Recognizing Signs of Cat and Dog Osteoarthritis
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In recognition of National Senior Pet Month and the importance of pain awareness and pain management as part of caring for senior animals, this guest blog post series focuses on osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint condition common among senior cats and dogs that can negatively impact the well-being of animals and owners/caregivers and the owner-animal bond (Monteiro, 2020; Belshaw et al., 2020). Since signs of osteoarthritis may include subtle changes in behavior or lifestyle (Drum et al., 2015), osteoarthritis may go undiagnosed or untreated (Bennett et al., 2012; Belshaw et al., 2020). In this guest blog post, Dr. Kaitlyn Krebs, DVM, MBA, DABVP, Assistant Professor of Clinical Primary Care at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine explains why animal owners/caregivers are essential to identifying osteoarthritis and offers actionable strategies for owners/caregivers to help recognize signs of cat and dog discomfort.
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What impact can osteoarthritis have on cat and dog health and well-being?
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of joints that causes thinning of cartilage, swelling of the joints, and bony formations around joints. This is a progressive and painful condition that is commonly diagnosed in middle-aged to older animals, but that can also affect young animals. Osteoarthritis affects the dog’s and cat’s ability to move, and movement is a huge part of what an animal does on a daily basis.
When animals aren’t able to move around as well, they start to change their behaviors to lessen the pain they’re experiencing from arthritis. For example, a dog that might previously have jumped around and exhibited excited behaviors when their owner got home from work, may change their behaviors to a slow amble to the door and some tail wagging, because they are too painful to jump up. This might seem like a pretty subtle change, but certainly does impact the animal’s normal routine. Animals are creatures of habit and when certain activities or behaviors are painful, they might start to alter their daily activities.
“Oftentimes [cat and dog] arthritis signs get brushed off as signs of ‘old age’ and signs that the animal is slowing down. While arthritis and aging do go hand in hand, signs of arthritis indicate pain and can be managed.”
Being able to recognize and manage an animal’s pain is a huge component of what we do as veterinarians and can have a huge impact on the animal’s comfort and well-being. When an animal’s pain is appropriately managed, their quality of life can be significantly improved, and behaviors they previously may not have been exhibiting, like jumping excitedly at their owners coming home or playing ball in the yard, can start to return. We know that arthritis is painful and being able to make an animal more comfortable is always a top priority.
Why are signs of osteoarthritis sometimes missed, and why are cat and dog owners/caregivers essential to identifying osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is such a tough disease, because signs range from things that are really subtle behavioral changes to pretty significant limping and mobility impairments. It’s hard to believe that one disease process could have so many different manifestations in our animals. It can also be really frustrating when an owner brings their animal into the vet for limping or intermittent pain, and the animal has so many other emotions that their adrenaline overrides the pain and as a result, the limping is masked or not visualized while in the clinic.
It’s really helpful in those situations for owners/caregivers to take videos at home to show us what they see at home when the animal is in their normal environment. Additionally, when these concerns arise, it’s important to address them with their veterinarian - sometimes annual exams can be so full of other “agenda” items, such as vaccines, preventatives, and nutrition, that arthritis and joint pain may fall to the back burner. Making sure that the pet is comfortable and that their pain is under control may include multiple visits to the vet outside of just the annual preventative care exams.
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With cats it can be even harder to see signs of osteoarthritis at the clinic, and so owners become even more essential to the identification of arthritis. Cats typically don’t exhibit a limp or change in their gait like dogs do, and so owners play more of a role in watching them at home and noticing subtle behavior changes. Things like hesitating to climb stairs aren’t typically things we’d see in a clinic but may be commonly observed at home. During the pandemic, people were spending more time at home with their animals, so cats especially were observed a lot more, and I felt like we were diagnosing a lot more arthritis in cats during that time period because people were picking up on some of those subtle clues.
What signs should cat and dog owners/caregivers look for to recognize osteoarthritis?
Oftentimes arthritis signs get brushed off as signs of “old age” and signs that the animal is slowing down. While arthritis and aging do go hand-in-hand, signs of arthritis indicate pain and can be managed. In general, signs of arthritis include decreased mobility, which can include not walking around as much, slowing down or not going as far on walks, needing to stop to take breaks more often, having difficulties going up or down stairs, slipping on hard surfaces, and hesitating before jumping (such as onto furniture or the bed for dogs, and onto counters, cat trees, etc. for cats).
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Dogs more commonly show visible signs of orthopedic lameness and pain. These signs may be less subtle, such as raising a limb or not weight bearing on a limb, limping on a particular leg, or scuffing their feet/nails when walking. Owners might also notice more pronounced signs after intense exercise, like a long hike or longer play sessions. Sometimes the following day, dogs will seem stiff or have a harder time getting up from lying down. But dogs can exhibit subtle behavior changes as well, such as being more sensitive to being touched in certain locations, or not wanting to snuggle on the couch with their people.
Cats, on the other hand, uncommonly show visible signs of orthopedic lameness, and more commonly show more subtle signs. As already mentioned, things like hesitating before going up stairs or jumping onto objects can be one of the first things owners notice. When cats are in pain or not feeling well, they also tend to become more reclusive, so signs like hiding, not wanting to be around people, and not spending time in their favorite spots around the house could be signs they are experiencing pain. This is, of course, not an all-inclusive list, but by observing the behaviors of dogs and cats at home, owners can gather clues as to whether something is wrong or if their animal is in pain.
Osteoarthritis is a complicated disease, but owners can play a key role in the identification of clinical signs to start a conversation with their veterinarian about ways to make their animal more comfortable.
*Please note: C+B® does not have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with any products named in this guest blog post series.
Belshaw, Z., Dean, R., Asher, L. (2020). ‘Could it be osteoarthritis? How dog owners and veterinary surgeons describe identifying canine osteoarthritis in a general practice setting’, Preventative Veterinary Medicine, 185. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167587720308825.
Bennett, D., Zainal Arrifin, S. M., Johnston, P. (2012). ‘Osteoarthritis in the cat: 1. How common is it and how easy to recognise?’, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 14(1), pp. 65-75. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22247326/.
Drum, M., Bockstahler, B., Levine, D., Marcellin-Little, D. (2015). ‘Feline Rehabilitation’, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 45(1), pp. 185-201. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195561614001429.
Monteiro, B. (2020). ‘Feline Chronic Pain and Osteoarthritis’, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 50(4), pp. 769-788. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019556162030005X.