Just like humans, as cats get older they can suffer from degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis. Arthritis in cats is surprisingly common. In one research study, osteoarthritis was shown to affect 90% of cats over 12 years of age and in another study 61% of cats over six years old.
Feline osteoarthritis causes reduced mobility and flexibility of joints, joint swelling, bony changes around the joints and subsequent muscle loss due to reduced movement of the affected body part/s. Because it is a degenerative disease, the prevalence increases with age.
You may notice that your cat is sleeping more than usual, happier to hang around inside, no longer running through the house at 3am. As a vet, I hear many people say “they are just slowing down with age” but why do cats slow down as they age? Often it may be because everything starts to hurt and stiffen up. The energy and spirit are still there, the body just isn’t quite as willing as it used to be.
Rather than accepting that this is just a fact of life as our cats get older, we can intervene to reduce this stiffness and soreness and provide a better quality of life for our cats in their advancing years.
Signs of Osteoarthritis in Cats
Cats often don’t show the classical clinical signs of osteoarthritis. Instead, they adapt their lifestyle and behaviour to cope. This makes arthritis in cats very hard to diagnose, with the associated changes being extremely subtle. Despite being sore, your cat may still run in short bursts without obvious pain, lameness or change in gait which may give the impression that everything is fine.
Some behaviours give us a clue that our cats are hurting:
- Changes in jumping behaviour
Rather than jumping straight up to the table top, your cat may use intermediate objects to get up in steps. They may not jump up as high or as frequently; you may notice them considering or hesitating before jumping. They may misjudge the effort required to jump up on something and end up scrambling, pulling themselves up or falling. They may also be more reluctant to jump down from objects and walk their front legs down the table leg rather than just leaping off. - Reluctant to use stairs or slower going up and down stairs
- Choosing to rest in lower or easier to access spots
- Change in temperament – aggression when patted in certain areas or when being picked up, increased vocalisation
- Reduced grooming activity because of the pain associated with their usual grooming contortions
- Changes in toileting behaviour because it may hurt getting into or out of the litter tray or squatting to go to the toilet
- Muscle loss over the hind legs because they are not using the muscles as much – not as active and smaller steps.
The clinical signs will vary considerably between different cats and older cats may have other age-related diseases that complicate the diagnosis of osteoarthritis.
If you think your cat might be suffering from osteoarthritis, the first stop is a thorough checkup by your veterinarian. X-rays can help with the diagnosis but because of the typically subtle changes associated with feline arthritis, I believe that the information provided by an attentive owner is probably the best means of diagnosis – if you think there is a problem, there probably is. You know your cat best and know what’s normal and what isn’t.
Treating Osteoarthritis in Cats
Feline osteoarthritis is a chronic disease and as such, treatment is usually life-long. Treatment of arthritis in cats requires both lifestyle changes and combinations of medications to minimise side effects and maximise benefits.
Lifestyle Changes
Probably the biggest factor in management is weight control – every extra 100g is putting excess strain on already sore joints. Moderate activity should be encouraged, to maintain flexibility and movement in joints and to prevent muscle loss. Physiotherapy in cats is challenging – although you can try encouraging play activity or throwing treats across the room to make them run. Make sure they have sleeping places lower down that they don’t have to jump up to get to and provide ramps.
Medications for Cats with Arthritis
There are a number of different classes of medications used to control chronic pain in cats. The best response is to a combination of different treatments. Before starting medications, it is advisable to check for any concurrent diseases, especially kidney disease, since this can influence treatment considerably.
Check out the short video below:
Joint Protectants
Safe, cheap and easy to give, they are useful for early or mild disease and in combination with pain relief. They increase the lubrication and therefore flexibility of joints and many animals respond very well to these medications. Joint protectants include fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin and specially formulated arthritis diets. I have also found pentosan injections to be very useful, so it is worth discussing this option with your vet.
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
These are the mainstay of arthritis treatment in cats – they provide excellent pain relief and also reduce swelling and inflammation in diseased joints. However they have the potential for serious side effects (including kidney damage, ulceration in the gut and bleeding tendencies) if not used correctly, especially if concurrent disease such as kidney disease is present. It is worth being aware of these side effects but this should not discourage their use.
The use of NSAIDs in chronic kidney disease is controversial, but many feline specialists are now comfortable using these drugs in cats with stable disease and at reduced doses. I personally do not believe that the presence of kidney disease is justification for leaving a cat in chronic pain from osteoarthritis. As a general rule, it is best to be conservative with NSAIDs and gradually reduce the dose to the lowest effective dose. NSAIDs should not be given if your cat is unwell and accurate dosing is critical. They should be given with a full meal to reduce the risk of gut ulceration and cats on chronic treatment should receive regular check ups and monitoring from your veterinarian, both by examination and blood and urine tests. The frequency of check ups varies depending on whether your cat has concurrent disease.
Other Medications
Other pain relief medications are also available for more severe disease, such as opiates (similar to morphine) and others. These medications can also have side effects, especially drowsiness, and are not formulated properly for cats so can be fiddly to give and bitter tasting. It is best to discuss these options with your vet and use them in conjunction with lifestyle changes, joint protectants and NSAIDs.
So what’s the short answer?
Osteoarthritis is common in cats and difficult to diagnose. I personally believe that since we can’t ask our cats if they’re in pain, we are best erring on the side of caution and providing pain relief on any suspicion of pain (if in doubt, do a short-term treatment trial). Imagine being constantly in pain with no way to communicate that and never getting any relief.
However I know that other vets disagree with this opinion and think NSAIDs should only be used when obvious pain exists. Osteoarthritis should be treated from multiple angles, including weight loss, moderate activity, joint protectants and NSAIDs if suitable.
Older cats should receive regular check ups from their veterinarian and if on any long-term medications, should additionally have regular monitoring via blood and urine tests. Pay attention to what your cat is telling you and know that there are options available to manage this insidious condition and maintain your cat’s quality of life through their senior years.
Great information! One of my cats, who is just two, has luxating patellas, so I have been told that she will be prone to arthritis, even at an early age. When her knees pop out of joint, I can tell that she is having trouble, but when the are in place she always just goes full force for everything. I wish I could tell her that she needs to be gentle on herself all the time to prevent her knees from popping out and to help her joints. I always try to be gentle with her when putting her down – I don’t ever let her jump from my arms, I always place her on the ground. And if I see her up somewhere high (like on top of the kitchen cabinets), I always pick her up and put her down rather than letting her jump down. I also use a glucosamine supplement in her food. I just hope her arthritis doesn’t get too bad very early on!
Good article. My little Carmine developed OA when he was 6 years old, and I was shocked to see the changes in him. It was when I noticed him not getting up high anymore and sleeping a lot more than usual that I took him to our vet, and arthritis is not the first thing she thought of, so I had to take him three times before an x-ray revealed the problem. Thankfully he is on Cosequin for cats, which has helped him tremendously. He acts like a kitten again, and he’s 9 now 🙂
This doesn’t just apply to older cats, it also applies to younger kitties who have had an injury. We have one with a bum ACL who has all of these symptoms. With the right supplements (which she takes daily) you wouldn’t notice anything wrong with her knee other than the way she sits.
You are exactly right! Any previous injuries to the joints or skeleton can lead to arthritis and pain developing at an early age. Slowing down the progression of the disease is key – it’s much easier to slow damage down than to try to fix it once it’s already happened. It’s great to hear your girl responds so well to her supplements :).
A wonderful and very helpful post; sharing and bookmarking! I have been so lucky to have had two cats live into their late teens with on osteoarthritis and very little arthritis at all.
Thank you for an informative article. I’ve seen some changes in my elderly girl lately – she’s almost 15 years old. I had put it down to just ‘old age’, but think now I’ll get her checked out by my local vet to see if it is OA and if it is, how we can best relieve some of her joint pain. I’m so glad I read this!
My cat is five years old and after reading your article I wonder if he has arthritis. He has slowed down a little over the last 6-12 months and during winter I noticed that he limped occasionally, especially after getting up from a nap. He has also been a bit grumpier than usual when I’ve picked him up – although it’s hard to tell, cause he’s never really liked being picked up for cuddles anyway. Can cats as young as five also get arthritis? I always thought it only affected much older cats.
Unfortunately some cats can develop OA at a very young age so it is definitely a possibility in a 5 year old cat. Particularly if they had any injuries as a kitten (as another reader rightfully pointed out in another comment). Just like people, some animals have excellent joints and others take the hits a bit harder. I would recommend getting your cat checked over for any medical issues including arthritis and discuss a treatment trial with anti-inflammatories with your vet, or consider joint supplements. Keep an eye out as we head into winter as well (if you’re in the southern hemisphere) as arthritis is often worse in winter.
Very interesting. I wonder why it is that so many cats develop OA. I’m one of those people that tends to prefer holistic and preventative routes to health care, so I wonder if there are any ways to prevent or slow the progress of OA. Now you’ve got me thinkin’ 🙂 That’s dangerous LOL
There are plenty of great and holistic ways to slow down the onset and progression of arthritis symptoms. Just like in people, limit exercise that puts a lot of strain on joints e.g. if you notice your cat jumping down from a height a lot, maybe provide steps so they have the option to take smaller jumps with a less forceful landing. Many of the premium cat foods have been formulated for joint health so ensuring your cat is on a good quality cat food will definitely help. Additionally there are plenty of supplements out there – although not clinically proven, these are cheap, safe and easy to give so I’m fairly supportive of their use. Fish oils, joint diets, glucosamine supplements, osteoease type supplements, these are all good choices. If in doubt, talk to your vet :).
Great information! Especially for people with older cats.
Thanks for sharing. Our family uses glucosamine for our older kitties and that works very well. Our vet also provides laser therapy for cats and dogs. Although our kitties haven’t needed it, our vet has seen really good results with laser therapy. Purrz, Katie Kat.