Do any of you give your cat a monthly injection for pain?

[RottingInBed]

Hello

My 17/18yr old girl has hyperthyroidism and stage 1-2 kidney disease. She's on meds but her weight is slowly dropping. (Am trying a few things here eg tweaking her diet)

On a phone call, the vet suggested she might be suffering from arthritis/muscle wasting, just based on the weight loss. (And general slowing down, I haven't noticed any other signs of possible pain).

She suggest we give her a monthly injection "just in case" she is in pain.

Just looking for any thoughts or experiences. Is there any downside to giving a painkiller "just in case". (Our next in-person appt is in a couple of weeks)

Thanks

Our 16 year old girl has a monthly injection of Solensia for her arthritis , and it definitely helps her mobility.
The vet tried other remedies for about 6 months when the arthritis was diagnosed, so we didn’t feel pushed into opting for the injections .

Arthritis is often missed in older cats so it's definitely worth trialling pain meds. Often the deterioration is so slow we don't really notice, but pain meds can give a new lease of life.

Thanks both, sounds like it would be well worth trying.

The last 6 months have been a steep learning curve in how to look after an elderly cat! I just wish I had studied vet medicine so I knew I wasn't missing anything!

Helped my cat.

6-weekly injections for arthritis turned our 14 year old cat back into a kitten! Also very good quality food for seniors made a big difference.

If they mean steroids rather than painkillers (or both), the only potential downside I can think of could be you end up with a rampant eating machine with the zoomies.

Or they don't work because it isn't pain or lack of appetite. But that's not really a downside as it'll identify what isn't the cause - and you'll know she isn't in pain.

Yep, also use Solensia for our 15 yo. It has definitely helped the obvious sings of pain, but she is still losing power and balance slowly. She will jump and run as usual and doesn’t exhibit pain when doing so, but does occasionally lose her balance and fall off things.

edited to say, we started at 4 weeks and built up to 6 weeks.

Solensia gave my late cat a year of good quality life. He died last year aged 18, I believe I knew the right time when he didn't lift his head to greet us one morning. But up until then, he was still happy.

Can I ask if Solensa is suitable for cats with kidney failure? We have a cat with painful joints as well as CKD. We have treated him with Loxicam which improves his quality of life enormously but isn't great for the long term so just wondered if there is anything else we can try

Do check with your vet @Puppylucky but I’m fairly sure our vet said Solensia was good for our old boy as it doesn’t go through the kidneys.

I think something like 80% of cats over the age of 12 have arthritic changes in their joints, it's just they hide pain incredibly well so most owners don't realise their cats are struggling.

Our cat was diagnosed young (age 8) and we debated the injections but ultimately we decided to trial him on a daily dose of Metacam. We noticed a difference almost overnight and he's been on it for seven months now without issue.

However if your cat has kidney issues, Metacam may not be suitable which is why the vet suggested Solensia. I would have a good read up about it though, as there can be nasty side effects that I wouldn't necessarily want to inflict on an elderly cat.