Feline chronic pain

Feline chronic pain is persistent or recurring pain in cats lasting months, most commonly caused by degenerative joint disease and often unrecognized because cats hide discomfort.

Rather than limping, cats in pain tend to jump less or hesitate before jumping, use stairs awkwardly, groom less, sleep more, withdraw from the family, become irritable when handled or eliminate outside the litter box because the box is hard to enter. Other causes include dental disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease and nerve injury. Because the signs are gradual, owners often attribute them to normal aging.

Veterinarians assess feline pain with a thorough physical examination, validated owner questionnaires that score behaviors at home, radiographs and blood tests to identify the source. Management is tailored to the cause and may include environmental adjustments, weight control and prescription analgesics that are safe for cats, since many human pain medications are toxic to them. Cannabidiol evidence in cats is early and largely limited to osteoarthritis.