Understanding Cat Arthritis Symptoms - Caring For An Arthritic Cat

Posted by Fred on February 8th, 2008 at 12:56pm

By Moses Wright

The increasing amount of cat owners feeding highly processed
commercial cat food is reported by many veterinary experts to be
a contributing factor in the increasing amount of cat arthritis
happening in cats.

It is certainly not coincidence that owners who feed their cats
homemade and raw food see lower occurrence of degenerative
arthritis in their cats.

Today, although there are no concrete proof to show that
commercial cat food contribute to arthritis development in cats,
it is widely believe that they play a big part, From there, we
understand that your cat’s diet would play a major effect in
preventing this stressful cat disease.

Apart from diet, overweight older cats are also more likely to
develop arthritis because of the extra pressure they put on
their joints causing the cartilage and bones to wear off faster.
Naturally, a cat who enjoys a healthy diet and who exercise
regularly will be less likely to suffer from the same condition.

The symptoms of arthritis in cats would be that he will find it
difficult to walk around and run. Moving around stiffly, he will
not make jumps that he use to make and will have difficulty in
climbing up stairs. Showing signs of depression, your cat would
hide away and appear listless and even bad tempered. Not
allowing you to touch and stroke him in areas where he is
painful, he might cry out if you touch him on a painful joint.

To diagnose arthritis in cats, veterinary will observe, use
blood test and most importantly the x-ray examination. The X-ray
will show joint degeneration in areas of worn, irregular bone
position and possible distortion of the joint and see if the
bone is causing pain and forcing the cat to stand in an awkward
position to compensate for the discomfort.

Arthritis treatment will include medication to help your cat
ease the pain on his joints, to aid the regeneration process of
cartilage and bone, to build up the fluid within the capsular
joints to provide a cushion for the joint itself. Your
veterinary will prepare dose of glucosamine and chondroitin that
are use for the same purpose in humans for your cat.

You can help your cat to recover by encouraging him to walk
whenever possible to prevent the joints from stiffening further.
You should try to create a warmer environment for him to rest. A
warm water bottle place under his bed might do the trick. The
warmth will help your cat to ease pain and loosen his muscles
which might be tense because of the constant pain that he is
suffering.

Recovery from arthritis is possible with the right treatment
and care. Although a hundred percent recovery is not possible,
your cat will still be able to enjoy a high quality of life.

About the Author: Moses Wright is a webmaster of
www.Catcustomer.com and he provides more information on
Cat Health, Cat Veterinary Diseases and Cat Illnesses Symptoms
on his website. You are welcome to reprint this article if you
keep the content and live link intact.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: www.isnare.com/?aid=123770&ca=Pets

Tags: Arthritis In Cats, Arthritis Symptoms, Arthritis Treatment, Awkward Position, Cartilage, Cat Arthritis, Cat Cats, Cat Disease, Cat Food, Cat Owners, Climbing Up Stairs, Concrete Proof, Degenerative Arthritis, Extra Pressure, Healthy Diet, Raw Food, Ray Examination, Signs Of Depression, Veterinary Experts, X Ray

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