Arthrosis in Cats: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Arthrosis is a chronic, degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis is extremely painful and lowers the quality of life of your cat.
How you can tell if your cat has osteoarthritis, what the causes of the joint disease can be and what options there are for treatment, you will learn below. We also explain how an innovative whether nutritional supplements can help cats with osteoarthritis.
What is osteoarthritis in cats?
Osteoarthritis in cats is a progressive joint disease that is always chronic and characterized by excessive wear and tear on the joints.
If your cat suffers from osteoarthritis, the first symptom is damage to the joint cartilage. This leads to inflammation and impairment of the synovia (joint fluid). This results in increased friction in the joint and insufficient shock absorption.
Sooner or later, your cat's osteoarthritis will cause the bones in the joint to rub against each other and the joint will continue to be destroyed. The knees, hips and elbows are particularly often affected by osteoarthritis in cats.
Causes of osteoarthritis in cats
In most cases, it’s not possible to say what exactly caused the arthrosis in a cat. There are, however, a number of factors that favour the development of degenerative joint disease.
The following are some of the possible causes of osteoarthritis in cats:
- Injuries, such as dislocated joints
- Incorrectly healed joint inflammation (arthritis)
- Excessive loads due to overweight
- Congenital malformations of the joint bones
- Repeated dislocation of the kneecaps (patella luxation)
- Insufficient nutrient supply due to inferior feed
- Arthrosis in cats: these symptoms are typical
If your cat has osteoarthritis, a number of symptoms can be seen. However, unlike dogs, there is less lameness and limited mobility. Instead, osteoarthritis in cats mainly manifests itself in the form of behavioural changes.
If you notice the following symptoms in your cat, it could be a sign of arthritis:
- Weight loss, as walking to the feeding bowl is associated with increasing pain
- Weight gain, because the urge to move suffers due to the pain
- Missing or at least strongly reduced coat care with corresponding optical consequences
- Increased need for sleep and rest and a significantly reduced urge to move
- Aggressive or anxious behaviour and unusual vocalisations
- Doing business next to the litter box, as it is increasingly difficult to get started
As you can see, the symptoms of osteoarthritis in cats are quite unspecific. Sometimes they may also indicate a completely different problem, or may simply be due to the age of your cat. This can make it difficult to diagnose osteoarthritis in cats in a timely manner.
Diagnosis of osteoarthritis in cats
If you suspect that your cat is suffering from osteoarthritis, a timely visit to the vet is essential. The veterinarian can examine your four-legged friend and check whether you are correct in your suspicion.
To do this, he will perform a general examination and use imaging techniques such as ultrasound and x-rays. In most cases, this will be sufficient to determine the condition of the joints and diagnose osteoarthritis in cats.
Occasionally, however, it may be necessary to perform an additional joint puncture. This involves taking some fluid from the joint for further examination.
Treat osteoarthritis in cats
Unfortunately, the treatment of osteoarthritis in cats has so far mostly been limited to relieving the discomfort of the quadruped and improving the mobility of the diseased joints.
Which methods are used depends on the cause and the exact clinical picture. In some cases it is possible to counteract the arthrosis of the cat with a surgical intervention. For example, torn ligaments can be treated or the joint can be stiffened.
In principle, however, surgery should not be performed lightly, but should always be the last resort for treating osteoarthritis in cats.
Medication for cats with osteoarthritis
To relieve the symptoms of arthritis, the vet will most likely prescribe anti-inflammatory medication for your cat.
As these are often associated with a number of side effects in the long term, the dose should be as low as possible. It's also important to keep a close eye on your cat so that you can see if the medication you're taking is causing problems.
Overweight cats with arthritis need to lose weight
If your cat suffers from being overweight as well as osteoarthritis, it is important to relieve the four-legged friend's joints by reducing weight. For this purpose, use an appropriate amount of food and a dietary supplement containing Shiimun Slim.
Shiimun Slim is a special dietary powder for cats. With carefully selected natural ingredients, it can make a valuable contribution to the dietary success of your house cat.
Nutritional supplements against arthrosis in cats
Many cat owners do not limit the treatment of their cat's arthrosis exclusively to the medication prescribed by the vet. In addition, special dietary supplements are often used.
These contain certain nutrients that are important for the supply of the cat's joints and thus help to counteract the symptoms caused by arthrosis.
What nutrients for cats with osteoarthritis?
Common supplements for cats with osteoarthritis include collagen, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine. These nutrients are important for the maintenance of joint cartilage and synovial fluid, among other things.
As the experiences of numerous owners of cats with osteoarthritis show, the administration of appropriate preparations can certainly help to support the treatment by the vet.
Osteoarthritis in cats - the most important facts at a glance
Arthrosis is widespread in cats. While physiotherapy in dogs with osteoarthritis is an important part of the therapy, the possible treatment measures for cats are primarily limited to the administration of suitable remedies for pain and inflammation. In addition, in certain cases surgical intervention may be appropriate.
In addition, it may be worthwhile to support the treatment of cats with osteoarthritis with special nutritional supplements. Nutrients such as hyaluronic acid and collagen are said to make a valuable contribution to the well-being of cats with osteoarthritis.
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