Arthritis in Cats - Treatment Options Beyond Steroids

Just as it is for humans, arthritis in cats treatmentevident in the cartilage. Arthritis in cats is essentially
options have come a long way in the past few years.the breakdown or deterioration of cartilage around
Not so long ago the options for treating your cat forthe joint. When this occurs, the joint rubs against
arthritic pain and inflammation were very limited.hard bone and it proves to be an incredibly painful
Veterinarians relied upon NSAIDS and steroids to helpexistence for the sufferer.
to reduce the inflammation that the disease brings on.Omega-3 fatty acid is also found to be a positive
This has had limited success as it could only be usedfactor for arthritis in cats treatment. This can be
for short periods of time to treat the animal and iffound in a high quality cat food, usually canned or
the cat happened to have heart or kidney problemswet food, or can be found in particularly high
as well then it made them not very good candidatesconcentrations in the green-lipped mussel from New
for the treatment. This meant that a cat withZealand. This is a product that is now shipped
arthritis on top of an existing illness was left to sufferworld-wide and can be purchased dry and ground up
in agony.and added to your pet's meal.
Many owners have had to look to euthanize theirNSAIDS have been modern medicines answer to pain
pets because they could not bear to see them inrelief and inflammation problems. However, they have
pain any longer. Often this was thought to be thebeen very unpopular for some time along with the
more humane way of treating the condition.use of corticosteroids as they have very negative
Thankfully, modern medicine progresses at a rapidside effects which essentially can negate the reason
speed nowadays and with it has come some greatfor using them.
breakthroughs in treating the condition of arthritis inThere has been a development of a long-term
cats. The great thing is that both traditional medicinearthritis treatment medication that has had limited
and modern medicine are now working together toeffect on cats. This is not due to the medication's
provide better treatment options for pet owners andefficacy, but due to the fact that cats have a unique
getting some good solid results.metabolism and one of the side effects of this drug
Glucosamine and chondroitin have both been found tois nausea and vomiting. Unfortunately, this
be an effective preventative measure in the battlecounteracts the drugs efficiency in treating and
to slow arthritis down. Both of these properties arerelieving pain from the arthritis.