How telehealth visits for cats can help decrease stress and save time
UC Davis researchers investigate telehealth as a potential treatment strategy for feline arthritis
By JOANNA ABRAHAM— science@theaggie.org
In March 2025, researchers at the UC Davis Veterinary School of Medicine published a study on the use of telehealth in the long-term management of chronic mobility issues — such as arthritis — in cats. Feline arthritis, or degenerative joint disease (DJD), occurs when the cartilage that surrounds bones at the joints wear away over time, leading to chronic pain associated with movement, according to the Feline Veterinary Medical Association.
The disease is long-term and degenerative, so treatment focuses on pain management and quality-of-life improvements. In terms of medications, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or nutraceuticals may be prescribed, according to Ryan Llera in an article published by VCA Animal Hospitals.
Researchers at the UC Davis Veterinary School of Medicine noted that these changes should ideally be supplemented with regular veterinary visits. During typically in-person visits, the vet will record vitals and ask the caregiver specific questions regarding the cat’s behavior in order to monitor disease progression and inform further treatment strategies.
However, in-person visits have several drawbacks. For one, it may be difficult for a veterinarian to meaningfully assess the cat’s home environment from only a conversation with the caregiver. Dr. Carly Moody, an author of the study and professor in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science, commented on how telehealth can help address this issue in an interview with UC Davis Health.
“Telehealth allows veterinary professionals to see and understand the cat’s home environment and make recommendations which can be helpful for the cat,” Moody said.
Not only does telemedicine benefit providers, caregivers tend to prefer it as well; the majority of surveyed cat caregivers (87.5%) indicated an interest in using video telemedicine as an alternative to in-person visits, citing greater accessibility and reduced stress for their cats, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A factor like stress may seem trivial for an occasional appointment. However, stress can “alter vital readings and test results, masking underlying problems and complicating the diagnostic and treatment process,” according to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA).
The added variable of stress can be especially problematic if treatment plans rely heavily on the records obtained during these visits, which is the case in feline DJD.
Notably, these vitals can still be obtained by the caregiver during telehealth appointments. Researchers found that the lack of stress in the home environment has resulted in vitals that are more representative of the cat’s overall health and symptom progression. Grace Boone, a co-author of the study and researcher in the UC Davis Animal Welfare Epidemiology Lab, commented on the success of the telehealth appointments in an interview with the New York Times.
“I think we only had one cat that the owner wasn’t able to get a respiration rate at home, because the cat was very wiggly,” Boone said.
These reasons ultimately drove UC Davis researchers to investigate the preference for and efficacy of telehealth as an alternative to in-person visits in the context of long-term management of chronic disease. The study followed 106 caregivers of cats with chronic mobility issues. Through a series of questionnaires administered four months apart, researchers assessed the efficacy of synchronous video telehealth appointments on the caregiver’s knowledge of their pet’s condition, among other metrics.
A key finding was that caregiver interest in telehealth appointments increased with the musculoskeletal pain index in their cats (a proxy for long-term health associated with mobility). There was also a positive correlation between participation in video visits with the caretakers’ knowledge of their pet’s condition.
A UC Davis press release explained that the next step for Moody’s lab group is to determine whether or not these visits improve long-term health outcomes, especially in the context of chronic mobility issues like DJD. Ultimately, the UC Davis study sheds light on the ever-evolving nature of veterinary medicine.
Written by: Joanna Abraham — science@theaggie.org