older cat with possible arthritis

I swear, when it rains it pours... just as we might be getting one
cat's conjunctivitis under control, another cat gets happy time with the
vet
My cat Spam is about 13 years old. When he was a kitten, he had
apparently been left outside in the cold and it caused some damage in
his hind legs. (At least that's what the shelter suspected was the
cause.) We've kept him as an indoor cat and he's gotten vet checkups,
but the vet we used to go to didn't ever seem concerned. She just
thought he might get arthritic as he got older. As he's gotten older
he's slowed down, and recently he can't seem to get into the cat pans.
I've got a vet appointment for Tuesday but, since I suspect he is
arthritic, what kind of treatment can I expect? Any ideas about this
would be appreciated, thanks!

Stacia

If it's arthritis the vet may recommend putting the kitty on Cosequin or
something similar. Some Sr. foods contain the Glucosamine Chondroitin which
would be a lot easier than having to pill the cat. There isn't much that can
be given for pain long term. My vet had given us some Prednisolone for my
arthritic old girl but I can't say it helped her very much and she wasn't
supposed to be on it all the time just when things got bad. A different vet
gave us some Arnica Montana which seemed to reduce her pain. It must have
helped because last winter she's ask for it. I've heard some cats have
gotten relief with acupuncture.

My girl was 15 when her arthritis acted up so if you get your younger cat on
the GC now he might have an easier time of it.

Good luck with your kitty

W

"Glitter Ninja" wrote in message
...
I swear, when it rains it pours... just as we might be getting one
cat's conjunctivitis under control, another cat gets happy time with the
vet
My cat Spam is about 13 years old. When he was a kitten, he had
apparently been left outside in the cold and it caused some damage in
his hind legs. (At least that's what the shelter suspected was the
cause.) We've kept him as an indoor cat and he's gotten vet checkups,
but the vet we used to go to didn't ever seem concerned. She just
thought he might get arthritic as he got older. As he's gotten older
he's slowed down, and recently he can't seem to get into the cat pans.
I've got a vet appointment for Tuesday but, since I suspect he is
arthritic, what kind of treatment can I expect? Any ideas about this
would be appreciated, thanks!

Stacia

"Glitter Ninja" wrote in message
...
I swear, when it rains it pours... just as we might be getting one
cat's conjunctivitis under control, another cat gets happy time with the
vet
My cat Spam is about 13 years old. When he was a kitten, he had
apparently been left outside in the cold and it caused some damage in
his hind legs. (At least that's what the shelter suspected was the
cause.) We've kept him as an indoor cat and he's gotten vet checkups,
but the vet we used to go to didn't ever seem concerned. She just
thought he might get arthritic as he got older. As he's gotten older
he's slowed down, and recently he can't seem to get into the cat pans.


Try a dog litter box, they come in three sizes. The entrances are low and
easier for older and arthritic cats to get into. The large size works the
best- $22 at Petsmart:

http://www.maxshouse.com/Environment..._box-dog-2.jpg

Here's another litterbox with high sides made by Rubbermaid that also has a
low entrance- but not as low as the dog litterbox:


http://www.maxshouse.com/Environment...rmaid-high.jpg



I've got a vet appointment for Tuesday but, since I suspect he is
arthritic, what kind of treatment can I expect? Any ideas about this
would be appreciated, thanks!

Speak to your vet about Adequan, Cartiflex and Cosequin- they might help her
joints. Glucosamine has some anti-inflammatory properties and might also
stimulate the production of collagen inside the joint. Cartiflex has been
reformulated and is now called Palaflex- although many people still call it
Cartiflex. It has a little more bioavailability than the other glucosamines
and chondroprotective agents.

Best of luck,

Phil

I've got a vet appointment for Tuesday
but, since I suspect he is arthritic, what
kind of treatment can I expect?

I have a cat, Nubbins, with severe arthritis that I rescued a little
over a year ago. At some point in his life he was injured, most likely
hit by a car, and suffered a broken leg that was never set and a damaged
tail (most of it hangs limp.) His leg developed bone callus that
basically formed around the break and it healed, although it is crooked
and does not fit into the socket right. This caused arthritis to develop
in the socket area. You can see pictures of the xray he
http://community.webtv.net/zuzu22/nubbinsxray

The big lump is the bone callus and if you look closely you can see the
jagged edges of the ends of the bone and how they are off center. The
white cloudiness you'll see in the socket area is the arthritis and it
caused him extreme pain, so much so that he lost his home because of the
severe pain-related aggression he exhibited.

I did some research and decided to give him Adequan shots. The protocol
I used was 2 mg/lb twice a week for four weeks and then taper off. Some
research says you can go six months before another shot, but I have not
found that to be true and the vetinfo.com site mentions 2-4 weeks. I can
go no longer than 5 weeks before he starts to show problems. I also have
him on Metacam (a pain reliever) every other day. You have to be careful
using this in cats and the dose must stay small. Nubbin weighs about 12
pounds and he gets .05 mls of Metacam once e/o day. For the Adequan.
which BTW is given intramuscularly, I use a 3cc insulin syringe and just
measure 2 units for every pound (Adequan is 100 mg/ml.) It is fairly
easy to give an IM shot, and it will cost you very little to treat your
cat if you get a bottle of the Adequan and do the shots yourself.

Adequan is used off label in cats and there's not a lot of info about
its use in cats that is out there yet, so not many vets are using it or
even offering it for cats. I can tell you however that it has been a
miracle treatment fo Nubbins. I had expected to possibly have to
amputate his leg, but that's been put on hold and he now runs, plays,
scratches tall posts with glee and climbs the cat trees. He also no
longer exhibits the severe aggressive outbursts. :-)

I know some people start out with Cosequin, but after the results I've
seen, and knowing that Adequan can actually help in repair, I would tend
to go for the big guns first and try to slow/stop the progression rather
than use something less effective until it doesn't help anymore and then
have to try something better.

I would stay away from prednisone as it can actually makes arthritis
worse over the long term. You can read a good overview of treatments
he
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=52

Megan



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"Phil P." writes:

Try a dog litter box, they come in three sizes. The entrances are low and
easier for older and arthritic cats to get into. The large size works the
best- $22 at Petsmart:

http://www.maxshouse.com/Environment..._box-dog-2.jpg

Perfect, thanks! I was searching all night for low-entrance boxes for
cats and never thought about looking for doggie ones. I may go get one
tonight and not wait for the vet diagnosis since the vet appointment has
now been moved to Thursday. The vet college is great but they are
staffed with some inexperienced students who can't figure out how to
make an appointment to save their life.

Stacia

"Glitter Ninja" wrote in message
...
"Phil P." writes:

Try a dog litter box, they come in three sizes. The entrances are low
and
easier for older and arthritic cats to get into. The large size works
the
best- $22 at Petsmart:

http://www.maxshouse.com/Environment..._box-dog-2.jpg

Perfect, thanks!

Your welcome. I hope it helps. Even though my cats aren't arthritic, they
love the boxes because they're big and gives them plenty of room to move
around and find that "perfect spot". ;-)

The entrance in the medium box is even lower- but the sides are very low,
too- not good if your cat likes a little privacy.


I was searching all night for low-entrance boxes for
cats and never thought about looking for doggie ones. I may go get one
tonight and not wait for the vet diagnosis since the vet appointment has
now been moved to Thursday. The vet college is great but they are
staffed with some inexperienced students who can't figure out how to
make an appointment to save their life.

Don't forget to mention Adequan, Cartiflex (Palaflex) and Cosequin to your
vet.


Good luck.

Phil.