What can I do for my aging cat with arthritic hips?

June 9, 2023 11:09 AM

Lumi is getting close to 20. He always seemed to have minor problems with his hips since he was rescued from the woods and then got into a car accident when he was 8 (x-ray confirmed a broken hip) and now has clear trouble getting up and down stairs and jumping up to things (he more pulls himself up with his front legs).

I tried to put rubber mats in the areas where he normally jumps down. I'm skeptical of pain-killers but would consider one if it was safe and gave real benefits. Is there anything else I can do to ease his burden besides try to help him up to things if I happen to be around?

posted by Jon44 to Pets & Animals (27 answers total)

Ask your vet about Solensia injections.
posted by XtineHutch at 11:16 AM on June 9, 2023 [13 favorites]

My elderly cat with a bad hip did very well on gabapentin, and ultimately got actual painkillers too, although we had to be fairly careful to watch her appetite because the latter tended to suppress it and she was too skinny to begin with. But gabapentin just generally seemed to make her more comfortable and doesn't have worrying side effects. This is for sure an "ask your vet" question, too, because there may be other options.

We tried to do things like put ottomans at the foot of the bed to give her a shorter descent and she completely ignored them and jumped down like always, and hauled herself back up with her forelegs until the very end, so *shrug*. But we also fed her and kept her litter boxes on the same floor of the house that she slept on, so she didn't have to deal with stairs at all.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:29 AM on June 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

I just started my 13 year old Bellatrix on Solensia injections. too soon to know if it will help but the vet gave it a strong endorsement.
posted by supermedusa at 11:43 AM on June 9, 2023

My friend's 20-year-old cat gets gabapentin, joint supplements, and CBD oil (rub a bit on ear skin). Also try a pet heating pad in the cat bed, litter box with low sides as needed (like a boot tray). Some cats benefit from back massages, I rub my senior kitty's hips a bit as well.
posted by momus_window at 12:05 PM on June 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Another vote for Solensia. Our 13 y.o. kitty has had 2 of 3 injections and the difference is night and day. Before, he spent his days glued to various heated beds. Now, he's up and about throughout the day, can jump up to and down from furniture and just overall seems happier.

The injections aren't cheap, but it's 1 per month for three months, so the cost is somewhat contained.
posted by ailouros08 at 12:08 PM on June 9, 2023

Pet stairs (or other step-like options) and a low-sided litterbox are good ideas. But please do consider a small dose of painkillers to see if it helps. When one of my elderly cats became stiff and creaky, being able to give him daily painkillers, and having a conversation with my vet about safely upping the dose on bad days, was a gamechanger for his quality of life.
posted by Stacey at 12:09 PM on June 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

We tried Solensia with my 18-year-old guy and didn't see a difference but he's on 3x a day Gabapentin which seems to help immensely. My understanding is if Solensia works it's dramatic, usually after the 2nd injection, but it didn't seem to make much difference.

Boosters and ramps or other ways of reducing obstacles would also be good. In addition to hip pain he may also be getting weaker. Reducing the amount of jumping and so forth that he needs to do would be ideal.

Finally, our senior dog gets a laser treatment regularly. It sounds kind of sketch but it has actually had a dramatic impact for him. I understand the same kind of treatment is available for cats.

(I like to joke with my wife that it's a whole James Bond type setup with a big threatening laser, but he'd never talk if tortured. But he'd spill state secrets for a dog biscuit...)
posted by jzb at 12:11 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

I wanted to add that our cat did seem to appreciate having a bed on the floor with a pet heating pad, so we have that set up in every room where we spend a lot of time, so he could just plop down easily wherever he wanted to be. We have a set of pet stairs to help with getting on the bed. And if was having a bad day, he would get his food brought to him rather than having him get up. He did get occasional gabapentin to help with bad days; it does work and is relatively inexpensive--a good option if you don't want the shots.
posted by ailouros08 at 12:21 PM on June 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Can you make "half-steps" for the stairs? Will that even help?
posted by kschang at 12:34 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

One of our dogs was recently limping a bit, and got NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory) prescription (the same class of drugs as ibuprofen). It seemed to help him a lot.

It's not a drug I'd ever heard of before -- I don't know that it's one that humans typically get, and I can't remember the name. But know that animal-friendly NSAIDs do exist.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:49 PM on June 9, 2023

Another vote for solensia. It's done wonders for our overweight kitty with very sore joints.

Making jumps smaller by adding mid-height tables and steps is also super important. Ramps are even better, if he has trouble with things like getting up onto low furniture.
posted by invincible summer at 1:19 PM on June 9, 2023

my old boy had good luck with dasuquin. it's a supplement, but he really did do better with jumping when he was taking it every day. and he thought they were very tasty!
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:21 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

oh, and pet safe hot pads for sure. franklin looooooooved them always, but especially so in his last few months.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:23 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Our arthritic cat has been on Adequan, and now is also on Solensia.
posted by foxfirefey at 1:40 PM on June 9, 2023

One more vote for Solensia. My 17-year-old beezer went from mostly sedentary to frequently playful after the first dose, and after two montbs, so far, this change in his mood and behavior seems to be sustaining itself.
posted by Spinneret at 2:49 PM on June 9, 2023

Oh my gosh, congrats on 20! I would totaly talk to your vet. There's a number of options available that don't include narcotic pain killers. Gabapentin, CBD, Solensia, Adequan. Solensia is really exciting! Arthritis in cats can be quite painful and debilitating and can lead to poor appetite which can be especially rough on the older kitties! Massage, physical therapy, and acupuncture are also great options to explore. Heat therapy is great, but older kitties have VERY FRAGILE skin, and can be VERY DEEP sleepers so you need to be careful about thermal injury.
posted by OsoMeaty at 2:52 PM on June 9, 2023

Here's an article about Solensia, it's primarily for veterinary medical professionals, but includes two very short and reader friendly case studies.
posted by OsoMeaty at 2:55 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Jonathan the cat started Solensia in early May. I started seeing a difference about 3 weeks after the first dose. Today, the stair mats are all askew (I don't know what he does with them, but it involves yowls of triumph), and he's been asking me to play fetch. Again.


Ramps. Ramps everywhere, especially up to the bed and up to wherever he likes to hang out.

Place a nice hang-out spot at a good height, with ramp access or very gentle stairstep-type access (low box, slightly higher table, etc.) near you or wherever he wants to be.
posted by amtho at 3:21 PM on June 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

My elder dogs responded really well to CBD oil. We'd just dropper it into their meals.

The pp who was impressed with the nsaids their dog was on may have been talking about Galliprant which is unfortunately only approved for dogs. It's too bad because that stuff is amazing.
posted by potrzebie at 4:16 PM on June 9, 2023

We have pet stairs for our rickety old guy so he can get on to the sofa and the human bed where he likes to sleep. He is also on gabapentin.

He did get great relief from regular injections of cartrophen, but unfortunately he has very poor kidneys now and it seemed like that was making it worse, so we had to stop.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:32 PM on June 9, 2023

Absolutely get a low-sided litter box. We got one for our 18 YO with arthritis, and even now that he's gone, we use them for our other non-senior cats too and they really like them. We got this one and it was a huge help.
posted by pdb at 5:37 PM on June 9, 2023

When Mr. Whiskers's bad leg and back (the vet suspected an injury in his feral youth) was giving him trouble in his last years, we got him a ramp like this one to go from the floor to his favorite couch, from which he could reach another few pieces of furniture he liked. Luckily we didn't have stairs, but if yours are wide enough to accommodate it, you could DIY a ramp for your guy by affixing a board along one side and covering it with carpet for his claws to grip.

He may also be more comfortable with raised dishes.

(We did still have to lift Mr. W. into the bathroom sink when he asked.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:55 PM on June 9, 2023

The change in my lil dude after his first Solensia injection was incredible. He’s been jumping on things he hasn’t gone near in ages. I’ve made a lot of small physical environment changes like some of the ones mentioned above, but nothing’s been as dramatic as Solensia.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 7:57 PM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have nothing to add but my thanks to all who commented -- this is AskMetaFilter at its best.
posted by y2karl at 11:13 PM on June 9, 2023 [6 favorites]

Pet stairs/ramps everywhere he likes to get up on things

Heated cat beds
posted by Jacqueline at 8:46 AM on June 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

My mom's cat was recently put on Solensia and it made a dramatic difference.

To put it in perspective, I went with my mom to the vet appointment as moral support, because he was so bad that my mom was scared the vet would tell us his quality of life had crossed the threshold. The vet recommended trying Solensia, told us she'd had a very high success rate with it, and said that if it worked we'd know. A few days later my mom's cat had already improved quite a lot. He still moves like an old cat, but he moves. He doesn't give up and lie down halfway to his destination anymore, he jumps up onto the couch, and so on.

Solensia is a new treatment - it only came out early last year. So if you haven't taken an arthritic cat to the vet in that time, it wasn't an option yet.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:52 PM on June 10, 2023

Our cat has severe arthritis, he gets Solensia injections but they don't do enough for him so we give him oral Meloxicam as well. It's an anti-inflammatory very similar to ibuprofen. It helps him a lot. It can have side effects so it's a trade off. The main side effects are cumulative over years so for an older cat they are may be less of a concern. Our vet told us she has quite a few old both cats on Solensia and Meloxicam.

We got some low stools and stepladders from Ikea and put them around the house and he uses them to get up on things instead of jumping.

Also a heated bed. It made a huge difference. We have one from K&H which is very good, he loves it.
posted by riddley at 11:12 PM on June 10, 2023