Feline Osteoarthritis: What Your Cat Isn’t Telling You
With advances in veterinary medicine, the management of osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs has come a long way. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our feline companions. A lot of this can be attributed to the difficulty in diagnosing arthritis in cats in the first place.
Cats are masters at hiding signs of pain, especially while at the vet. It can be very difficult to discern whether or not your cat is experiencing discomfort during a physical exam, or just resents being in the clinic. Additionally, our usual diagnostic tools, such as X-rays, do not always show evidence of arthritis in affected joints¹.
This is why recognizing signs of OA at home can be crucial for diagnosis and management of chronic pain. Luckily there is now a user-friendly checklist, evaluated by North Carolina State University, available to clients that allows one to screen for signs of arthritis at home². Some of those signs could include reluctance to jump, difficulty going up and down the stairs, difficulty using the litter box, and a reduction in playful behavior and activity.
Historically, treatment options for OA in cats have been limited. These include weight loss, joint supplements, and environmental modification. Pain management strategies were limited to gabapentin- a pain relief medication that does little to target specific pain receptors involved in OA, and non- steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs). The biggest problem is that there are currently no NSAIDs on the market that are FDA approved for safe, long-term use in cats.
The good news is that help is on the way, with the advent of the first and only FDA-approved treatment for pain associated with osteoarthritis in cats³. This treatment option, called Solensia, is a once monthly injection given under the skin. The medication specifically targets a protein involved in the pathway of pain associated with OA.
77% of cat owners experienced seeing improvement in signs of pain when their cats were treated monthly with Solensia in a 3-month study⁴. The most common side effects reported were vomiting, diarrhea, and injection site pain. Although newly on the market, the hope is that with more research into the field, and more medications like Solensia, we will be better able to keep our feline friends happy and comfortable well into their later years.
If you believe your cat is experiencing signs of arthritis and want to find out more about Solensia feel free to schedule a consultation with your veterinarian.
¹ Lascelles BDX, Hansen BD, Roe S, et al. Evaluation of client-specific outcome measures and activity monitoring to measure pain relief in cats with osteoarthritis. 2007. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 21(3):410-416.
² https://www.zoetispetcare.com/checklist/osteoarthritis-checklist-cat
Written by Dr. Colin McCrory