Feline Chronic Pain Management and the Power of a Team Approach

Chronic pain in cats is one of the most underrecognized and undertreated conditions in small animal practice. This paper emphasizes that chronic pain is maladaptive, persists beyond normal healing time, and negatively affects every domain of feline welfare, from mobility and appetite to emotional well-being and human–animal interactions. While chronic pain may occur on its own, it most often arises secondary to long-term disease processes such as osteoarthritis, dental disease, cancer, and neurologic dysfunction.