Feline arthritis (degenerative joint disease) is extremely common in older cats but massively under-diagnosed and under-treated, causing chronic pain in millions of cats globally.
Feline arthritis is one of the most significant underaddressed welfare problems in companion animal medicine. Millions of older cats live with chronic joint pain that their owners attribute to 'slowing down with age' - normalising pathology as ageing when it is actually treatable disease. Welfare improvement requires three parallel interventions: educating owners to recognise subtle pain signs, training veterinarians to diagnose and treat arthritis proactively in senior cats, and developing affordable, safe long-term pain management options. Monoclonal antibody therapy (frunevetmab) provides highly effective monthly pain control that avoids the liver disease risk of long-term NSAID use in cats. The barrier is awareness and cost, not therapeutic availability.