The diagnosis and treatment of cat joint disease is a must-see for cats! Arthropathy is a chronic disease. It may not be so important to the owner in the early stage. Love of sports or abnormal walking posture is often ignored, but if it is really caused by joint disease, it may not be so easy to treat when it is really noticed. Of course, joints do not only affect the cat's walking posture, but also may lead to a series of dysfunctions.

Some people think that the incidence of cat joint disease is very small and generally does not occur. In fact, this statement is one-sided. For young cats , they may not be troubled by joint disease, but scientific research has found that 30% of cats over the age of 8 are suffering from arthritis, so sometimes older cats suffer from arthritis. Limping is not to be taken for granted. Although aging has many manifestations on the body, if it is really for the sake of the cat's body, it is better to check it out.

There is no doubt that there are many reasons for joint disease, such as nutritional metabolism, or inflammation caused by trauma, etc., and joints caused by different reasons. The degree of illness varies, some are just limp, and some may be paralyzed. Take degenerative joint disease in cats as an example. This is a relatively mild joint disease. Although it is less likely to occur in cats, it should not be taken lightly.

1. Symptoms

Phased or persistent lameness , unwilling to act. The lameness improves during activity; the lameness increases after strenuous activity, especially after a period of rest. The frequency and severity of pain and lameness increase with the progression of the disease. The joints were inflexible, he felt pain on movement and palpation, and the joint effusion was swollen.

2. Diagnosis

Usually based on history, clinical examination Results and characteristic radiographic findings. Clinical examination may reveal pain in the affected joint, reduced range of motion in the joint, crepitus in extension and flexion, and (possibly) joint swelling. The key to recognizing a cat's pain is to examine changes in their lifestyle, which are often due to mobility problems, and may include an unwillingness to jump or the inability to jump as high as before, and a decrease in the cat's overall activity level, such as more lethargy , play less.

3. Treatment

(1) Restricting activities or Regularly spaced activities can control clinical symptoms.

(2) Apply drug therapy to relieve clinical symptoms:

①Aspirin, 10- 25mg/kg, orally, 2-3 times a day;

②Chlorcarbazole propionic acid, 2.2mg/kg, orally, 2 times a day; Tyson, 13mg/kg, orally, 2-3 times a day, up to 800mg a day, not for cats;

③ corticosteroids such as prednisone, 1 -2mg/kg, orally, 2-3 times a day, gradually reduced to 0.25mg/kg. Cimetidine, 5-10 mg/kg, orally, 3 times a day is given while applying the above drugs to prevent gastric ulcers.

(3) Surgical treatment: Joint replacement or arthroplasty can effectively relieve pain and restore limb function.

In addition, some unique methods can be used for the treatment of cat joint disease, such as spa, California, USA, a 14-year-old domestic cat named Morph Suffering from arthritis, his owner Jo Scott sent him to a spa on the south coast of California. The principle of hydrotherapy is not complicated. The buoyancy of water can relieve the pressure on muscles and bones, allowing the limbs of small animals to move freely in the water. Unaffected by pressure, it can exercise the flexibility of the limbs, and can promote the blood circulation of the body, which has a therapeutic and preventive effect on inflammation. At the beginning, Morph was as afraid of water as other cats, but after the careful care of the staff, Morph enjoyed the warm water temperature here and liked the close contact with people very much.