Cat arthritis. Would appreciate opinions on treatment, please?

acequion

My 10 year old female cat has mild arthritis in her front paws. It was diagnosed last Christmas when she went boxing some unfortunate kitty who tried to come into our yard and tore some ligaments as a result. The vet gave her a steroid injection and she was fine again. However she does have a slight limp on her right front paw. But only very slight, otherwise she is in great form, runs and jumps around as much as she ever did, isn't overweight and enjoys all round good health. When the arthritis was diagnosed I started her on YouMove natural joint supplements through zooplus.ie and also Royal Canine Mobility dry food for cats with arthritis,so perhaps all that is helping.

However, my vet is recommending she go on some breakthrough new drug. I think it's called Solensia and it's administered in monthly injections by the vet and is quite costly. I really love my cat and am certainly willing to make the financial sacrifice for her [she's not insured] and do what is best for her. However what I'm wondering is would it be premature to start the treatment now when she has only very mild symptoms and excellent mobility? No evidence of pain either. Should I wait until the arthritis has progressed more? Or is it better to start with this drug when in the early stages? I would love to hear from any other pet owners whose pets have had arthritis and how they have managed. Likewise I would appreciate any other opinion on what I should do. I trust my vet but always good to get other views before starting any major treatment. Thanks so much.

tk123

i think it’s like the cat version of Librella? The problem with new drugs is that there’s limited experience and feedback with them. Bailey is now off Librella because my vet has had a few patients suffer neurological side effects - stroke, seizures, Bailey collapsed etc etc.. on the flip side the older / more established drugs have studies backing them… for example there’s a new study that shows no actual increase in kidney/liver issues for dogs on long term nsaids but people can be afraid to use them.

Arthritis is a progressive disease and the point of anti-inflammatories is to slow the progression. They hide their pain every well but if she’s limping she’s in pain so I’d maybe discuss alternative medicines.

if you go for natural alternatives instead make sure you look into their side effects too - people can assume natural is 100% safe when this isn’t always the case.

acequion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119410836#Comment_119410836

Thanks so much. How old is your Bailey? You see my vet doesn't recommend the traditional medicine for arthritis because she has FIB so a dodgy tummy. She's had two steroid shots over the last 7 months and in both cases because she injured her paws but has a good reaction to the steroids. But I do realise that it's the arthritis that is making her injury prone and that control of inflammation is key. The limp is extremely slight, only noticeable to us her family so I'd imagine pain levels are not an issue yet but I also get what you're saying about them hiding it. I'm just nervous of starting her on this new drug before it's completely necessary.

tk123

He’s 13. He’s the same - can manage fine for 1-2 weeks and then his tummy says nope! Atm he’s on paracetamol and all good. His last bloods was a were all perfect and we check every 6 months. He was on Galliprant for over a year (I don’t know if there’s a cat version?) and no tummy issues at all.

acequion

I've found a good UK forum about Solensia, which yes is the feline version of Librella. People are reporting good results but I do notice the cats are much older than mine, mid to late teens. Mine is only 10. One with a 12 year old cat got the advice to continue the natural supplements for the time being. Which makes sense to me. But I need to get all the advice I can get. Thanks.

DBB

I have a dog on Librela, she's a youngster (6 yrs old) but has arthritis due to an old injury. It has really helped her... I can see when it's wearing off, and I can see when it kicks in after a dose.

I know quite a few people whose dogs are on Librela, all getting on great, but that's not to take away from tk123's experience with Bailey. It's always a bit scary using a relatively new medication!

I don't *think* there are huge implications for long-term use, given how it works, but I'm happy to stand corrected on that, if any of our veterinary contributors happen upon this thread!

tk123

I think with supply issues some vets have been using it longer than others and will have more experience with it. Also some are more proactive reporting incidents etc than others. I go to two vets - one has had it pretty much from day one and the other was a good year later before they started stocking it. I’d say just be aware of the side affects so you know what to look out for/don’t panic if it’s one of the temporary ones - we didn’t have any excess thirst or wee accidents for example ..but if it had of happened without me knowing in advance I would have freaked out after loosing a dog to kidney disease. There’s a FB group for Librella so maybe have a search and see if there’s one for the cat version or search for it on the Librella page. The efficacy if it’s the same as Librella is about 50%. It worked for Bailey but we’ve decided to pause it for now as the vet thinks it’s too risky in our case.

acequion

50% is not great efficacy. My kitty climbed up on the roof of a nearby shed this morning and then ran off like a jockey. My instinct is to keep her away from that strong medication while she's almost symptom free. Probably inevitable longer term.

Ave Sodalis

Would you consider a vet physiotherapist, OP? Laser has been shown to be very effective for maintaining QOL in arthritic animals, and can help with extra issues cropping up from compensating from not being able to use their front legs as well as they should.

Just a word on symptom-free cats too. Cats can be extremely stoic. Almost freakishly so. I've seen cats shatter bones and act like nothing happened. Usually, by the time a cat shows symptoms, they're in a lot of pain.

dashoonage

Ive a 13 year old doggo on Librella, shes on it coming up on one year now after arthritis was discovered in her spine when she was xrayed for a cruciate tear. Shes flying it thank god. You can tell every month when its due and then cant keep her still about 3-5 days after it :)

We have had zero side affects and my vets been using it for about a year and has had no reports, thats not to say there isnt as tk123 has proven and some reports on the facebook page as well, just giving you my experience.

As Ave said id recommend visiting a physio for an opinion, even if you have to travel to one for a consultation for an opinion. My doggo gets physio once a month and gets great relief from the laser on her front paws

Sigh.... i hope somebody takes this good care of me when im old.

@tk.... good to hear Bailey is doing well.

acequion

Very good idea about a vet physio. I will start googling to see how close to my town there is one available.

Thanks for the advice re symptoms. Would people feel that she should start the medication at this point while the arthritis is very mild rather than wait for it to progress? Bear in mind that I'm treating her with natural supplements. Thanks so much.

DBB

I wonder would an alternative medication called Cartrophen be more appropriate at this point? It is a painkiller, but it also helps the body to make new cartilage, so it helps with arthritis from a couple of different angles. Side-effects tend to be few.

It's given as an injection every week for 4 weeks, usually repeated every 6 months or so.

tk123

Just on laser - Bailey gets it every week and he LOVES it and sleeps all day after it! He also gets acupuncture once a month but I don’t know how cooperative your cat would be with that OP! There’s one point on his back and you can just see all the tension release when the needle goes in and his whole body relaxes like Aaaaahhh

Ave Sodalis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119416576#Comment_119416576

Keep in mind vet physio and animal physio are the same thing!

I'd talked to your vet about specific medications and perhaps bring up your concerns for long term use. They may even advise the stronger Yumove that's available under vet prescription, and give you a way to help assess pain levels such as a validated pain scale.

acequion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119417918#Comment_119417918

That's interesting to hear you can get stronger Yumove on prescription. Can I ask if a] the vet will also supply the Yumove and b] if not would you happen to know where it can be got in Ireland? Yumove for cats is getting extremely hard to source and get delivered to Ireland. Lintbells, the manufacturer in the UK doesn't deliver to Ireland, Zooplus.ie only occasionally have it and even Amazon.uk are out of it at the moment so I've had to order through Amazon Spain. This problem doesn't seem to exist in the dog equivalent, Zooplus and Amazon always have it along with some Irish suppliers. So if you know an Irish supplier doing the cat product I'd be delighted. Thanks.

tk123

I use Amazon + addresspal for one of Baileys supplements as I don’t want to change it!

acequion

Thanks @juliasmith for your opinion. I've decided to leave things be for the moment as my girl seems to be doing really well on natural supplements. This morning she was jumping on the roof of a nearby shed and last I saw of her was heading up a tree. 😀

By the time she might need this new medication hopefully more will be known about it. I honestly feel that strong drugs should be avoided until necessary.