Chronic pain is pervasive in companion animals but systematically under-detected and under-treated. Improving pain recognition skills in owners and veterinary teams is a major welfare priority.
Chronic pain under-recognition represents one of the largest everyday welfare failures in companion animal veterinary practice. Unlike acute pain, which produces obvious signs, chronic pain often manifests as subtle behavioural changes that owners and vets may attribute to 'slowing down with age.' Validated owner questionnaires, systematic veterinary pain assessments, and owner education about chronic pain signs all improve detection. Therapeutic trials of analgesic medication can confirm suspected chronic pain diagnoses while providing treatment. Building systematic chronic pain assessment into routine veterinary wellness examinations would identify many currently unrecognised cases and significantly improve animal welfare.