Recognizing and assessing chronic pain in cats, whose stoic nature often conceals significant suffering from owners and veterinarians.
Chronic pain in cats represents one of the most underrecognized welfare problems in companion animal medicine. The stoic, solitary nature of cats means that pain behaviors evolved to be suppressed — an injured cat that shows weakness invites predation. This evolutionary adaptation makes cats profoundly unreliable reporters of their own discomfort, and means that owners and even veterinarians frequently miss significant chronic pain. Cats with arthritis often gradually withdraw from activities they previously enjoyed, groom less thoroughly, and lose interactive behavior with owners — changes interpreted as normal aging rather than treatable pain. Proactive screening for mobility changes in older cats, combined with willingness to prescribe appropriate pain management when quality of life is affected, can transform the welfare of many older cats.