In cats arthritis is known as DJD – degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis which causes pain and inflammation in the bones and joints. It’s a condition where the joints get inflamed and cause a great deal of pain as the cats get older. Arthritis in cats mostly comes with age, obesity and hereditary conditions like hip dysplasia. Cats are very subtle in how they show pain. This reluctance to show pain, injury or vulnerability goes back to their wild ancestry when any signs of weakness could be a death sentence. Mostly cats develop arthritis in hips and elbows but sometimes other joints like lower back and knees get affected.
It is harder to pick out the signs and symptoms of arthritis in cats than in dogs, especially because cats that have arthritis do not tend to limp. They instead change their behaviour. Signs and symptoms that you may observe,
- Reduced movement – Not as agile as before, reluctance to climb up on any furniture or climb down, sleeping in a different place than it always would, litterbox accidents because of pain and inability to jump in/out of the kitty litterbox, very rarely you may notice a stiffness when the cat is walking.
- Change in the grooming behaviour – reduced grooming because of pain, coarse or matted coat, hair loss, inflamed or infected skin due to self-trauma or over grooming.
- Change in personality – when a good natured cat becomes aggressive, does not like to be patted, held or brushed mostly over the hind quarters.
- Change in activity level – unwillingness to go out and play, hunt or explore, not wanting to use the scratching post anymore due to which their nails are long.
These are some of the signs and symptoms you may notice in your pet cat. Do not ignore it, take the cat immediately to the vet for a full check-up.
