Limping kitty

[Braden & Zoe]

hey everyone

Zoe’s been in remission since the last week of November and her diabetes has been controlled by wet food only diet and she’s been doing well. Before the whole diabetic shenanigans in November, back in about June Zoe jumped in a box and kinda caught her hip on the side of the box. The next day after she was limping on her right leg. She wasn’t holding it up in the air but when she walked she would quickly go to the left leg as she walked. Took her to the vet and the vet wasn’t able to find anything serious found in a feel test. Got some pain killers for the next few days and after about a couple weeks went by the limp was less noticeable. As Zoe became diabetic she lost some weight. With the weight loss it seemed her limp went away. A few weeks Pryor to her being diagnosed with diabetes I remember she had like a unfound energy. She was running around the apartment like a crazy person and things were great.

Since Zoe has been in remission she’s been only getting a can of freskies chicken pate a day that I split in half. Half for breakfast half for dinner. Because she doesn’t have dry food to graze on she would be wakeing me up at 4am because she was hungry. Some morning she would drive me a bit nuts so I was giving her about a quarter of another can before I went to bed in hopes she wouldn’t bug me in the morn. Because of this I think she’s put on a bit of weight. She looks like she was at the weight she was a couple months before she was diagnosed. She was never a fat cat but was technically a little over weight. Yesterday morning she had a lot of energy and was tearing up the cat post and running across my bed. She even ran up the side of my couch witch she never does! I took off to work that day and came home and noticed she was limping again? As of today she is still limping. The limp almost looks heavier then when she first had it about 6 months ago? She’s about 9 years of age. Is 9 too early for arthritis? She doesn’t seem to be in any bad pain but the limp is pretty heavy? She’s still jumping up on my bed no problem. I’ve been thinking of getting her on glucosamine but was just wondering what you experts think? Does glucosamine supplements have any hidden sugars? It’s very important to me that she stays in remission. Any home remedy? Should I just wait a couple weeks and see if it goes away naturally? Is this potentially a life long thing? I was lucky with cats growing up who never seemed to have any problems until the end, and Zoe has been fine the first 8 years of her life. Then everything went a little nutty in January 2018 with constipation issues then the hurt leg, then the diabetes. I just want her little kitty life to go back to normal. But it seems like every few months another thing arises! How did you treat your limpy cat?

 

[majandra]

When you said glucose supplement, did your phone autocorrect glucosamine? If you find a supplement you want to give, you can either google the ingredients, or post them here.

Have you been checking Zoe's sugars at home? If so, has there been any change since she started limping? When my girl was diagnosed, it was because she was limping.

Her limp could be a soft tissue damage- if she doesn't normally run around, and then all of a sudden does, she may have pulled something just like we do.

 

[Braden & Zoe]

When you said glucose supplement, did your phone autocorrect glucosamine? If you find a supplement you want to give, you can either google the ingredients, or post them here.

Have you been checking Zoe's sugars at home? If so, has there been any change since she started limping? When my girl was diagnosed, it was because she was limping.

Her limp could be a soft tissue damage- if she doesn't normally run around, and then all of a sudden does, she may have pulled something just like we do.

Thanks! yes i did mean glucosamine. I have not been checking her sugar levels but im not been seeing the signs of her diabeticness where she was drinking tons of water and peeing islands in the litter box. im certain this limp was from before when she originally injured herself back in june. like i said in my earlier post that limp went mostly away when she got skinny in the months prior to her becoming diabetic. she appears to have put back on the weight since shes been in remission and i think that might be part of it. to my surprise this morning she wasn't limping as bad. if she moves quick its less noticeable but if shes laying down for a bit and gets up its a bit more heavy. its definitely not that diabetic limp where they walk on the back of the leg. only things ive noticed was she didnt eat all of her wet food through out the night as there was still some in her dish this morning. dont know if she was just being fussy as it dried out.

I was more or less just curious if 9 years of age is a typical age for cats to show signs of arthritis? Zoe isnt a high energy cat. shes a cat that pretty much wants to be curled up against me or on me 90% of the day and the other 10% is looking out the window. I get on the ground and play with her but shes very much a go and then stop kitty. plays for a couple minutes then needs a break. but shes always been like that. but the morning before i noticed the limp she was full of energy and was running across my bed and jumping from bed to cat post and from cat post back to bed. i think she just over did it.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Cats can have joint problems at a very early age. My civi Moxie first exhibited them when she was less than a year old. X-rays confirmed. Moxie is now 11 and joint degradation has progress as shown by x-rays. She is now on glucosamine, gabapentin for pain and Adequan shots. She is doing a lot better now.
Since you said Zoe's problem started after a bad landing, that could indicate a tendon, or similar problem.