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Hi,
Our cat Molly, who is about 14 years old, has been getting monthly Solensia injections for about a year. She has very bad arthritis. She also gets Gabapentin twice a day and hyperthryoid meds. Recently, I noticed her ankle joints were crazy swollen. I took her to the vet where they had planned to do an x-ray. When we arrived, the vet told me their machine was broken and we'd have to do the x-rays another time. Anyway, they had me leave her there for a couple hours so the doctor could take a look at her. When it was time to pick her up she told me she suspected it is Septic Arthritis or Mediated Polyarthritis. They told me the Septic Arthritis is usually from an injury from another cat, but she hasn't had any injuries and hasn't been in contact with other cats except our own who are all indoor cats. Molly will sometimes go out in the backyard with us during the summer, but that's it. She just likes to roll on the pavement and lay in the sun. It's winter so she hasn't gone outside. (She used to belong to my parents and they let her outside, which is why we allow her to go in the backyard with us.) The vet said she wanted to start her on antibiotics and if that helps, we would probably do another round of antibiotics and also add steriods. However, she said that we wouldn't know if they were working until day 14. She started the antibiotics on Sunday evening (it's now Tuesday). She said if we started with steriods and itisn't IS septic arthritis, it could make it worse, which was her reasoning for not starting them yet.
I'm wondering if it is Mediated Polyarthritis, which is an autoimmune response, if it could be that her body is reacting to the Solensia injections? I did ask the vet this, but she said she couldn't find anything about that and I couldn't either. Does anyone have any experience with either of these? The doctor also recommends we stop the Solensia injections, which I agree with.
In addition to her hind hocks (ankle joints), her front elbows are also swollen. I also noticed her standing super weirdly a day before we took her to the vet with her sort of walking/standing on her front ankle occasionally. I will show pictures below. She isn't really acting any different. She's still getting up to use the bathroom, eating/drinking normally, peeing/pooping normally and not vomiting. She does sleep a lot, but before the solensia injections, she was basically not moving at all aside from going to the litterbox. Now she at least moves locations throughout the day. Here are the photos.
NORMAL
NOT NORMAL
For the record, she's not fully walking on her front ankle like that, but every once in a while it will go to this position, mostly when she's just sitting and only for a few seconds and occasionally when she is walking. Over the past year or so, I have noticed sometimes when she sits her ankle sort of quivers for a few seconds, but I've never been able to get a video of it. Any input or other ideas or if you think I should have the vet do something further besides just going back for x-rays would be very much appreciated. We don't have unlimited funds and we already have another cat going through a lot of our funds right now, but I also don't want to do Molly any injustice by not taking this as seriously as her brother's health issues. Thank you in advance.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the vet said that neither of these options have anything to do with her actual arthritis.
Our cat Molly, who is about 14 years old, has been getting monthly Solensia injections for about a year. She has very bad arthritis. She also gets Gabapentin twice a day and hyperthryoid meds. Recently, I noticed her ankle joints were crazy swollen. I took her to the vet where they had planned to do an x-ray. When we arrived, the vet told me their machine was broken and we'd have to do the x-rays another time. Anyway, they had me leave her there for a couple hours so the doctor could take a look at her. When it was time to pick her up she told me she suspected it is Septic Arthritis or Mediated Polyarthritis. They told me the Septic Arthritis is usually from an injury from another cat, but she hasn't had any injuries and hasn't been in contact with other cats except our own who are all indoor cats. Molly will sometimes go out in the backyard with us during the summer, but that's it. She just likes to roll on the pavement and lay in the sun. It's winter so she hasn't gone outside. (She used to belong to my parents and they let her outside, which is why we allow her to go in the backyard with us.) The vet said she wanted to start her on antibiotics and if that helps, we would probably do another round of antibiotics and also add steriods. However, she said that we wouldn't know if they were working until day 14. She started the antibiotics on Sunday evening (it's now Tuesday). She said if we started with steriods and it
I'm wondering if it is Mediated Polyarthritis, which is an autoimmune response, if it could be that her body is reacting to the Solensia injections? I did ask the vet this, but she said she couldn't find anything about that and I couldn't either. Does anyone have any experience with either of these? The doctor also recommends we stop the Solensia injections, which I agree with.
In addition to her hind hocks (ankle joints), her front elbows are also swollen. I also noticed her standing super weirdly a day before we took her to the vet with her sort of walking/standing on her front ankle occasionally. I will show pictures below. She isn't really acting any different. She's still getting up to use the bathroom, eating/drinking normally, peeing/pooping normally and not vomiting. She does sleep a lot, but before the solensia injections, she was basically not moving at all aside from going to the litterbox. Now she at least moves locations throughout the day. Here are the photos.
NORMAL
NOT NORMAL
For the record, she's not fully walking on her front ankle like that, but every once in a while it will go to this position, mostly when she's just sitting and only for a few seconds and occasionally when she is walking. Over the past year or so, I have noticed sometimes when she sits her ankle sort of quivers for a few seconds, but I've never been able to get a video of it. Any input or other ideas or if you think I should have the vet do something further besides just going back for x-rays would be very much appreciated. We don't have unlimited funds and we already have another cat going through a lot of our funds right now, but I also don't want to do Molly any injustice by not taking this as seriously as her brother's health issues. Thank you in advance.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the vet said that neither of these options have anything to do with her actual arthritis.
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