How to Tell If Your Cat Is in Pain (They Won’t Tell You)

Cats are professional poker players. No limping, no whining, no obvious “ouch” — just a slightly grumpier stare and a nap that lasts a little longer than usual. That’s exactly why signs of pain in cats are so easy to miss, even for owners who are paying close attention. In the wild, showing weakness makes you a target, so your cat’s instinct is to hide discomfort until it can’t anymore. Here’s what to actually watch for.

Why Cats Are So Good at Hiding Pain

Vets estimate that around 60% of cats over age six are already living with some degree of degenerative joint disease — yet most never limp or cry out. Owners often chalk up the slowdown to “just getting old” instead of recognizing it as a treatable problem. The takeaway: if something about your cat feels off, don’t wait for a dramatic symptom before taking it seriously.

The Facial and Body Language Clues

A cat in pain often has a specific “look” — flattened ears, narrowed or squinted eyes, dilated pupils, or a strangely vacant stare. Watch the posture too: a hunched back, a tucked-in belly, or reluctance to stretch fully are all red flags. Vets even use a validated “Feline Grimace Scale” that scores pain based on ear position, eye shape, and muzzle tension alone.

Behavior Changes That Signal Something’s Wrong

This is where most owners actually catch it — not from a wince, but from a pattern change:

• Sleeping more, moving less, or hesitating before jumping onto the couch or bed
• Skipping the litter box, or accidents outside it, because getting in and out hurts
• Sudden crankiness or snapping from a cat who’s normally easygoing
• Over-grooming (or barely grooming) one spot, or a scruffy, unkempt coat overall
• Hiding more, or purring in a context that doesn’t match “content” — cats sometimes purr when they’re hurting too

What To Do If You Spot These Signs of Pain in Cats

First: never reach for human painkillers. Ibuprofen, paracetamol, and even aspirin can be fatal to cats — their livers simply aren’t built to process them. Instead, book a vet visit and bring notes on exactly what’s changed and when; “she’s been slower on stairs for about two weeks” is far more useful to a vet than “she seems off.” Catching joint pain, dental disease, or an infection early almost always means an easier, cheaper fix.

This is also where a little extra visibility helps. PAHI’s Dotty AI is built to notice the small behavioral shifts — reduced activity, changes in movement, unusual rest patterns — that are easy for even attentive owners to miss day to day, and flag them before they become a bigger problem. Your cat won’t tell you when something hurts. The least we can do is get better at listening between the lines.