Arthritis?

[Horsemad]

My lovely girl is getting progressively stiffer when she walks. 😟 We have a vet appt booked for next week, so hopefully we can get her sorted.

Does anyone here have a cat with arthritis? What has the vet prescribed?

There are quite a few different options now for cats with arthritis and cats do do very well on medication.

That's good to know, thanks!

We had a VERY elderly cat with awful arthritis. She couldn’t have metacam due to previous stomach surgery. Ended up on tramadol and it was amazing. We also bought her a whelping pad. Like a little electric butt warmer that she loved in colder weather!

Aah, hope whatever medication mine gets helps as much. 🙂

It made such a massive difference to her. She was a semi long haired and I still groomed her daily as she couldn’t but she was leaping up to places she hadn’t reached in a long while. And when we switched on her butt warmer you could see her visibly unfurl too. But then she was a very old lady by then!!

Can't have a heated pad in her bed as there isn't a socket nearby but I do leave the heating on in there overnight, so she's kept comfy. 🙂

Our cat had two hot water bottles at night. You can drape a light fleece over them too.

You can buy ones you microwave! But madam used to like to settle on the back of the sofa. So the plug in one was ideal.

@Fluffycloudland77 did you fill the bottles from the kettle or hot water tap? I guess either would be ok just so long as not too hot.

@Wolfiefan, I will Google microwaveable heat pads, thanks.

Kettle but then covered in a big fleece blanket.

My laddie has it and no medication but does have acupuncture in batches of fifteen minutes a week for four weeks. I notice the difference in his limp after the sessions, he is also calmed a little by it. Cat is 13 but still charges round the house like the big furry toddler he is

Acupuncture! Hadn't even considered that. 🙂

@Horsemad

Acupuncture! Hadn't even considered that. 🙂

Defo worth asking if your vet practice has a member of staff trained in it. Two years now he's been getting it and only rarely prescribed meds, just when really bad

@Smokeybacon72, yep I will. How long does it last before he's needing more acupuncture?

@Horsemad roughly every four months. It also covered by his insurance not that it very expensive, bout £45 per session

Sounds brilliant, I will ask when I'm there next week.

I’ve been using Yumove for nearly 3 months with my 13 year old girl. She hadn’t been diagnosed by a vet but was showing symptoms. She seems to be more agile.

@Horsemad good luck hope you get something to help your lovely wee cat, It horrible seeing them in pain

Thanks @Smokeybacon72.

My old girl had arthritis plus spondylosis. She was on gabapentin which helped for a few years but sadly she got worse and it was beginning to affect her going to the toilet as she couldn't crouch low enough.

@Catname, sorry, my reply to you didn't post last night. I haven't heard of Yumove, glad your cat seems to have improved on it.

@Plump82, that sounds painful for her, poor girl.

It's horrible when you suddenly realise the cat is no longer a spring chicken. Mine's approx 10.5, she came to us as a stray so we don't know her exact age. We've had her 9 yrs and she is starting to look a bit old - although that might be due to her moving slowly with the stiffness, her face looks quite youthful. 🙂