Chronic pain in cats, particularly from osteoarthritis, is vastly underdiagnosed. Cats mask pain through stoicism, leading owners and sometimes vets to miss conditions that significantly reduce quality of life.
Feline chronic pain is a hidden welfare crisis. Unlike dogs, cats rarely vocalise pain, and owners interpret reduced activity as normal ageing rather than painful limitation. Unmanaged arthritis causes daily suffering: joints are inflamed, weight-bearing is painful, and normal activities like grooming, jumping, and play become aversive. The recent development of injectable anti-NGF treatments specifically for cats has opened new pain management possibilities, but diagnosis remains the bottleneck.