Chronic pain, particularly from osteoarthritis, affects a large proportion of middle-aged and older cats but is dramatically underdiagnosed. Understanding how cats express chronic pain enables earlier intervention and better welfare.
Chronic pain in cats represents a welfare problem of enormous scale that is largely hidden from owners and even veterinary professionals by the stoic, subtle nature of feline pain expression. A cat that has stopped jumping onto its favorite window ledge, that grooms its lower back less thoroughly, that is slower to rise after rest, that uses the litter box less reliably — may be experiencing significant osteoarthritic pain rather than behavioral changes attributable to age or personality. The absence of the obvious pain signals familiar from dogs — vocalization, obvious lameness, withdrawal — means that feline chronic pain can progress for years without diagnosis or treatment. The welfare gap is wide: validated pain assessment tools, including owner-completed questionnaires about specific functional behaviors, can identify chronic pain in cats that veterinary examination alone misses. Licensed analgesic treatment with long-term meloxicam in cats with chronic arthritis significantly improves activity levels, behavioral engagement, and quality of life. The combination of owner education about subtle pain signs and proactive screening of senior cats provides the detection that enables the treatment that reduces the suffering.