Chronic pain in dogs and cats almost never announces itself with a whimper. It disguises itself as something else: as temperament, as laziness, as age. Many animals reach the consulting room after months of hurting, and the sentence most often heard after treatment is “I had no idea he was like that until he stopped being like that”.
This guide gathers the signs most often missed in dogs and in cats, what you must never give them on your own initiative, and how to arrive at the appointment with information that is genuinely useful.
Why pain goes unnoticed
Animals do not exaggerate pain: they conceal it. It is inherited behaviour, because showing weakness carries a cost in the wild. A dog carries on going for walks on a hip that hurts, and a cat carries on eating with an inflamed mouth.
Chronic pain also settles in slowly. There is no single day when the animal starts limping: there is a change over months that those of us living with them stop seeing precisely because we see it every day. A video from two years ago is usually more revealing than any recent observation.
And there is a third factor: we put down to age what is in fact a treatable illness. “He’s getting old” explains a lot, but it does not explain an animal that stops getting on the sofa, sleeps in a new position, or becomes irritable when touched.
The signs in dogs
In movement, watch the transitions rather than the walk: how they get up after sleeping, whether they hesitate before jumping into the car or onto the sofa, whether they come downstairs sideways, whether they lag behind at the end of a walk, or sit asymmetrically.
At rest, pay attention to posture and sleep: changes in where they sleep, difficulty settling, panting with no heat or exercise, persistent licking of one joint or area, and fine trembling in the hind legs.
And in behaviour, count what they have stopped doing. A dog that no longer greets you at the door, does not pick up the toy, growls when brushed or moves away when touched has not turned surly: it probably hurts.
The signs in cats
Cats are far harder, which is why their pain is diagnosed late. The most useful sign is a change of routine: they stop getting up to the high places they always used, choose lower or easier surfaces, or sleep somewhere new.
Watch the grooming too. A cat in pain may stop grooming — a matted or dirty coat, especially over the back and rump — or, conversely, over-groom one specific area. Other common signs are avoiding the litter tray, sitting hunched with the paws tucked in, eating less or more slowly, hiding, and reacting with irritation to being touched.
One detail many owners do not know: purring does not necessarily mean contentment. Cats also purr when stressed or in pain, so it rules nothing out.
What you must never give them yourself
This matters and admits no nuance: do not give human medication. Paracetamol is severely toxic to cats even in very small doses and dangerous in dogs; ibuprofen and aspirin cause gastric ulcers and kidney damage in both species.
Nor should you reuse veterinary painkillers from another animal, or leftovers from an earlier course. The dose depends on weight, on kidney and liver function and on whatever else the animal is taking, and a regime that was right two years ago may not be right now.
Arriving at the appointment with useful information
Film it. A video of the animal getting up, walking in a straight line, climbing a step or jumping settles more than any description. Film at home, where they behave normally, and at different times of day.
Take a specific list of what has changed and since when, with examples: “since the summer he no longer jumps onto the bed”, “takes longer to get up in the mornings”, “eats at half the speed”. Dated changes are worth far more than adjectives.
And ask about pain directly. In many cases the vet will propose a therapeutic trial: prescribe analgesia for a few weeks and assess the change. If the animal starts doing things it had stopped doing, you have your answer.
What insurance covers
Diagnosing and treating the cause of the pain — arthritis, a dental problem, an injury — falls within covered veterinary costs, as do medicines prescribed by your vet, subject to the policy’s limits. With Petplan, reimbursement can reach 100% of covered costs, with an annual limit of €3,100 and a €45 excess per illness rather than per visit.
Two points to keep in mind on conditions that run. Each injury or illness is covered for 12 months from the date it occurred or first showed clinical signs, which matters in chronic pain. And dental treatment is only covered if there has been a dental examination by a vet in the 12 months before the signs appeared: a good share of undiagnosed pain is in the mouth.
Outside cover, by contrast, sit prevention and supplements not prescribed for a covered condition. And, as always, anything that already existed before the policy began.
The check-up not to skip
Beyond a certain age, the annual check stops being a formality. Ask for it to include a mobility and mouth assessment, and bring your videos and your list. Half an hour well prepared once a year catches most chronic pain before it changes the animal’s life.
Because that is the part that surprises people most: it is not only that the animal stops suffering. It is that they start doing things you had written off.
