Feline tooth resorption is a painful dental disease that is often invisible without radiography and causes chronic unrecognized suffering in affected cats.
Cats with tooth resorption experience chronic localized oral pain from exposure of dentinal tubules and nerve as tooth structure is destroyed. The absence of obvious pain behavior does not indicate absence of pain - cats with severe resorption often continue eating by developing compensatory techniques or habitually ignoring pain. Owners and veterinarians who rely on behavioral cues rather than radiographic examination miss the majority of resorption cases. When clearly painful teeth are extracted, owners consistently report improvements in activity, grooming, and playfulness that retrospectively confirm the welfare impact of the chronic pain that preceded treatment.