Cat with Arthritis

[lizzydrippin]

Ten years ago I fostered cats for the RSPCA whilst they were waiting to be re-homed. I was brought 2 feral kittens who were already 4 mths old and had never had any contact with humans. They were placed with me while waiting to be placed back in a feral colony but the land that the RSPCA had been hoping to buy for the colony fell through and in the finish they were with me for so long that though they would never make ideal pets they werent what you would class as feral anymore so we kept them and they have lived happily amongst our own cats since then. The problem is that Billy the male cat has developed arthritis in his back legs and although it doesnt bother him greatly for most of the time I have noticed over the last few days that he is finding it very difficult to jump even a short distance. (like from the ground on to a chair maybe 2ft high). Obviously the thing to do would be to take him to the vet but he goes absolutely berserk when I attempt to get him into a cat carrier and I cant see him co-operating with being examined if I do manage to get him there.
I appreciate that if the problem does get any worse then he will have to see a vet regardless but I wondered if anyone has had any good results with treating arthritis in a cat with something readily available (herbal, homeopathic etc etc that I can try first that may give him some relief?

[lankeela]

Vets (and their assistants) have a way of holding cats to examine them that seems to render them helpless - we struggled for hours with a trail of liver to get a cat into a basket many times, and once at the vet he was like - well, like a pussycat! He then climbed back into the basket of his own accord when the vet had finished with him.

There are several treatments, such as greenleaf or glucosamine, but with cats the difficulty would be getting them down them. Bioflow do cat collars as well as dog ones and one of those might ease his stiffness.

[The Big Gill]

I envy your good fortune in not having needed to take your cat to the vet so far, but as he gets older, there may come a time when you do need to make your cat travel for one reason or another.
There's some help here:

You might be surprised at how your cat responds to being on the vet's table.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question regarding arthritis.

p.s. can you be sure it's arthritis, without a vet examination?

[lankeela]

Good point, The Big Gill. Sometimes Urinary Tract Infections can cause mobility problems, if they cause struvite crystals to form. Sounds like a vet job to me.

[k8bailey]

I have a similar problem with my cat elvis who has a permanently dislocated hip. I asked a question on this site about any kind of pain relief without prescription, one of the suggestions I recieved, was to get an electric blanket as the heat might give him some relief.

This was one of the links someone gave me for a site that sells glucosamine and cortaflex:

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=ind ex&cPath=4_179


I don't know if this will be any use to you but good luck with him!

[lizzydrippin]

Thanks ever so much for all your answers and yes I do appreciate that Billy will need to go to the vets. I have been surprised many times before when I thought that a cat will 'freak' at the vets only to be an absolute pushover when we've got there. I think if Im honest its me that gets stressed about having to initially upset Billie getting him in the cat carrier. He doesnt get nasty or vicious but lets out this heart-breaking cry like he's being tortured. We had to get him into a cat carrier when we moved here from London 6 yrs back. Anyway, the main thing is I dont want him to be in discomfort with this problem so we'll get it together.
Thanks so much for the link to that excellent website K8 Bailey, much appreciated.

[Noweia]

Get him used to your cat carrier now before he has to go somewhere: Leave it out somewhere where all the cats can see it and maybe start leaving some food in it - basically get the cats used to the idea that when the basket comes out, it doesn't always mean a trip to the vets.

It makes for a lot less stress (and scratches) when trying to persuade an unwilling feline to go inside!

[lizzydrippin]

Thanks for that Noweia, its true what you say but our house has cat carriers everywhere, we have 14 in total so as well as being used for their intended purpose we also let the cats use them as 'sleeping places'.

[sue11]

Hi Lizzy, my cats both hate the cat carriers and the yowls when I am transporting them to the vets is deafening! As per all the other replies though, once they are in the vets they become like little lambs, good as gold. Unfortunately I don't have a real answer for the arthritis, but a while ago, my cat Ozzie seemed stiff on her back legs and had difficulty climbing and jumping up onto the chairs at home. I took her to the vets asap and told him the problem. While doing this, she jumped straight down off the examining table without any problem and stood on her hind legs looking out the full length window in the room, typical!! The vet examined her and said she did seem a bit tender about the back end. He agreed it could be signs of arthritis and gave her some tablets. She has been fine ever since, so I am not sure if it was arthritis that has since cleared up or what it was. Best of luck with yours though, Sue.