So, I have an elderly mog (estimated 12+) who started having muscular spasms and struggling with mobility in June – back legs wobbling, not jumping, avoiding stairs, sleeping in strange places. We went to the vet and I pushed for bloodwork, urinalysis etc because I suspected the vet would blame it on all on arthritis and age and that felt like a cop-out to me.
Anyway, in the end - the tests were clear and the diagnosis was arthritis / degenerative joint disease with poor range of motion in the back legs.
We got Loxicom as a repeat medication and four weeks in, it feels like we’re back to square one. Despite the painkillers she stays in one room all day and night, won’t come downstairs, won’t do anything she used to do (like jumping on the windowsills or going out in the garden etc). She has completely stopped eating any kind of ‘cat food’ and will now only eat fresh meat – cooked chicken, roast beef, turkey etc - which has to be served to her in bed and is costing me a fortune.
I don’t know if the issue is:
- Loxicom isn’t working (and I should ask for something stronger)
- it’s causing side-effects , gastric issues etc which are upsetting her
- it’s working too well and zonking her out / making her half-sleep all the time.
Today I carried her downstairs and put her on her windowswill and she ran away and back upstairs at the speed of sound as though she’d seen the Devil in the window. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The food thing is bizarre as well. Abandoned all her usual wet food but eats chicken, turkey, beef, steak etc like there is no tomorrow so it can’t be that, right?. I always felt that arthritis was a total catch-all cop-out and my opinion hasn’t changed but the tests don’t show any other problems. God knows. I don’t know what she wants, I can’t seem to make her happy and I’m fed up.