Signs a cat may have arthritis

Cats with arthritis often hide their pain, making client education on feline signs of discomfort an important step for an accurate diagnosis. In this video, Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR, founder of Canine Arthritis Resources and Education (CARE), discusses signs cat owners should watch out for that may indicate their feline companion is in pain.

Below is the interview transcript:

Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR: Cats with arthritis are going to do everything possible to hide their pain, especially when they come into the vet clinic. So what that means is veterinarians actually really need to rely on the caregiver, the pet parent, to know what signs of pain look like at home. And those signs are typically going to be changes in the cat's behavior and changes in their mobility.

There are actually 6 things that have been specifically identified that correlate with arthritis pain in cats, and those 6 things are:

• changes in how the cat goes upstairs,
• how they go downstairs,
• how they jump up,
• how they jump down,
• how they run,
• and how they play.

And the key word here is change. It's not necessarily that the cat stops jumping up or stops jumping down or stops playing, but they alter their behavior and their body mechanics to make it easier for them, like taking multiple little jumps or angling their body.

So, talking to pet parents and cat owners about how their cats are moving and how that might have changed over time, those are the big things to look for, for signs of pain. Other things could also include urinating or defecating outside the litter box. So, it might be painful to get into the litter box. They may be over grooming or under grooming themselves, or they just might hide more often because they hurt and they don't want to be touched.