4 steps to diagnosing feline osteoarthritis

Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR, founder of Canine Arthritis Resources and Education, talks about the steps involved in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) in feline patients. As Kirkby discusses, these steps include a conversation with the caregiver (which may include home videos of the patient), a physical examination, x-rays, and a pain management trial.

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Below is the interview transcript, which has been lightly edited for improved clarity.

Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR: So, veterinarians need to diagnose OA in cats using a combination of essentially [4] things, the first 2 being, honestly, the most important.

1. Actually talking to the caregiver and asking them the appropriate questions about what the cat is doing at home and along those lines, potentially even getting home videos to see what the cat is doing. Are they changing their behavior and their mobility? So, #1 is asking the right questions of the caregivers.
2. No. 2 is, of course, a veterinarian does need to do their exam, but cats are notoriously great at hiding pain from us, so if we don't find pain or anything that suggests arthritis on our physical exam, it doesn't necessarily mean that that cat doesn't have arthritis pain.
3. The next step, ideally, is to do x-rays. But as we know, 90% of cats over the age of 12 will have x-ray evidence of arthritis. So, that doesn't necessarily mean that the cat has pain, but x-rays are definitely best medicine to confirm what we're suspecting.
4. And then the fourth way that often may be used is actually a pain management trial. So, [it’s about] start[ing] a proven analgesic that can be helpful for [a] cat [with] arthritis. Now, in the United States, we don't have any NSAIDs that are approved for long-term use in cats, but in many other countries they have been approved. Or alternatively, Solensia could be an option there. It has been shown that cat caregivers may actually notice changes in their cat once they've been on a pain reliever and then that pain reliever is taken away, [at which point] they notice, ‘oh, actually, my cat was doing better when they were on the pain reliever.’

So those are 4 ways that veterinarians can potentially identify and diagnose arthritis in cats.