Companion Animal Welfare

Cat Senior Wellness and Quality of Life

Quality of life assessment in senior cats guides care decisions and helps owners recognize when intervention or end-of-life planning is needed.

Key Facts

Quality of life tools for cats include the HHHHHMM scale and clinical assessments
Good days versus bad days analysis guides end-of-life decisions more practically than disease staging
Maintaining activities cats enjoy - hunting play, social interaction, grooming - indicates welfare
Pain management optimization often dramatically improves apparent quality of life in senior cats
Owner perception of quality of life is subjective - validated tools provide more objective assessment

Welfare Considerations

Quality of life assessment is one of the most compassionate tools available to owners of senior cats. Moving from intuition to validated assessment enables more confident, welfare-centered decisions about care and end of life.

What You Can Do

Learn to use a validated quality of life assessment tool for your senior cat
Maintain a daily journal recording good and bad days to guide care decisions
Share quality of life observations with your vet to guide treatment and planning