For Cat Owners |
The FMPI—Origins and Features
The Feline Musculoskeletal Pain Index (FMPI) was developed at the Comparative Pain Research and Education Centre at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Veterinary Medicine. The Centre’s goal is to produce valid tools for owners and vets to assess animals’ pain, physical function and quality of life. These tools are targeted at measuring one or more of the impacts of pain:
- Pain (adverse sensory and emotional experience)
- Mobility (the quality of moving freely)
- Activity (the ability to perform specific activities)
- Affective Effects (mood, feelings, behavior)
- Cognitive Function
The FMPI was specifically developed to measure chronic pain in cats when used by an observer (owner or vet) performing measurements of these aspects of feline behavior.
Of particular relevance to pet owners, the FMPI is a tool that can be used in the diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal pain in cats. Cats, by their nature, show hard-to-detect symptoms associated with painful degenerative diseases.
During an animal’s course of treatment, owners and veterinarians can use the FMPI to:
- Initially measure and establish the cat’s baseline condition,
- Develop an initial treatment strategy based on its results,
- Monitor progress, and
- Assess the effectiveness of different medicines and other prescribed treatments.