Jose (named after Jose Canseco, the baseball player) is a gorgeous long haired white cat, blue eyes, multiple toes. He’s an indoor cat (pink skin sometimes invites skin cancer) and is a real sweetheart.
A few years ago he jumped onto a railing and then fell two stories, breaking his leg. He was put into a cast and confined to a pen for six weeks. At his checkup it was discovered that he had broken the steel rod that was put in his leg (we have no idea how). The vet removed the shorter part of the rod but left the longer so that he would have something to stand on.
He now has arthritis in that leg and often runs around the house on three legs. He’s eight years old and should have a long lifetime ahead of him. He limps and when he jumps down from the furniture he lets out a little ‘yow’ and we know there’s pain.
The vet seems unconcerned but he’s a guy we trust after his caring attitude when the leg was broken.
So, the questions are: Is there arthritis medicine for cats? How does one know when cat pain is severe? Does arthritis ‘travel’ to other parts of the leg or body?
I know we should take him back to the vet to answer these questions, but finances are tight…we’ll have to wait until next year.
No, there are currently not arthritis medicines for cats. If it gets bad enough, some vets will tell you to give the cat half a baby asprin every other day. However, asprin can me toxic to cats.
If your cat still does things like jump down from the furniture, he is not in enough pain to really concern yourself too much. He will stop jumping up on furniture when the pain outweighs the satisfaction received from getting on the furniture.
We recently adopted a Rotweiller from the pound. We named her Lucy. She is probably about 1 year old. Her back hips are a disgrace. She had apparently been confined to a small kennel and never allowed to run as a pup and her hip joints are now malformed. She is in a lot of pain when she gets down from the couch and yelps when she has to move fast, (to get a particularly tasty snack before our Australian Shepard gets it.), but she has lots of room to run and in the past month, her hips have straightened out enormously. Our vet was amazed, until I told her we were giving lucy MSM. (I take it for my arthritis.) She just looked at us with her mouth open. It really works well for Lucy. Her joints don’t hurt near as much and she has actually started running and playing with our Aussie, even to the point of racing with him. I don’t know about the healing properties of an artificial leg joint or if it can heal properly, but MSM might help your cat with the pain and the stiffness.
MSM, Chondritin, and Glucosamine (sometimes all three together, plus a little vitamin C) are supplements that are supposed to aid with arthritis in horses and dogs. I know lots of horse owners who swear by them. is it possible these type of supplements could help your cat? ask your vet.
Guinastasia - no he’s not deaf although I know that it’s common occurrence in this type of cat. He can hear me shaking his Pounce treats bag from rooms away!
I have an antique kitty (she turned 16 years old in September) who was diagnosed with arthritis in her front legs- her elbows, I guess. I was giving her a pill called Vetrazene, which is something like the Glucosamine that HelloAgain mentioned. It did seem to help her a little bit. I have noticed, though, that she does better now. I used to live in apartments that never got any sunlight, and she limped a lot, especially in the winter. The house I live in now gets full sunlight on the front for most of the day- she spends time sleeping in the front bedroom or basking on a windowsill, and she doesn’t really limp anymore. I can only surmise that the sunlight and heat is good for her.
Are you certain that the cat’s leg is completly healed? Maybe the cat has a fracture or something. It is concerning that he limps and cries when he jumps down. Did the vet actually diagnose arthritis or are you guessing that’s what it is? Maybe you should call the vet again and ask him if he thinks the cat could have re-injured the leg. I know it’s tough when money is tight- maybe your vet would let you make payments or something. Good Luck!