QUESTION

Frody has arthritis in his back legs. His legs have always looked a bit deformed and as he gets older he struggles to get around. Metacam helps but the vet says he should not stay on it permanently, hence the glucosamine, which helps a little. We give him Metacam when he seems particularly in pain. His back paws are always cold and the right one doesn't seem to have much sensation in it and he sometimes stands on his knuckle without knowing. That knee joint is swollen. His legs also give way when he tries to climb up anything and his back end collapses when he turns round. His bladder and bowels seem OK. Our vet just said to carry on as we are but we wonder if there is anything else we can do for him as otherwise he is fine. Do you you think it would be worth getting a second opinion or can you suggest anything we could ask our vet for. Sheila

ANSWER

Dear Sheila
Well, as we know as animals get older they often get arthritis changes in joints. Although there are a few drugs around that can help the cat, none are really designed to give for a long time. "metacam" is used orally really for the dog, and as such your vet is using it off licence (as is his perogative) adding glucosamine is a recent innovation for the cat, and seems to help a lot of them. What more? you ask. if you wanted to your vet could xray the swollen joints to see what is going on. or, he could advise you on a more permanent medication, or take bloods to see if the cat's body functions are ok. some people use alternative medicines, but, I cannot comment/advise. often we can only make pets of your cats age as settled as possible, after all the cat is around the equivalent of 120 years in human terms-a good age.

James Haddow