Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between bones deteriorates.
Arthritis in cats age.
This makes joints less flexible causing stiffness and pain.
Feline arthritis is more common in middle aged and older cats.
Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between bones deteriorates.
If a cat seems stiff or painful has swollen joints loses muscle mass or has a hard time moving around it might have arthritis.
By lorie huston dvm.
Your cat s food will also play a role in managing arthritis pain.
Most senior cat foods are designed with arthritic felines in mind.
Just as in humans cats develop arthritis as they age.
As cats age they absorb less protein from food.
However cats are very adept at hiding any illness especially pain as this would be seen as a sign of weakness in the wild.
Arthritis causes changes within the affected joints that are painful for the affected pet.
An obese cat has a much harder time dealing with aging joints.
Most cats don t develop obvious signs of arthritis until they are at least 10 years old.
Age weight health status and previous injuries play a big role in feline arthritis.
Feline arthritis can be caused by injury infection an autoimmune disorder or degenerative problems involving the joints.
Joints that have been injured in the past are also more prone to becoming arthritic later in life.
How to spot arthritis in cats.
However recent studies looking at radiographs of older cats produced startling results.
Cats that are obese are more likely to be affected by the signs of arthritis than a cat that is lean.
Arthritis is one of the most common ailments seen in middle aged to older pets.
This will aggravate arthritis pain.
Ensure that your cat s meal is appropriately balanced.
Old age arthritis or osteoarthritis is a rapidly growing area of feline medicine.
Prevalence of arthritis in cats.
Reviewed and updated for accuracy on may 29 2019 by dr.
Arthritis also known as osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease causes pain and inflammation in a cat s joints.
Although fairly uncommon in felines arthritis tends to affect the elbow joint when it does strike but many joints can be afflicted.
In one study published in 2002 90 of cats over 12 years of age had evidence of degenerative joint disease.
Due to the challenges of diagnosing arthritis in cats it can be difficult to tell how many cats are affected.
Arthritis is the general medical term for inflammation of the joints while osteoarthritis is the term that specifically refers to a form of chronic joint.
Keeping a cat in good shape through proper diet can help relieve the symptoms.
Protein is important to arthritic cats.
Hanie elfenbein dvm phd.
