Over 80 percent of older cats suffer from painful joint wear and tear, so-called osteoarthritis. The elbow, knee and hip joints are most commonly affected. Because cats tend to hide pain and lameness, it is particularly difficult to diagnose. Orthopedic, neurological and imaging examinations are often not sufficient to detect abnormalities in movements. To make matters worse, there are no normal values ​​for healthy cats.

Objectively measured values ​​of typical movements of HEALTHY cats are urgently needed for a clear and early diagnosis. So far there is only data from cats walking on a flat surface. However, cats move much more diversely, they run, jump, climb, hunt and do not shy away from obstacles. The Vetmeduni is one of the few universities in the world that deals with feline orthopedics and movement analysis.

With our new study, typical movements of healthy cats are measured for the first time. The exact distribution of forces on the four paws when walking uphill and downhill and when jumping is recorded in our university clinic. In the future, these objectively recorded values ​​will serve as reference values ​​in order to be able to better diagnose lameness in cats.