26/08/2026
Pain in cats is a weird one. Not something they tend to advertise.
And yes, I live my life as an open book, so apologies if my ongoing cat problems bore you. You all get dragged along for the ride regardless.
Ava has been limping on and off again, and I'm starting to think there may be more of a pain component to her general behaviour than I originally realised.
Now, Ava has always been.. Ava.
She hisses and growls and has approximately zero tolerance for nonsense.
So it's very easy to write things off as "that's just her personality."
But the more I watch her, the more I think pain is at least part of the picture. Because cats don't always make pain obvious. If they get to the point of actually crying, you know it's serious. Most of the time they just carry on like nothing's wrong. On the outside, anyway.
Sometimes they just become less tolerant, less social, more reluctant to move, more hesitant to jump. A bit stiffer. A bit grumpier. They start avoiding things they used to do, and you don't really notice when it changed because you live with them every day and it creeps in so slowly.
Then one day they limp, and suddenly you start second-guessing everything. Was the hissing just hissing? Was the slowing down age, or pain? Has she actually been telling me for a while and I just missed it.
So, where are we at.
She's already on 4Cyte, Antinol and our own Priscilla's Blend for joint support. I still have her prescribed buprenorphine for pain when she needs it, and I've used that again during this flare. Solensia isn't on the table for Ava.
She's also on a weight loss program, because carrying extra weight certainly isn't helping sore joints. I am diligently weighing her. My stupid old lady brain then apparently immediately deletes what she weighed the week before, which makes tracking progress somewhat challenging. I really do need to start writing these things down.
The bigger question I want to work through with her vet is whether we need to shift from treating the occasional bad day to having a more structured, ongoing pain management plan. (this girl really is my spirit animal. the weight gain, the pain, the pain med requirement, the limping, the hissing and bad mood, the hating everyone.. literally all me.. bit spooky actually)
I think I knew. I just didn't want it to be as much of a thing as it probably is.
It's worth just.. watching them sometimes. Not looking for anything specific, just watching.
Little things. Are they moving and jumping the same? Sleeping in different spots? A bit crankier, a bit less tolerant, hesitating before doing things they never used to think twice about?
In Ava's case we already know there's arthritis. But for your cat, none of these things automatically means the same. They're just worth noticing.
Sometimes pain doesn't look dramatic. Sometimes it just looks like your cat has become a little bit different.
Have you ever looked back and realised your cat was probably in pain before you actually knew?
