Animal welfare research is generating increasingly sophisticated tools for assessing companion animal wellbeing, enabling better clinical practice and owner decision-making.
Companion animal welfare research advances are directly improving the quality of welfare assessment available to veterinary teams and owners. When a vet can use a validated pain scale to assess a dog's pain state rather than relying on subjective impression, treatment decisions are better informed and welfare outcomes improve. When owners can use a quality of life assessment tool to evaluate their cat's experience with chronic disease, end-of-life decisions are more welfare-centred. The translation of welfare science into clinical practice tools is a critical link between academic research and the welfare of individual animals in homes and clinics.