Arthritic Cat Treatment Options

[HollyWoozle]

Does anybody have an arthritic cat and do you treat them for it? Eddie can't have joint supplements due to allergies and we've been using Metacam, with great success, but now it is starting to make him vomit. I think the only option left to us are to have monthly injections... I can make peace with the cost, if they will really help him, but he so hates the vets (don't they all) and the idea of taking him every month is just a lot to come to terms with. He's very easy but he does start to hide and become nervous if he has to go to the vets a lot.

Just wondering what you've all used/had success with. Thank you!

 

[Umbongo]

If the monthly injections work and you are happy with the cost, would you consider injecting him yourself? Might be worth asking your vets if they are happy for you to do that and they will organise a training consult with you. Then you just pick it up every month from the vets and inject yourself at home. He would still have to go to the vets probably every 6-12 months for an examination, but might be worth an ask? My clinic started doing it due to covid and have continued it since coming out of lockdown.

 

[Northern]

I highly recommend Solensia, it's a new monoclonal antibody treatment out for feline arthritis. Also a once a month injection.
Really simple to give under the skin monthly, so you can do it yourself. Your vet might also give you a script for it to buy online.
I have a 19 year old cat and it's made a significant difference in her mobility Is also not contraindicated for renal disease.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Thanks both! My partner now told me (which he'd forgotten to mention) that our vets already confirmed they would show us how to do it ourselves at home. That would be great and makes it more tempting...

 

[fiwen30]

My senior lady has been having Solensia injections by the vet every 4 weeks for over a year(?) I think, and they’ve been revolutionary for her. She’s still slowing down and not as bendy as she used to be, but she’s far happier and more mobile with the jab.

Arthritis is so often overlooked in cats - they can be so stoic, and owners often miss the signs of them being uncomfortable - so it’s wonderful that you’re able to consider this for your mog.

 

[Supertrooper]

Definitely recommend Solensia, our boy has been on them for three months and they have definitely made a difference

 

[rextherobber]

Another vote for Solencia, my old boy was suddenly horribly lame on ho
is front leg, apparently arthritis can suddenly get a lot worse,( as already said, cats are surprisingly stoic about pain, when you consider how dramatic they are over everything else!) Solencia worked like magic, he could walk normally again. He was on it for well over a year, which is extra time we had with him being well and happy.

 

[HollyWoozle]

This is all sounds very promising! Thanks for the replies.

 

[Shady]

Another vote here !

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Around the end of last year's Summer we found out that my moggy Cilla had developed a wear and tear problem in her back. She was on daily Onsior pills for some months without any problems, her liver values wasn't affected at all, but I think it was around Christmas she also developed Bronchitis. I don't remember if it was the Bronchitis medication that would affect the Onsior, or the other way around, but ideally we needed to stop with the Onsior.

Since Cilla didn't have arthritis, the veterinarian wasn't sure monthly Solensia injections would be able to help Cilla with her back problem the same way Onsior had, but it would work better with the Bronchitis medication, so she still suggested we give it a try. So we tried it, and it worked, Cilla acted the same when on Solensia as she had done on Onsior.
Cilla wasn't impressed with the two months in a row visits to the veterinarian to get the injection, but by the 3rd visit she seemed to have connected the visits with feeling better.

I'm not sure if it was around her 4th, or 5th Solensia injection Cilla managed to damage an eye, so went back to not being too happy with the now almost weekly visits to the vet clinic, but when the eye was on the mend, her Bronchitis got worse so we sadly had to euthanise her over a week ago. But that obviously didn't have anything to do with the Solensia, so it's definitely another recommendation to try it from me, too.

Hope it goes well with your Eddie.