Periodontal disease affects the majority of adult cats and causes chronic oral pain that profoundly reduces quality of life, yet it remains systematically underdiagnosed and undertreated.
Feline dental disease represents arguably the largest single source of unaddressed chronic pain in companion animal medicine. The scale of the problem — affecting the majority of adult cats — combined with the tendency of cats to continue functioning despite severe oral pain creates conditions where systemic welfare failure goes unrecognized. Owners observing behavioral changes including reduced play, altered eating, or social withdrawal often attribute these to aging rather than pain. Post-dental procedure behavioral improvements — cats becoming more playful, affectionate, and active — provide retrospective evidence of the welfare burden that existed before treatment.