FIV+ 12 year old cat with arthritis <3

[ilovemourad]

Hi everyone, as the title suggests, I have a 12 year old male FIV+ cat who has just been diagnosed with arthritis. He's a pretty big cat and is a bit overweight (8kgs but he is a massive boy anyway).

He has no health problems directly related to his FIV, and regularly sees a vet.

Just wondering, is there anything I can do for his arthritis? He's going to have injections for the next four weeks and see how that goes. If anyone knows of any other remedies I'd be very grateful. He doesn't seem to have it badly, he still plays and climbs stairs and jumps etc. However sometimes he meows when he's picked up, which is how the vet recognised it. I just want to make sure it doesn't get any worse, if that's possible, so any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks :)

[ilovemourad]

Hi thanks, the shots are synovan. Just doing some googling now. I think the vet identified a sore spot on his spine as arthritis.

[zodiacqueen]

Hi. I agree with opus that it's not proof enough that he meows when he's picked up that he has arthritis. Your best proof would be noticing problems when he jumps or getting him X-rays. The vet would then see the proof on the X-rays. You know your cat better than the vet does.

My best advice to you would be to do some online research on arthritis in cats and to not jump the gun yet on those shots.

[opus88]

hi and welcome
just a question for you, what injections are you referring too? this worries me b/c the only thing I can think of is prednisone...or some other anti-inflammatory injection....please do not let your Vet give these to your cat. they can cause diseases that are much much worse than arthritis...like diabetes.
I would never use these unless kitty is in severe pain...or other sometimes warranted uses

just my opinion but just b/c he meows when picked up is not a very good indication of arthritis, esp since he still runs, plays and jumps....I wouldn't be concerned at this point

if you really want to try something natural I can give you some ideas but plz stay away from steroids