Treating Arthritis in Cats

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tarasgirl06

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nanniecat

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This comes to me courtesy a dear friend who is an MD with concern for one of her cats.
Solensia
Sharing in hope it may help others caring for cats with possible arthritis.
solensia is in 2 cat practices in my city and today, placide recd her first injection. she howled and then it was over! been close to 12 hours and she seems well. no obvious side effects. maybe a little diarrhea? but i mixed Visbiome pet in her food midday so i hope that takes care of it! i am praying that she gets some relief. it could be my imagination but she seems more lively already! today was also her 6 year anniversary for her successful surgery to remove FGESF filld tumor and part of her colon. so we had a BIG day today! has anybody else had experience with Solensia? i would luv some feedback!
 

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nanniecat

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I do not, but that is a wonderful picture and it is good to hear that Placide has reached her 6 year mark!
i will always be grateful to her surgeon and her onco! usually she is at the hosp w/cake but we were at reg vet to get solensia.so far, so good!. she seems to have a little more pep-in--her-step!:yess:, she is def on the prowl more(a good thing) . the real test will be the morning i wake up and she is in my bed! she is scheduled for her second shot in a month. what i realize today is that she was so uncomfortable w/pain! that she always seemed depressed. #anewgirlinthehouse:happycat:
 

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just an update on the Solensia injection Placide rcvd. she is STILL more active than b4 the shot. a good thing. and she sits tucked more often but she still shakes her front paws out first. so the arthritis is still bothering her. that one wonky leg is a little less wonky?:rolleyes: i have seen no side effects! she does not jump up and i dont think she ever will. she continues to sleep on her pallet but now i find her in other places sleeping or just sitting,tucked. i have tried to educate her to use the transitioning around the bed but not successfully.:oops:she still cries to be in my bed w/me so i pick her up and put her with me. if it looks like she is starting to jump down i try to grab her and school her on better options! she gets her second shot on 9/22. so far, i think it was worth it and will continue the shots as long as they recommend. she is still taking 25mg gabapentin twice daily and the Adequan monthly. the diabetes has not come back(so it was the pred!) and the neuropathy is gone. AMEN!
 
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tarasgirl06

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just an update on the Solensia injection Placide rcvd. she is STILL more active than b4 the shot. a good thing. and she sits tucked more often but she still shakes her front paws out first. so the arthritis is still bothering her. that one wonky leg is a little less wonky?:rolleyes: i have seen no side effects! she does not jump up and i dont think she ever will. she continues to sleep on her pallet but now i find her in other places sleeping or just sitting,tucked. i have tried to educate her to use the transitioning around the bed but not successfully.:oops:she still cries to be in my bed w/me so i pick her up and put her with me. if it looks like she is starting to jump down i try to grab her and school her on better options! she gets her second shot on 9/22. so far, i think it was worth it and will continue the shots as long as they recommend. she is still taking 25mg gabapentin twice daily and the Adequan monthly. the diabetes has not come back(so it was the pred!) and the neuropathy is gone. AMEN!
Very promising update!
What kind of transitioning does she have? I haven't had experience of arthritis in cats, but we have an IKEA platform bed so it has a "step" all the way around. And I have a single cat condo that I put beside the bed to use as an other step.
 

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i have tried to educate her to use the transitioning around the bed but not successfully.:oops:she still cries to be in my bed w/me so i pick her up and put her with me.
Do you actually pick her up and place her on the transition and then the bed? If not, you might try that. I did that at first with Feeby just so she understood what the steps were for. It didn't take her much time to figure it out. Once she had the 'going up' to the bed understood, it helped her to understand she could use the same mode in reverse to get down.
 

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Very promising update!
What kind of transitioning does she have? I haven't had experience of arthritis in cats, but we have an IKEA platform bed so it has a "step" all the way around. And I have a single cat condo that I put beside the bed to use as an other step.
i have poofs in various heights. in spots that she jumps down. i pick her up and put her in the bed but when she wants to get down is a problem. and with the arthritis, the landing on her paws is a problem. i have seen her jump over the poofs to avoid them. i got the steps fr chewy. but with so much on the floor around the bed, i am the one tripping over it! it is NOT a good thing! and she cries and cries incessantly for me to get in bed and put her in it with me. she comes looking for me and cries and cries. when i figured out what she wanted. i tried ignoring her but it is constant. i will talk to the vet abt it when she goes in for the second shot. maybe we can up the gabapentin. old age? senility? dementia?
 

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Do you actually pick her up and place her on the transition and then the bed? If not, you might try that. I did that at first with Feeby just so she understood what the steps were for. It didn't take her much time to figure it out. Once she had the 'going up' to the bed understood, it helped her to understand she could use the same mode in reverse to get down.
i tried a few times going up but i did it a lot going down. off the bed, onto the first poof, and then the little foot stool. sometimes from the bed to the mid range poof and then the floor.she didn t resisit. she just sat there. so i encouraged her to go o the floor(carpeted) she was ok with it but she has never done it on her own. i didnt want to confuse her with too many options. but i have the same set up on the side of the bed, tried the same routine. but old habits r hard to break? i know she is smart but she has been resistant to this change. as much as she cries to get up i thought she would make the adjustment easy but . and btw-she wont even go near the steps. i have seen her very close to the lower poof and staring at it. i watched her but when she didnt do it i picked her up to show her. she didnt seem afraid.. she just sat on it so i put her on the bed fr there to teach her. but i have seen no attempt to do it on her own. i cant stop her frm that crying to get up. i even tried going outside so i couldnt hear it, and i dont want to yell at her. when i come back in she has stopped and is sitting peacefully somewhere. omg!:cringe::censored::headshake::ohwell:
 

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I didn't buy steps made for cats as they are really, IMO, too small to accommodate a cat that really needs steps to get up and down, and even be able to take a 15 second break in between steps. I use a sturdy box that is about 6" high, that leads to a trunk/chest that I have at the foot of my bed which is around 12" or so high. She uses these and then can reach the bed as the final step. She even sometimes sleeps on the chest. In the living room, I have an old paper ream box (filled with stuff) that is probably 8" high, that leads to my coffee table, which then allows her to get to the couch.

These items are sturdy and aren't cushiony in any way so as to avoid the sensation of being less 'stable'. These 'poofs' you talk about, if they give when weight is placed on them, you might replace those with something that has a harder surface.
 
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I've found that the single-story cat condo (very sturdy, but covered in carpet and large enough to curl up on) was perfect for our beloved Baby Su to use to navigate onto the bed, or back to the floor. I didn't place it next to the bed for that purpose, but because when our roomies moved in, I had few places to put it. It worked out perfectly when she needed a little help getting up and down!
 

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I didn't buy steps made for cats as they are really, IMO, too small to accommodate a cat that really needs steps to get up and down, and even be able to take a 15 second break in between steps. I use a sturdy box that is about 6" high, that leads to a trunk/chest that I have at the foot of my bed which is around 12" or so high. She uses these and then can reach the bed as the final step. She even sometimes sleeps on the chest. In the living room, I have an old paper ream box (filled with stuff) that is probably 8" high, that leads to my coffee table, which then allows her to get to the couch.

These items are sturdy and aren't cushiony in any way so as to avoid the sensation of being less 'stable'. These 'poofs' you talk about, if they give when weight is placed on them, you might replace those with something that has a harder surface.
Feeby a lucky kitty! one of the poofs is the one she has been using for yrs. sturdy firm but nice. i bought a footstool to get her on it. the other shorter one is new and kinda firm? i sat on patio in dark at 4 am in nightwear to escape the crying. wet to vet to get food at 8am. discussed and we agreed to gabapentin 25 mg am,12.5 mg 8 hrs later,25 mg 8hr later. we will discuss at appt this wk for solensia shot. it is still a lo dose
 
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