Just found out my cat has arthritis. How long does he have to live?
Take your cat to another vet immediately! That’s not arthritis, that’s a saddle embolism. A blood clot from his heart has traveled down the aorta to where it splits to supply blood to each hind leg, and it has lodged there, cutting off circulation to his hind legs. A saddle embolism doesn’t seem to cause the cat pain at first, but later it will become agonizingly painful. I have seen cats brought in literally screaming from this condition. Unfortunately, cats rarely recover from it, though at the vet hospital where I work we did have one who has apparently recovered completely. The sooner you get him to a competent vet, not the one who saw him and missed the diagnosis (so obvious that I can make it from an email) the better chance he has, or at least the less he will suffer. Don’t wait…this will become even more of an emergency during the weekend. ADD It isn’t arthritis, Moongirl. You’ve figured that out yourself. Please take him to another vet.
