Major arthritis in my elderly cat. Any advice would be welcome.

[Vanhorne86]

Hello, my Siamese is nearly 15 years old and has arthritis in his lower spine and back legs. He'd been stiff for a while and unable to jump on things anymore so he started a course of Loxicom (daily) which initially seemed to help but in the last week, he's been wobbly and finding it harder to jump even low heights. Anyway, just over a day ago in the middle of the night, he started showing clear signs of pain, he couldn't put pressure on his back legs or walk so I took him to the vet asap and they think it might be a flare up due to a bad landing or something. He managed to walk a bit at the vet but still wobbly and in pain.

However, they gave him Buprenorphine which they said was a strong painkiller but it's honestly done nothing and he kind of seems worse this morning but they just keep telling me to wait a few days which is hard because he's in pain and also isn't eating/drinking/going to the toilet. He's also had a green lipped mussel supplement for the last 3 days which I was hoping would help.

Does anyone have any experience with feline arthritis and flare ups? I'm really worried about my boy.

 

[Kieka]

Supplements usually take a few days to start working fully, sometimes a week or more. So it isn't a surprise that the mussels aren't helping. If you have access to cosequin, that might be a little more effective then the mussels alone buy it still takes a few days to do anything.

It is a little concerning that the buprenorphine is not working though. Is it really is a pretty powerful pain reliever. Is he actually still in pain or is he foggy from the pain medicine? My boy gets agitated and sleepy on buprenorphine, but he does get pain relief. But someone might mistake him as still in pain because he gets so edgy on it. If your cat really is still in pain though, you need to go back to the vet.

The supplements help by reducing inflammation some but in severe cases they can take a while to really help (if they ever do, some cats won't get relief from your typical OTC supplements). They basically won't help with a flare and are to prevent flares not treat the. But if the pain medicine isn't touching the pain that makes me worry it is something more than arthritis or the pain medicine isn't the right choice for your cat. Did they take xrays? Did they run blood work? If they didn't do either of those I would go back and ask for further testing to make sure this really is an arthritis flare. Especially if he isn't eating/drinking/using the litter box I would classify this as an emergency situation because with his age it won't take long for this to get worse.

Please see your vet now and let us know how it goes.

 

[di and bob]

I would definitely supply him with some 'steps' of some kind to reach favored spots. A heated bed or cat heating mat covered with a small fleece blanket would help tremendously too. As cats age, like with people, their circulation slows and they need to be kept very warm. Warmth definitely helps arthritis. He needs to eat to keep up his strength and fight this, feed him anything he will eat at this stage. My Burt absolutely loved Arby's roast beef. I get Hartz Delectable Lickable treats in the stew flavors in the pouch to tempt my cats when they quit eating, I also give their meds in it. some people have good luck with human meat baby food too. Your little one needs to be kept fairly still if, at all possible, a heated bed/mat might keep him in one spot longer. All the luck!

 

[Vanhorne86]

I would definitely supply him with some 'steps' of some kind to reach favored spots. A heated bed or cat heating mat covered with a small fleece blanket would help tremendously too. As cats age, like with people, their circulation slows and they need to be kept very warm. Warmth definitely helps arthritis. He needs to eat to keep up his strength and fight this, feed him anything he will eat at this stage. My Burt absolutely loved Arby's roast beef. I get Hartz Delectable Lickable treats in the stew flavors in the pouch to tempt my cats when they quit eating, I also give their meds in it. some people have good luck with human meat baby food too. Your little one needs to be kept fairly still if, at all possible, a heated bed/mat might keep him in one spot longer. All the luck!

Thank you, he has steps already up to his radiator bed which is where he's spending 99% of his time at the moment. I've been taking bowls of chicken and tuna sandwich paste to him in his bed so he doesn't have to move and I have his lower half covered with a blanket. He's just sitting there all day at the moment.

 

[Vanhorne86]

Supplements usually take a few days to start working fully, sometimes a week or more. So it isn't a surprise that the mussels aren't helping. If you have access to cosequin, that might be a little more effective then the mussels alone buy it still takes a few days to do anything.

It is a little concerning that the buprenorphine is not working though. Is it really is a pretty powerful pain reliever. Is he actually still in pain or is he foggy from the pain medicine? My boy gets agitated and sleepy on buprenorphine, but he does get pain relief. But someone might mistake him as still in pain because he gets so edgy on it. If your cat really is still in pain though, you need to go back to the vet.

The supplements help by reducing inflammation some but in severe cases they can take a while to really help (if they ever do, some cats won't get relief from your typical OTC supplements). They basically won't help with a flare and are to prevent flares not treat the. But if the pain medicine isn't touching the pain that makes me worry it is something more than arthritis or the pain medicine isn't the right choice for your cat. Did they take xrays? Did they run blood work? If they didn't do either of those I would go back and ask for further testing to make sure this really is an arthritis flare. Especially if he isn't eating/drinking/using the litter box I would classify this as an emergency situation because with his age it won't take long for this to get worse.

Please see your vet now and let us know how it goes.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm assuming that he's still in pain just because he tried to get up about 30 mins ago and was still very crouched at the back and wobbly/slow when trying to walk. I put him in his tray and he managed to do a poo which was good and I've been taking bowls of sandwich paste to him in bed which he's been eating. He's not been drinking though so I've used a syringe to get some fluids into him. He seems very tired. They didn't do any X-Rays or bloods, I'm going to ask them about that when I talk to them tomorrow. They've said I need to give the painkillers a proper chance to work, he's had 3 doses now, the last one being 5 hour ago. This sucks tbh.

 

[Kieka]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm assuming that he's still in pain just because he tried to get up about 30 mins ago and was still very crouched at the back and wobbly/slow when trying to walk. I put him in his tray and he managed to do a poo which was good and I've been taking bowls of sandwich paste to him in bed which he's been eating. He's not been drinking though so I've used a syringe to get some fluids into him. He seems very tired. They didn't do any X-Rays or bloods, I'm going to ask them about that when I talk to them tomorrow. They've said I need to give the painkillers a proper chance to work, he's had 3 doses now, the last one being 5 hour ago. This sucks tbh.

If he is eating and drinking some then it is a little better. My cat also has arthritis, his is from a broken leg that was rebroken when he was two years old. His leg developed arthritis by the time he was 4 and we've been managing it for the last 3 years. The biggest thing with arthritis is ensuring you keep ahead of it. If you use supplements, they have to be everyday all the time to keep the symptoms from getting bad. My boy gets his supplment every single day and I adjust it slightly with changing seasons when the weather causes him more issues. Although, I don't know if I agree with the vet about it taking 3 doses to see improvement with pain medication. But that is just based on my own experience with cats who have been injured.

I'd still feel more comfortable with at least an xray to confirm it really is an arthritis flare. I know the xray can't show beyond confirming he does have arthritis. But at least it can rule out other issues that could be causing the pain by proving that it is not something else. Siamese can be more prone to hip problems too which I would worry he might have done more then cause a flare of arthritis. Two years ago my boy was in extreme pain and they thought it could be a displaced hip because he is a seal point and Siamese are prone to hip problems (my boy is not siamese but vets aren't great at cat breeds). Also did blood work and ruled out all sorts of possibilities over a few days trying to figure out what was wrong. Turned out my boy was constipated and it took another xray to identify it because they were so focused on the joints. I doubt you are in the same place but the point is that sometimes something can present different, especially in cats with existing known problems the vet can jump to an assumption.