just how can you tell if your cat has arthritis the last thing you want
is for them to be really painful and suffering in silence and they can be
great - hiding their pain but they do give us some clues so join me as I go
through the ten main symptoms of arthritis in cats hi I'm dr. Alex Avery
from ourpetshealth.com helping you and your cat to live a healthier happier
life so if it's your first time here consider subscribing and hitting that
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videos just like this one cats are great hiders of disease and so it can be much
harder to spot when they have a problem arthritis is no different cats tend to
adapt their behavior much better and as a result you may only notice signs of a
problem when things are much more advanced or if you know what to look for
if you want to learn more about arthritis as well as its home management
and treatment then be sure to check out my related videos linked down below so
what are the signs your cat has arthritis what symptoms do you need to
look out for that indicate and might be in pain it's easy they limp right
well they might limp but cats will actually often only limp when they are
in severe pain and not in the early days of disease remember arthritis is
progressive so we want to be picking it up before pain is so severe that our cat
is limping so while limping is a sign of arthritis in cats it is often much more
subtle than it is in dogs and may even be absent despite
significant joint pain climbing and jumping are my second and third sign of
arthritis in your cat that you might notice now these activities put a lot
more stress through the joints and so it could be very painful in arthritic
cats you might notice your cat doesn't come
upstairs much anymore or spend time on the roof or up a tree where they used to
spend a lot of time when they were younger
in the same way jumping will be reduced your cat may still be able to get up on
the table but rather than just taking a single spring to get there they first
jump onto a chair to make each jump smaller before then going to the table
when getting down you might notice them hesitating they know it's going to hurt
and so they really just have to psych themselves up first so cats normally
spend a lot of time grooming when arthritic though scratching and reaching
all the areas becomes just too painful and even the most fastidious of groomers
may struggle to maintain that sleek coat they had when
they were younger so this means that a common symptom of arthritis in cats is
their hair coat becoming matted and unkempt you might notice that there
appears to be a lot of loose hair on your cat that would normally be groomed
out and that you just never see them licking themselves anymore my fifth
symptom of arthritis in cats is the fact that they will seem to be sleeping
more so cats are great at modifying their
behavior to cope with the pain of arthritis when they're lying still in
their beds they are not so painful and so this is where they might spend the
majority of their time you might also find that they change where they sleep
preferring to curl up in the low accessible places as opposed to the high
spots that they used to prefer it might just be too painful to get to their
favorite spot these days after all this you won't be surprised by the sixth
symptom of arthritis a painful cat is not a playful cat you won't be able to
tempt them with a toy mouse or a laser beam and all of these points lead to a
massive reduction in general activity levels so as a result your cat's claws
may actually start to become quite overgrown and in some cats this can even
be to such an extent that they actually curl round and grow into their own pads
which is incredibly painful in its own right just adding to that pain of
arthritis so at 7 we have the fact that a cat with arthritis may really struggle
to get into their litter tray if you have a high sided litter tray or if the
tray is not in an easily accessible place then you might find that your cat
starts to have accidents urinating outside their litter tray or other
places inside the house and as these things get worse at number 8 your cat
may reduce its interaction with you they may no longer come to greet you when you
get home from work or may not come and sit on your lap in an evening it may be
too much for them to get to you and they may also be anticipating the fact that
actually just being stroked and played with however gently is going to hurt
them tied in with this and my number 9 sign of arthritis in cats is they seem
to be grumpy when handled they may just grumble or go rigid they may even though
hiss or even scratch and try and bite when you pick them up quite out of
character and so at number 10 we have a change of character with aggression and
grumpiness being hallmarks of severe pain being present you might just think
your cat is getting old and cantankerous in reality though just in constant pain
and it's no surprise that they become permanently grumpy take that pain away
and you'll give them a new lease of life so those are my 10 signs of arthritis in
cats if you notice any of them then make sure you get your cat checked out by
your vet your cat deserves to be pain-free in their old age so let them
have the quality of life they deserve what signs have you notice in your cat
that makes you think that they have arthritis please let me know in the
comments down below also remember to subscribe and check out those related
videos in the description and until next time i'm dr. alex from our pets health
because they're family