Every day, cats are robbed of their best lives by a common, yet often overlooked disease: osteoarthritis (OA) pain. Nearly 40% of cats suffer from it in silence, yet most of their owners don't know how to spot its signs. Previously the only way to screen for OA pain was to take your cat to the veterinarian, which as owners know, is not an easy task. So even if owners were able to get their cats to the veterinarian, cats typically act very differently than they would at home. And as veterinarians know, cats were not coming regularly into their practices for care. So as a result, feline OA pain is underdiagnosed (only 16% of cats) and undertreated (only 10%). So how do we build the market to increase cats diagnosed with OA pain to support Zoetis’ new treatment launching? The answer was Cat Pain IQ.

Taking cats to the vet is difficult, yet owners’ willingness to go doubles if they recognize signs of pain. What if we could help owners identify signs of OA at home and leverage one of their current activities?

Using validated veterinary research and leveraging the fun owners find in taking videos of their cats – Cat Pain IQ is a custom-built technology that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI). When owners take a video of their cat and submit it to Cat Pain IQ, the AI analyzes the cat’s movements for potential signs of OA pain. The video and its analysis are automatically shared with the owner and their veterinarian. This initiates an OA screening in an innovative, more convenient way; paving the way for cats to receive veterinary treatment with the first and only FDA-approved medication to control OA pain in cats.

Owners were going to be critical to identifying signs of OA and bringing their cat to the veterinarian for treatment. Developed in partnership with leading veterinary specialists, we knew that cats with OA move differently than healthy cats and that signs of OA could be witnessed through common behaviors such as climbing up or down steps or jumping up or down. Cat Pain IQ uses AI to compare videos of a cat’s movements with that of healthy cats to detect any differences. To perfect the custom AI, over 500,000 analyses were performed, and extensive, iterative testing was conducted in the US with real veterinarians and owners. Veterinarians invite their practices’ cat owners to use Cat Pain IQ via custom collateral provided by Zoetis. Cat Pain IQ allows veterinarians to start a conversation with owners about OA and compel them to recognize their cat may be in pain and need treatment.

The launch of Cat Pain IQ has been iterative and calculated to ensure endorsement from veterinary professionals, preparedness to educate cat owners, and readiness to treat cats diagnosed with OA pain. Following a controlled pilot with a dozen veterinarians in the US, Cat Pain IQ was ready for full launch. The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) Conference in October 2022 was the perfect venue and audience for the first wide-scale promotion of Cat Pain IQ. With over 1,500 feline focused veterinary professionals in attendance, Zoetis was able to showcase their new innovative tool for screening for feline OA through an in-booth activation, hands-on demonstration, and sponsorship of a cocktail reception. This timing was extremely favorable, as Zoetis’ feline OA treatment solution had just become available for ordering that month. As of April 2023, further roll-out of Cat Pain IQ is being executed in partnership with the Zoetis.

Early reception to Cat Pain IQ has been extremely positive and the AAFP conference activation was the perfect venue to launch an intimate dialogue with professionals passionate about feline care.

Veterinarian enrollment with Cat Pain IQ has grown 3-fold since launch, demonstrating strong interest and commitment to use it to help screen cats for OA pain. And early research indicates 78% of cat owners would ask their veterinarian about Cat Pain IQ.

“The app is a game changer.”

- Veterinarian

“I do believe that it will boost awareness and hopefully cats will get more therapy for diagnostic appointments and therapeutic appointments and monitoring evaluations.” - Veterinarian

“I have 5 cats...I definitely would want to use this app for all of them.”

- Owner

What I like about this is that it is so clear, it shows that my cat may be showing signs of OA pain.” - Owner