Senior cats commonly experience chronic pain from multiple sources that goes unrecognized and untreated. Modern multimodal pain management significantly improves quality of life.
Chronic pain management in senior cats is one of the most significant welfare opportunities in companion animal medicine. The near-universal prevalence of radiographic arthritis in senior cats, combined with cats' extreme stoicism in masking pain, means that millions of cats globally are living with unrecognized and untreated chronic pain. A cat that used to jump to favored spots and now doesn't, that grooms less thoroughly, that interacts less with family members, or that seems generally less engaged is likely experiencing chronic pain. The recent approval of anti-NGF antibody treatments for cats has transformed the treatment landscape - these medications specifically target pain signaling without the safety concerns of NSAIDs. The welfare benefit of catching and treating chronic feline pain is enormous and immediate.