Reading a Cat in Pain
Cats are built to conceal injury. The signs that remain are subtle, consistent, and learnable — and most owners are better placed to spot them than any vet.
A cat that shows pain in the wild advertises itself to everything that might eat it. The behaviour that follows from that pressure is concealment, and it is very effective. Owners routinely report that a cat seemed fine right up until it was clearly not.
The consequence is that feline pain is under-recognised and under-treated — chronic pain especially. But cats are not actually silent about it. They are quiet about it, which is different.
The face
The Feline Grimace Scale, developed and validated as a clinical tool, scores five facial features. It is designed for veterinary use but the components are worth knowing:
Ear position — rotating outward and flattening as pain increases.
Orbital tightening — the eyes narrowing to a squint.
Muzzle tension — the muzzle shifting from rounded to a flatter, more elliptical shape.
Whisker position — moving from relaxed and curved to straight and pushed forward.
Head position — dropping to or below shoulder level.
The behaviour
Changes in routine are the more reliable everyday signal, because you have months of baseline to compare against and a vet has ten minutes:
Reduced jumping, or a cat that now takes an intermediate step onto a surface it used to reach in one go.
Grooming changes — either a neglected, matted coat, or intense over-grooming of one specific area.
Hiding, or a sociable cat that has started sleeping somewhere new and inaccessible.
Reduced appetite, or eating more slowly, or approaching food and walking away — which frequently means dental pain.
Litter box avoidance, particularly in a cat with a history of using it reliably.
New irritability when handled, especially around a specific part of the body.
Purring is not evidence that a cat is comfortable. Cats purr when injured, in labour, and while dying. It is a self-soothing behaviour as much as a contented one.
Arthritis is the big one
Radiographic evidence of degenerative joint disease is extremely common in older cats — far more common than the rate at which it gets diagnosed and treated. Cats do not usually limp with it. They reduce their world instead: fewer jumps, shorter patrols, more sleep. Owners read that as the cat slowing down with age, which it is, but not in the untreatable way they assume.
What to do
Film it. A thirty-second clip of your cat getting onto the sofa is worth more to a vet than any description you can give in the consulting room, because the behaviour you are describing will not happen there. Note when it started and what has changed. And ask directly about pain management — there are licensed options for cats, including for chronic joint pain, and they are meaningfully better than they were five years ago.
Never give human painkillers to a cat. Paracetamol is lethal to cats at ordinary household doses, and ibuprofen is not far behind. This is one of the most common causes of accidental poisoning in the species.
This is general information, not a diagnosis.
Every cat is a specific animal with a specific history. Use this to ask your vet better questions — not to replace the examination. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it in public.
