Recent studies have shown that up to 90 of cats aged over 12 years are showing signs of osteoarthritis hardie et al 2002.
Arthritis in cats age.
Your cat s food will also play a role in managing arthritis pain.
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.
Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between bones deteriorates.
Feline arthritis is more common in middle aged and older cats.
In one study published in 2002 90 of cats over 12 years of age had evidence of degenerative joint disease.
How to spot arthritis in cats.
Arthritis also known as osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease causes pain and inflammation in a cat s joints.
Most cats don t develop obvious signs of arthritis until they are at least 10 years old.
Ensure that your cat s meal is appropriately balanced.
Prevalence of arthritis in cats.
Feline arthritis can be caused by injury infection an autoimmune disorder or degenerative problems involving the joints.
Arthritis occurs when the cartilage between bones deteriorates.
Old age arthritis or osteoarthritis is a rapidly growing area of feline medicine.
An obese cat has a much harder time dealing with aging joints.
Arthritis is one of the most common ailments seen in middle aged to older pets.
Joints that have been injured in the past are also more prone to becoming arthritic later in life.
Protein is important to arthritic cats.
Senior cats have the highest risk for contracting osteoarthritis a type of arthritis in cats that s also known as degenerative joint disease djd.
If a cat seems stiff or painful has swollen joints loses muscle mass or has a hard time moving around it might have arthritis.
Hanie elfenbein dvm phd.
By lorie huston dvm.
Keeping a cat in good shape through proper diet can help relieve the symptoms.
Cats that are obese are more likely to be affected by the signs of arthritis than a cat that is lean.
Even younger cats under the right circumstances can suffer from arthritic changes.
Just as in humans cats develop arthritis as they age.
This will aggravate arthritis pain.
However recent studies looking at radiographs of older cats produced startling results.
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.
Although fairly uncommon in felines arthritis tends to affect the elbow joint when it does strike but many joints can be afflicted.
This makes joints less flexible causing stiffness and pain.
Age weight health status and previous injuries play a big role in feline arthritis.
Most senior cat foods are designed with arthritic felines in mind.
