Osteoarthritis is a fairly common osteoarticular condition in cats. Particularly painful, this inflammatory disease is unfortunately underdiagnosed; many cats with osteoarthritis suffer in silence. What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis in cats? How to prevent it? How to relieve your little cat? We explain everything in this article.
What is osteoarthritis in cats?
As cute as they are, our cats are particularly sensitive beings, subject to many diseases. Among the most common are diabetes and kidney failure . But if there is one pathology that is too often forgotten and diagnosed too late, it is osteoarthritis . Yes, just like us, our little companions can suffer from osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a common osteoarticular condition in dogs, but also in cats. It is characterized by a destruction of bone cartilage , which extends to all the structures of the joint. This is located at the bony ends of the joints; it allows them to slide over each other. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage becomes thinner, cracks and eventually disappears, causing major pain and lameness in the cat in its hips, knees, elbows, tarsi, shoulders and vertebrae.
What causes osteoarthritis in cats?
There are two types of osteoarthritis: primary osteoarthritis and secondary osteoarthritis.
Primary osteoarthritis is due to degeneration of the cartilage. It appears with age in cats over 10 years old . It is simply due to old age . Nearly 80% of cats over 10 years old suffer from osteoarthritis!
As for secondary osteoarthritis, this does not only affect old whiskered men: it can occur at any age, following a disease such as dysplasia - a genetic bone malformation - or bone trauma that may have affected kitty's small joints (a fall, a collision with a car, a fight with another animal that went wrong, a poorly healed fracture, etc.).
But in most cases, it is overweight and obesity that are the culprits. Being overweight predisposes cats to the early development of osteoarthritis ; the joints wear out more due to too much weight.
Overweight and obesity predispose to early development of osteoarthritis in cats
Arthrose chez le chat et espérance de vie : un impact ?
L’arthrose n'influe pas sur l'espérance de vie de nos moustachus, mais elle peut en revanche considérablement impacter leur qualité de vie en raison des symptômes douloureux.
What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis in cats?
A cat suffering from osteoarthritis may show one or more signs. You can easily recognize them.
- Your cat has difficulty moving. Kitty is limping, can no longer climb the stairs, climb his cat tree or your living room furniture. He struggles to jump on your bed to cuddle you and sleep with you.
- Your cat has less energy . He no longer plays much with you and with his favorite toys.
- Your cat is grooming itself less. It has difficulty grooming itself, can no longer wriggle in all directions to lick all parts of its body.
- Your cat is less clean. Access to his litter box has become too complicated for him, he prefers to relieve himself next to it or elsewhere. Note however that a cat that pees or poops outside his litter box is not necessarily due to osteoarthritis, it could be a problem of cleanliness or location: his toilet is too dirty or placed in a place that does not suit him.
- Your cat can no longer stand being petted, touched or carried. In too much pain, he refuses all your attention, and in some cases, he may be aggressive.
- Your cat is no longer eating. Having difficulty bending over, he leaves his bowl. Be careful, however, a cat that is no longer eating can also mean something else: too much stress, a change in diet, an oral problem, kidney failure. To find out more, click on the little pink link 🐱
If your cat shows one or more of these signs, consult your veterinarian quickly. The veterinarian will carry out various examinations to determine the origin of its discomfort. In particular, your veterinarian will take an X-ray of your four-legged friend, and if osteoarthritis is found, he will prescribe appropriate treatment.
My cat has osteoarthritis: what should I do?
Possible treatments
Just like kidney failure, osteoarthritis is an irreversible pathology that, even with a lot of love, cannot be cured. The only solution here is to relieve your mustachioed one's pain as much as possible. Your veterinarian will certainly give you anti-inflammatory medications to take for a few days in the event of an acute osteoarthritis attack. This will reduce the pain. Warning: never give your own anti-inflammatories. Our medications are toxic to cats.
There are also dietary supplements that can help reduce pain and inflammation, and may help preserve cartilage in cats with osteoarthritis.
These include chondroprotectors (glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate) and food supplements based on very long chain Omega 3, EPA and DHA .
“ EPA and DHA have been proven to be very beneficial in very young cats. They are also beneficial in breeding females, or at even higher doses in the case of certain diseases (osteoarthritis, chronic renal failure, autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation) ,” explains Veterinarian Dr. Géraldine Blanchard.
In addition to the treatment prescribed by your veterinarian, you can also help your furball by adapting its environment and, above all, by providing it with suitable food.
L'Oméga Boost Ziggy Care pour réduire les douleurs articulaires
Chez Ziggy, nous prenons soin de tous les chats. Pour les chats souffrant d'arthrose, nous avons développé l'Oméga Boost, une huile de poisson pour chat, à ajouter dans les croquettes et/ou la pâtée. Elle est concentrée en Oméga 3 EPA & DHA de très grande qualité, issus de petits poissons des mers froides (sardines, maquereaux, anchois) et d’algues.
Les Omégas 3 EPA & DHA permettent de sécréter des molécules anti-inflammatoires chez le chat. Une alimentation enrichie en EPA & DHA via l’Oméga Boost aide à réduire les douleurs articulaires ou celles liées à l'arthrose et à l'arthrite.
Adapt your environment
To relieve your little companion's pain , don't hesitate to slightly raise his food bowl and water bowl with a book for example, and to use a litter box with edges that are not too high.
In particular, we advise you to avoid closed litter boxes that sometimes force our cats to bend down. With an open litter box, without a roof, your cat will be able to position itself as it wishes to do its business, without putting too much strain on its vertebrae. Also make sure that its litter box is accessible. For example, if it is located on the first floor of the house, it is preferable to place it on the ground floor. Your cat will not have to climb the stairs.
Finally, if your companion's favorite places are up high, use boxes or furniture as step stools so that he can easily reach them. This way, he will be able to continue to observe his surroundings (and especially the neighbors).
Provide suitable nutrition…
Osteoarthritis leads to lameness and pain, and therefore limits physical activity. And a cat that no longer moves its butt is at risk of becoming overweight and obese (if it is not already).
In addition to worsening his osteoarthritis, being overweight and obese can lead to other serious health problems. In particular, he can develop urinary or kidney disease ( cystitis , kidney failure ), diabetes, certain heart diseases or even respiratory problems. Everything you don't want for your beloved pet!
For your cat suffering from osteoarthritis , it is therefore important to adapt its diet. Be careful though; this is not about dieting! Your mustachioed cat may move less, but you should not reduce its food under any circumstances. The challenge is to reduce the calorie intake in its food.
Therefore, wet food is a good option . In fact, pâté is on average four times less caloric than kibble; it allows our furry roommates to eat enough, while being well satisfied and without absorbing a large amount of calories. Unlike kibble, pâté has the other advantage of allowing our cats to maintain a good level of hydration.
And quality!
Pate is ideal, but it must also cover all of your little companion's nutritional needs.
As a reminder, a cat needs animal proteins in its diet. These are the source of the 11 essential amino acids for its health: taurine, arginine, phenylalanine, methionine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, tryptophan, threonine and histidine. All these micronutrients contribute to the proper functioning of its body and its structure (bones, skin, muscles, hair).
It also needs to find lipids (essential fatty acids), minerals, vitamins and fibers in its food. Otherwise, the cat would find itself deficient and would develop serious health problems such as neurological disorders, impaired immune function or even central retinal degeneration.
Although they are low in calories, some foods do not cover all of these nutrients in sufficient quantities. A cat suffering from osteoarthritis needs a low-calorie food that provides just as much protein! Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
When choosing your pâté (or kibble), carefully analyze the protein-calorie ratio (PCR) written on the back of the packaging. This is the protein concentration of a food in relation to the calories it provides. It allows you to know precisely the quantity of proteins ingested during a meal.
In adult cats, whose protein requirement is estimated at between 5.2 and 6 grams per kg of optimal weight, the RPC should ideally be greater than:
- 87 g/mCal for a sterilized or sedentary cat
- 100 g/mCal for a sterilized and sedentary cat
Pssst: if the RPC is not displayed, do this little calculation: % crude protein / Metabolizable Energy (ME) x 1000
Be careful though: the RPC is a quantitative report and not a qualitative one! It does not give you no indication of the quality of proteins used in your whiskered cat's kibble or pâtés. And the quality of proteins is also extremely important for your cat! To find out more, we invite you to consult our article on proteins in your cat's diet.
Note that if your cat is already overweight or obese, these nutritional recommendations are the same; a low-calorie diet that covers its daily needs in essential nutrients. We tell you more in our article on the ideal diet for an obese cat. Weight loss will reduce lameness and the frequency of osteoarthritis attacks . In addition, this weight loss will help your little companion to gradually resume physical activity.
Healthy kibble and pâtés
At Ziggy, our pâtés and kibbles are healthy, tasty and balanced. Formulated by our Veterinarian Dr. Géraldine Blanchard, they will provide all the nutrients your cat needs, without the calories that go with it!
Please note that some of our pâtés contain long-chain Omega 3 (EPA and DHA). We add it in the form of small fish oil 😺
And for our older cats, we recently launched a pâté for senior cats , also enriched with long-chain Omega 3 (EPA and DHA) to relieve their joints and ensure their coat remains just as soft!
How to prevent osteoarthritis in cats?
Osteoarthritis is a pathology that occurs in cats over 10 years old. Just like for us humans, it is almost impossible to avoid it. However, it is possible to delay the onset of the disease by offering a better lifestyle to our whiskered ones.
Low-calorie, quality food
And it starts first and foremost with their food bowl. As we have seen, being overweight and obese predisposes to the early development of osteoarthritis. The more a cat is overweight, the more its joints will be stressed and, in the long term, weakened.
To limit weight gain, it is important to provide a diet that is both low in calories and of high quality, thus covering the needs of proteins, lipids and other essential nutrients for our cats.
Whatever diet your veterinarian recommends and which you choose, also prefer foods low in carbohydrates, and low or no starch, with proteins of animal origin, well identified and of quality.
Physical activity!
Finally, in addition to diet, physical activity is also essential to avoid being overweight and obese. If your pet does not have access to the outdoors, provide him with toys, hiding places or even a cat tree. And of course, give him some of your time to play with him. But you probably already do that ❤️
As you will have understood, diet plays an important role in the osteoarthritis of our companions. A vicious circle can quickly set in.
At Ziggy, we do everything to provide the best possible food for our cats, and thus offer them the best of their 9 lives.
Is your cat old? Also check out our article: My cat is old (senior), what food should I give him? We share all our advice for taking care of your senior cat.
Bonjour Véronique,
Merci pour votre commentaire 💛
Les chats seniors peuvent consommer nos pâtées Ziggy pour chats adultes. Riches en protéines, elles comblent tous les besoins nutritionnels de nos vieux moustachus. Nos recettes sont également pauvres en phosphore et donc idéales pour prévenir des problèmes urinaires ou rénaux avec une bonne hydratation. Sachez toutefois que nous sortirons bientôt une gamme de pâtée encore plus adaptée aux chats seniors 😉 En attendant, n’hésitez pas à demander l’avis de votre vétérinaire lors d’une consultation, en lui montrant si besoin la composition détaillée de nos recettes.
Cela signifie-t’il que les chats senior peuvent continuer à consommer les pâtées Ziggy pour chats adultes ? Qu’en est-il de la protection de la fonction urinaire ?
Bonjour Isabelle,
Merci beaucoup 💛
Si vous avez la moindre question, n’hésitez pas 😽
Merci pour cet article de haut niveau, explicite et très complet
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