Dental disease affects the majority of adult cats and causes chronic pain that significantly reduces quality of life when undetected and untreated.
Dental disease represents one of the most underappreciated sources of chronic pain in companion cats. Because cats instinctively mask vulnerability, owners often do not notice dental pain until it becomes severe. A cat that has had painful dental disease treated often shows a dramatic behavioral transformation — more active, more social, more playful — revealing how much their quality of life had been diminished. Annual dental examination should be considered a core element of preventive cat care, not an elective procedure. When dental disease is identified, prompt treatment rather than watchful waiting is the welfare-centered choice, since untreated disease progresses and pain accumulates over time.