Chronic pain in cats is systematically underrecognized and undertreated due to the species' stoic behavioral responses, making owner and veterinary education critical for welfare improvement.
Chronic pain recognition in cats represents one of the most significant welfare gaps in companion animal medicine. The scale of unrecognized and untreated pain in the cat population is substantial - conservative estimates suggest millions of cats in developed countries experience daily pain from osteoarthritis that their owners attribute to normal aging. The welfare improvement opportunity from better recognition and treatment is correspondingly large. Owner education about normal vs. abnormal aging behavior in cats, combined with veterinary adoption of systematic pain screening tools, could substantially reduce this hidden welfare burden.