14 year old Girl Cat has Arthritis
Hello! Kookie (14 years old, neutered, 14lbs) has recently been diagnosed with arthritis in her hind legs. As of last month, it has progressed into her front left elbow. I took her to her primary vet originally not knowing it was arthritis because she had been limping and limiting her movement. Her primary thought it could be a sprain because she had recently fallen off the bed and that’s when I started to notice the limping. They gave her a steroid shot. He also prescribed weight loss/ joint health prescription food to help her lose weight. She is about 14 pounds now.
A week afterwards, she wasn’t getting better and was still limping and limiting her movement more. I took her to an urgent vet who had done X-rays. That’s where we found the arthritis in her front legs.
Fast forward to now. She had her first solensia injection 2 weeks ago and I have started to give her gabapentin for pain relief as prescribed by the vet. Her movement has become even worse. She is not putting weight on her front right leg at all. She tries to move but has started dragging the front right leg and stumbling to get around.
I took her in again today because to me, this doesn’t seem like an arthritis issue. They believe it could be nerve damage. I showed her primary the X-rays taken at the urgent vet and he noticed a small white line in the front of the Xray that looks out of place and he wasn’t sure what it was. We decided to give her a stronger steroid injection to help with the nerves though it could be something else. I was told it was going to be trial and error.
It’s important to note that Kookie has been eating, drinking, and using the bathroom just fine. Though it’s hard for her to move around, she still tries as much as possible.
My questions are regarding the X-ray and if any vets would have an idea of what the white piece is. I am also wondering if there is something else entirely that could be going on. Please ask questions if you have them. I’m happy to clear things up if needed. Thank you in advance.
Posted Jun 8, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC