Cat Has Back Problem

by Angela
(Salmo, BC, Canada)

Hello! Thank you having such a wonderful service!

I have a 10 1/2 year old male cat. I have had him since he was 8 weeks old, he has always been an indoor cat. He has never had any medical issues except some bladder crystals which were treated and he is now on medi-cal urinary iso food for prevention. He has always had good quality food. Over the past week and half he has had issues jumping. He is hesitating or not jumping high enough some of the time, and other times he doesn't seem to have an issue. Randomly when petting him he will give a little cry of pain, which seems to happen from just before his back left leg on his side, but closer to his spine. But he doesn't cry everytime you touch him there.

His coat is shiny and soft, and his eyes are bright. His temperment is normal, and he still loves affection and attention and playing.

I did take him to the vet, and he was tested for diabetes which he does not have. The vet said that it was highly doubtful it would be kidney disease since he is still active, friendly, and has excellent muscles, no degeneration. He has always drank a lot of water, so the vet said it's probably habit. He urinates about 2-3 times daily. The vet also ruled out arthritis.

Is it possible that he just pulled or straigned a muscle? Or are there any other things you can think of? I know there is something bothering him, so it is bothering me! :) Any advice you can give would be muchly appreciated!!!

Answer by Kate
Hi well you did the right thing having him fully checked out by a vet so it is good to know that he is not suffering from things like arthritis etc.

i would say that it is entirely possible that he has slipped and bruised himself and perhaps pulled a muscle. It is a good sign that he is not showing other changes in behavior as this indicates that it is not affecting him unduly.

My advice is to give it another week or so to see if the problem eases. Hopefully if it is a pulled muscle etc it should heal in that time.

as cats get older they can miss their footing from time to time and so small falls are not uncommon.

i don't know if you let him out, but the other possibility is that he has been bitten on the back, although i would have thought that the vet would have noticed marks etc.

There are animal supplements that can help with cats joints as they get older and this may be something you want to consider for the future. i have a web page about cat supplements which you may find of further interest here

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-supplements.html

best wishes Kate

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