle's story, because apparently it is quite common. Flowerbelle at the end of 2011 was 8 years old. She wasn't as active as she used to be at the time, but she was still running and playing. The kitchen counter (at the time) was off-limit to cats, but she's always had an issue with eating - I call it a kind of ADD about it. She gets distracted, and won't eat a full meal, even though she's hungry. I found that if I prepped her food first and let her eat on the counter while I fixed the other cats' meals, she would start and finish a meal. This is relevant to her arthritis story, because she never jumped straight from the floor to the countertop. We live in an RV, so the kitchen end where the living room begins - this means our couch is right next to the kitchen counter. Flowerbelle would jump up on the couch, jump to the back, and walk over to the counter.

We were at the vet with her for a different problem. She needed an x-ray. They "caught" her hips in the x-ray - and it showed that the ball joints of her hips are almost entirely gone. The vet then tested the pain in her legs when extending them, and she definitely displayed pain when they were fully extended. :(

The vet explained that most people just chalk up the lower activity of jumping to getting older, and in many instances, arthritis is discovered quite accidentally, before there are serious signs of mobility problems that make a diagnosis of arthritis somewhat obvious.

Flowerbelle's situation is complicated by high blood pressure and early stage asthma. The traditional treatments, Cosequin (glucosamine/chrondroitin) and/or hyaluronic acid are contraindicated. If on medication for blood pressure, anyone taking fish oil must be monitored closely for those first few months, but fish oil has been indicated to help with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. We put all of the cats on 500mg of salmon oil daily. I saw no change in Flowerbelle's mobility. There are indications that krill oil has different properties that have better benefit for arthritis. For Flowerbelle, that turned out to be the case. I switched her to 500mg of Neptune Krill oil (a patented, standardized form) daily. Within three days, she was jumping from the floor straight onto the countertop.

So far, we have had to make no changes in our set up to accommodate her arthritis. But we now have full body x-rays done at the cats' annual exams, as all of our cats are older (our youngest is now 6 or 7 years old).

In our home, because we have a handicapped cat (Ming Loy has cerebellar hypoplasia and can't jump), everything is already handicapped-cat accessible :lol3: so we wouldn't have to make any changes to the set-up to make special accommodations for an arthritic cat. There are single cat condo "steps" up to the bed and couch, stairs up to the front dash (in a house, the equivalent would be up to window seats), and several of the litter boxes - even though tall sided because we have "tall" peers - are set up so the cats step down into them. We don't have room in the RV for them, but when we lived in a house, the Deluxe Booda Dome litter boxes (covered boxes with steps up into the large litter box) were great for Ming Loy, and would be very easy for a cat with arthritis to use.

Flowerbelle does like hanging baskets/hammocks in which to sleep. Because of Amy's post, I now know why - no stress on the pressure points. She also LOVES sleeping on heated pads (or the heat ducts :lol3: ).
 
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Anne

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Thank you everyone for sharing. There's such a wealth of experience and knowledge in this community. 
Do keep the stories and pictures coming. I'll be using some of this in the article, and also linking to this thread for others to read in whole.
 

skippymjp

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I finally found one of the photos I had been looking for. The "Tupper Lair", as it was eventually called, started out as plastic shelves for Turvy Demeter to use as stairs and lounges because of her arthritis.  It was expanded and did double duty once Trace Tumblebrutus came to live with us.  It also suited him greatly, as he is missing his right rear leg.  

The Tupper Lair spread out with more shelves, and rubbermaid tubs with lids made into "Hidey Holes".  In this pic, Turvy Demeter is engaged in her most favorite pastime.  On the top shelf, laying in the sun.  :)   I added extensions to the tops of the leg sections to stick up higher than the top surface.  I had this paranoid fear of her stepping into one of the holes as she jumped down and breaking a leg.  So, I used to upright posts to prevent that.  For the rest of her life, everyone understood that she had the top shelf.  Other kittehs could use it, but if she hopped up, it was time to get down.  

 

nebula

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Smokie has had arthritis in his hips for several years now.

At the moment his best course of action is a baby aspirin every other day (per the vet instructions)

Now we do lots of things to cater to his needs. We always have a heating pad laying in his favorite chair on low - he loves the warmth.

We also make sure he has a water bowl in every room of the house so he does not have to walk far for water if he doesn't feel like it.

A lot of the time he will be fed and watered right on the couch with mommy!!

Other than that, he has free roam when and where he wants. When we pick him up, we do not "support" his hips as it hurts him.

Here's the baby looking out his favorite window.


Smokie & Mommy:


Smokie & Daddy:


Peek a boo!


Cheeky Kitty:

 

ruths4cats

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My old gal, Sabine, who is a month shy of 18, started showing signs of arthritis in her elbows about two years ago.  At first I noticed that she wouldn't jump to the counter to get water, so I moved the bowl to the floor.  Then she didn't want to get up on the bench where her heated kitty cup was placed, so I moved it to the floor, too.  I could tell that she was walking a bit stiffly, but not much else.  About a year ago, she started walking with a pronounced limp to her front right leg, which is where the arthritis is the worse.  During this time she gained a substantial amount of weight because of the lack of exercise, which doesn't help with the elbows, but getting her to lose weight has proved impossible because of all of her many medical issues and medications that seem to make her hungry all the time.  I put her on cosequin, which did wonders for about a month or two, but then the stiffness and limping came back. 

Last spring I built two sets of stairs going up to the bed - one on the side near me and the other at the end of the bed.  Every night when I get in bed she climbs the stairs and gets up on the bed.  During most nights she gets on and off the bed a couple of times via the stairs.  Last August she started having days that she didn't want to get out of bed and even refused to get up to use the box.  On these days I would let her sleep on the heated kitty pad, which seemed to help a bit.  My vet then put her on Buprenex for those days when the pain seemed to be the worse.  Usually a dose of Buprenex seems to make her feel better for a few days.  Luckily, she only needs the Buprenex one or twice a month at most.  I still giver her twice daily cosequin, but that is more because I don't want to see her backslide than any indication it is doing any good.  Most days she seems fine, although she really doesn't walk around her space except to eat, drink and use the box.  The rest of the time she reclines comfortably in the house I made for her on the floor which has a 4 inch memory foam pad covered by faux shearling.  I have recently looked into cold laser therapy and have found a vet near by that offers this service.  Sabine's vet thinks that she has a good chance of getting some relief from this therapy, which I hope to begin in April.
 

jennyr

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Dushka, though only 11 years old, has been on Cosequin for a year now after being diagnosed with arthritis in her joints and spine last summer. The first symptom I noticed was that she would sit holding a paw in the air for ages at a time - sometimes one, sometimes the other. Then she had trouble jumping up to the feeding trolley. So the vet checked it out at her annual exam. The Cosequin has made a big difference to her, though she is not as mobile as she was and spends most of her time on my lap or in my favourite chair. Woe betide any kitty that tries to dislodge her! She is as feisty as ever she was. The vet told me that if the Cosequin ceases to be effective, she should go on Metacam longterm, which for me is not an option (my views on Metacam for cats are well-known here). We will cross that bridge when we come to it, for now she is doing well..
 

peaches08

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I got my Grey kitty (gone now) as a kitten due to my horse stepping on her paw and degloving it. Emergency vet and another vet trip later (about $800), I kept the kitten! 15 years or so later she showed symptoms of arthritis (limping ). I tried MSM, Cosequin, and various other OTC remedies but nothing really seemed to help it. I asked the vet about Adequan and he checked into it. The company said it is fine for cats but they had not had it labeled for them. I gave her the loading dosages the first month and then maintenance dosaging after that. It really made a difference! I also got her a heated cat bed since her diabetes and CRF made her feel cold.

I highly recommend Adequan for horses and cats.
 

sweet sally2

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My old cat, Flaco, now at 14 years has just started to show signs of arthritis the past couple of years.  We tried the glucosamide, but it upset his stomach.  His bed is over a heated vent in the living room and when he wants up anywhere, he just tells me.  The same when he wants down.  He is stiff in the morning, but seems to do better during the day.  When I take him for his checkup this year, I am going to ask the vet if we need to provide him with any pain relief.
 

sam1am

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My Pat, who passed two years ago, started developing arthritis when she was nine - she didn't like jumping too high or going down stairs. She was a devon rex, which apparently are prone to it? She loved to sit on my electric blanket and draped over the hot parts of my computer! my vet proscribed baby asprin dissolved in her water too help, and it did seem to releive her.
 

endora

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March 5th and my baby Travis was just diagnosed with arthritis. The vet said pain meds, steroids, an other meds for the rest of his life which she said could only be up to two years.  He is 15 and she said he is in much pain. His behavior has changed alot. Can't touch him, brush him, jump, walking, playing all have become very difficult in the last 6 mths. We are moving to Florida in 3 wks and I fear the long trip will be more harmful to him, He's been wonderful, interesting, moody, lovable, enjoyable, cranky, funny and an all around good cat. Our decision was difficult, but we will say farewell to our Travis on Monday.... My heart is broken.
 

that guy

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My guy Scratchy started to get stiff in his joints when he was 18 years old and walked normally at first but I noticed it when he was lying down. He started to get very careful when he was lying down and then position himself and just drop. If I needed to keep him down I could stop him from getting on his front legs then he could not get up. Before this I had already made jump boxes to make it easier for him to jump on things that he liked. I put night lights everywhere so he could still see at night and be able to properly calculate jumps and not dump it. I could see when he jumped down he sometimes just stood there for a few seconds to a minute and then walk off and do whatever. As it progressed he started walking by almost rocking his hips and walking with little bending of the knees. when he was approaching 20 I had a set of stairs made for his litter box so he didn't have to climb over the lip and up and into it. He was also having problems cleaning himself properly and didn't do it as much as he did when he was younger. Se had a lot of old hair in his fur that was hard to get out because he was so skinny and it hurt to use a comb on him too much and a brush did nothing. When he was cleaning his head he could no longer get his paws over his head on his ears. He also stopped lying in my lap after a while and later on it was hard for him to be comfortable when he was lying down. I bought a bunch of different beds that were somewhere between firm and really soft to give him different choices of what to sleep on. He was also having issues going to the bathroom near the end because when he squatted to urinate he was not able to hold himself up as well as he used to be able to and would even fall over in the cat box. In the last month or so he started to go on a tile floor at the bottom of the stairs so I just let him go and cleaned up after him. He go so many sub-q's by that time that his urine was really watered down anyway so it was not a big deal. He did go up and down the stairs to do this so he would have gotten some exercise out of it. His jumps were not as well done in the end and he would dump it from time to time and he also would fall off of chairs and things so I had to keep a close eye on him. I ended up catching him a few times from falls when he was lying down and slipped and could not catch himself.

For me I first noticed it when he was taking longer to lie down so this is where the vet got involved. We had done x-rays for other issues and when we checked them we could see arthritis in his joints and calcium buildup. The first thing he got was a minimal dose of Buprenophine twice a day to help him manage the pain and also help manage his other issues. I remember when he first got the Buprenophine, after about 20 minutes he spun around on the blanket in the last pic and sat upright with his legs sticking for about half an hour just relaxing. This worked fairly well at first and then the dose increased as the signs of pain came back until he was maxed out on it. He also got monthly shots of Cartrophen which then increased to twice and month and then 1 a week. He had tried some Therabytes (sp?) which I got from the vet which was supposed to reduce joint pains but it was near the end so I can't really say for sure that they worked.

The Kong tent to the right had a nice firm memory foam pad so he liked that but because of the tent like shape it started getting hard for him to turn around in it.


This is Scratchy getting a sub-q, he is lying on a folded up large sheet that is sitting on top of 4" egg crate foam which was giving yet supportive.


This another view of the same spot with Scratchy sleeping after a sub-q. That is a blanket folded up on the chair and it is also sitting on 4" egg crate foam.

 
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