Which validated quality of life scales are recommended for dogs and cats with chronic or terminal illness?

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Accepted Answer

VetMetrica is the most broadly validated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) tool for both dogs and cats with chronic or terminal illness, generating domain scores across energetic/enthusiastic, happy/content, active/comfortable, and calm/relaxed in dogs, and vitality, comfort, and emotional wellbeing in cats, with summary physical and emotional wellbeing scores calculated from these domains.6 For dogs, the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (Canine BPI) and the Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs (LOAD) questionnaire are recommended for in-clinic use in chronic osteoarthritis, and both carry full validation status.5 The Helsinki Chronic Pain Index (HCPI) is validated for chronic osteoarthritis monitoring but carries only limited validation.4 The general HRQoL category is rated valid for chronic disease monitoring in dogs but is noted as not specific to pain.4 For cats with chronic disease, VetMetrica has been applied in osteoarthritis and chronic kidney disease (CKD) populations. In cats with CKD, VetMetrica-derived median vitality, comfort, and emotional wellbeing scores were significantly lower than in healthy cats — vitality 41.7 versus 56.5, comfort 36.1 versus 59.6, and emotional wellbeing 44.6 versus 58.7.7 The CatQoL is a separately validated 16-item feline tool organized into 4 domains, with demonstrated good internal consistency; cats with CKD scored significantly lower than healthy cats in the eating domain and all groups differed significantly in the management domain.8 The Feline Musculoskeletal Pain Index (FMPI) and the Montreal Instrument for Cat Arthritis Testing–Caretaker (MICAT-C) are validated for chronic osteoarthritis monitoring in cats.4 In the context of anti-nerve growth factor therapy for osteoarthritis, VetMetrica detected significant QoL improvement by day 14 in both dogs receiving bedinvetmab (0.5–1 mg/kg SC) and cats receiving frunevetmab (1–2.8 mg/kg SC), confirming its responsiveness as a monitoring tool in this population.6 For end-of-life c