Short answer: The changes that help most are simple: grip on slippery floors, ramps or steps to favorite places, comfortable and easy-to-reach beds, and low-entry litter boxes or easy outdoor access. The 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines list home changes among the first-line, non-drug treatments for chronic pain, alongside weight management, exercise and omega-3 fatty acids.
Arthritic dogs and cats lose mobility gradually, and a few inexpensive home changes can meaningfully reduce the strain of everyday life. None of them needs a renovation. Arthritis is common enough that most senior pets will benefit: the Merck Veterinary Manual says over 90% of cats older than 12 have degenerative joint disease, and that up to 40% of dogs aged 8 months to 4 years already have arthritis, even though signs usually aren’t recognized until 5 to 13 years of age.
What You’ll Need
| Item | Helps with | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Rubber-backed rugs, runners or yoga mats | Slipping on hard floors | Dogs and cats |
| Supportive bed with a low entry | Getting up and down, pressure on joints | Dogs and cats |
| Ramp or pet steps | Sofas, beds, cars, window perches | Dogs and cats |
| Baby gates | Blocking stairs, creating a quiet rest area | Dogs and cats |
| Low-entry litter box (one per floor) | Climbing in and out | Cats |
| Non-slip mat under bowls | Bowls sliding while eating | Dogs and cats |
Step 1: Watch How Your Pet Moves Around the House
Spend a day noticing where your pet hesitates: getting off the bed, turning on tile, the step into the garden, jumping onto the sofa. The AAHA guidelines note that owners are best placed to spot these changes, especially in cats, and suggest a simple check for cats: can they run, jump up, jump down, go up and down stairs, and chase toys normally? Those trouble spots are where to start. Our guides to early signs of arthritis in dogs and hidden arthritis in cats list what to look for.
Step 2: Add Grip to Slippery Floors
Hardwood, tile and laminate can be a daily hazard for an arthritic pet, because every slip jolts sore joints. AAHA specifically recommends providing secure footing, such as carpet runners.
- Lay non-slip rugs or runners along the routes your pet uses most, such as bed to bowl to door
- Use rubber-backed mats rather than ones that slide
- Keep the fur between your dog’s paw pads trimmed and nails short, both of which help traction
Step 3: Make Beds and Resting Places Easier
AAHA lists optimizing sleeping surfaces among the important changes. A supportive bed with a low front edge makes lying down and getting up less of a struggle. Place it somewhere quiet: the guidelines note that animals in discomfort often feel vulnerable and prefer protected resting spots, such as behind a couch. A baby gate or cat door can create a calm “rest zone,” ideally within easy reach of food, water and the litter box or door outside.
If you use a heated pad or bed, choose one made for pets with temperature control, make sure your pet can move off it easily, and keep cords out of reach.
Step 4: Add Ramps or Steps to Favorite Places
AAHA recommends ramps or steps to areas that would otherwise be out of reach. For cats, the guidelines stress that keeping access to height is especially important, because cats need high places to feel safe.
- Start with the spot your pet uses most, such as the sofa, your bed or a favorite window
- Choose a gentle slope and a grippy surface; a steep or slippery ramp tends to be ignored
- For cats, add intermediate steps or perches so a high spot can be reached in stages
- Use a car ramp for larger dogs, since jumping in and out puts heavy load on joints
- Teach the ramp with treats over several short sessions
Step 5: Rethink Food and Water Bowls
Put a non-slip mat under bowls so they don’t slide away, and make sure water is available on each floor your pet uses. Be cautious with raised bowls. They’re often recommended for arthritic dogs, but there’s little evidence they help joints, and in a Purdue study of large and giant breeds, a raised feeding bowl was associated with about 20% of bloat cases in large breeds and 52% in giant breeds (Glickman et al., 2000). Bloat (gastric dilatation-volvulus) is a life-threatening emergency, so ask your vet before raising a large dog’s bowls.
Step 6: Make Toileting Easy
For cats, the AAFP and ISFM house-soiling guidelines recommend a box with a very low entry for older cats with joint disease, a size about 1.5 times the cat’s length from nose to base of tail, at least one box on each level of a multi-story home, and two boxes even for a single cat. They also note that arthritis can stop elderly cats from reaching their litter boxes at all. See automatic litter boxes and senior cats, and if accidents have started, why a senior cat stops using the litter box.
For dogs, AAHA recommends easy access to toileting areas. That might mean a short ramp over the back step, a door that’s quick to open, and more frequent, shorter trips outside rather than a few long ones.
Step 7: Block Hazards
Use baby gates at the top and bottom of stairs if your pet has started to stumble on them, and keep rugs flat so they don’t become trip hazards. Watch the transition points, such as from carpet to tile or from the house to a wet deck, where slips often happen.
Step 8: Pair the Changes With a Vet Plan
Home changes make life easier, but they don’t treat the pain. Talk to your vet about:
- Weight. In obese dogs with arthritis, lameness improved measurably after about 6% weight loss (Marshall et al., 2010)
- Pain relief. The FDA has approved several NSAIDs for dogs, but very few pain relievers for cats, and warns that acetaminophen is fatal to cats. Monthly anti-NGF antibody injections are available for dogs and cats
- Exercise and enrichment. Regular gentle activity helps; see our low-impact enrichment ideas
- Supplements. Omega-3s have the best evidence; see whether joint supplements work for dogs
To track how your pet is doing over time, try our quality of life checklist. If you’re not sure whether your pet is hurting, read how to tell if your dog is in pain.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace guidance from your veterinarian.
Sources
- American Animal Hospital Association — 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, 2022
- Carney HC et al., Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery — AAFP and ISFM Guidelines for Diagnosing and Solving House-Soiling Behavior in Cats, July 2014
- Merck Veterinary Manual — Osteoarthritis in Dogs and Cats, updated August 2025
- Glickman LT et al., Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association — Non-dietary risk factors for gastric dilatation-volvulus in large and giant breed dogs, November 2000
- Marshall WG et al., Veterinary Research Communications — The effect of weight loss on lameness in obese dogs with osteoarthritis, March 2010
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Get the Facts about Pain Relievers for Pets, September 2022
