For additional resources on animal arthritis in recognition of National Mobility and Pet Arthritis Awareness Month, check out:
Feline arthritis remains underdiagnosed
Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR, discusses the prevalence of arthritis in cats and the percentage of cats that are actually diagnosed
Although arthritis is a common condition in aging felines, fewer than 20% of cats with this condition are diagnosed, according to Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR, founder of Canine Arthritis Resources and Education (CARE). In this video, Kirkby Shaw shares statistics on feline arthritis from a lecture she presented at a previous Fetch dvm360 conference.
Raising awareness about the prevalence of arthritis in cats, given the gap in diagnosis, can help support earlier detection and treatment. To learn about how arthritis presents in feline patients, including signs client should watch for at home, watch our additional video with Kirkby Shaw where she highlights 6 key signs that have been specifically linked to arthritis pain in cats.
Below is the interview transcript:
Kristin Kirkby Shaw, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVS-SA, DACVSMR: Hi, I'm Dr Kristin Kirkby Shaw. I'm a small-animal surgeon and rehabilitation specialist. I did all of my training at the University of Florida, and I've practiced in Seattle, Washington, for 12 years. I have a passion specifically for osteoarthritis [OA]. I've spent my career both in the surgical suite and managing rehab patients. I'm actually excited that the next step of my career is going to be as an orthopedic surgeon at Colorado State University. [As] my passion project on the side, because I've been involved with [OA] for so long, I started the website caninearthritis.org. Check it out; it's a website full of practical, free, evidence-based tools to help you and your clients manage dogs with [OA].
So, arthritis is very common in cats. As they age, basically all cats are going to develop arthritis similar to how all humans, we develop some degree of wear and tear and joint disease. The statistics show that about 60% of cats over the age of 6 have x-ray evidence of arthritis and 90% of cats over the age of 12 have radiographic [OA].
But we know that not all cats with radiographic arthritis actually have clinically relevant pain, so the best estimate right now is about 40% of cats actually have clinically relevant osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, probably less than 20% of cats actually ever get diagnosed with arthritis.
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