Signs of arthritis in cats

                                                               

                                                                                                         Hello, Friends!                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                    If you thought that only humans suffered from arthritis, you're wrong - even cats suffer from it. If your cat has stopped its movements and lazes around the corner of your house the whole day, it is most probably due to the arthritis. How can you detect arthritis in your cat? The following visible symptoms may help you find out faster.

• Your cat shows signs of laziness and stress and depression.
• You cannot make it jump or play with you.
• It has stopped responding quickly enough.
• Appears rather bony and thin due to muscle waste
• Its walking or standing appears unusually stiff.

If these are the symptoms in your cat, more specifically your older cat, it is in all probability cat arthritis.

Cat arthritis treatment

The good news is that it is not incurable. The only pain is its detection because cats unlike humans, cannot share pain. Before starting any treatment, it is important to diagnose the cat. The following procedures of diagnosis would surely help:

• Making a note of the disease history of the cat. Report infections if any. Also mark its feeding and movement patterns.

• Modern medical science has given us much to cheer about. Therefore X-ray detection and ultrasound can be done to know the condition of its joints, better.

• Blood tests are important from the nutrition point of view in the cat.

If the following diagnostic procedures are positive, it is time for some treatment.

• Diet Modification: Along with the prescribed medications that you might be administering to the cat, it is important to change its diet accordingly too. Avoid too much of acid food. Include carbohydrates and enough vitamin supplements that the cat might need. Also, keep your cat hydrate and give it some warm milk - it will heal faster.

• Joint Exercises: It is important that you slowly start exercising your cat's joints. If it has been diagnosed with acute arthritis, do not force any movements - it might do more harm than good. Allow time for healing and then go about exercising its joints.

• Medications: Vets prefer glucosamine supplements and sometimes even injections. Glucosamine helps the cartilages heal faster - same as in the case of humans. Chondroitin helps improve and strengthen the ligaments and other joint arrangements in the cat's body. One important thing to note is that the cat's joints have less synovial fluid, but if it has dried up - it is important that you supplement its diet with suitable nutrition.

For temporary pain relief anti-inflammatory drugs can be administered that will help it to endure more pain. To avoid arthritis in old age, the cat should be taken out and made to jump and play. The more it is in movement, the better it can avoid arthritis  .