IS YOUR PET IN PAIN
And you don’t realize it?
I have no doubt that there is no one reading this that would knowingly allow their pet to exist in a painful condition without doing all they could to help them. We don’t like pain—and neither do our beloved pets, my friends. However, in some minds there is a huge disconnect—maybe due to the “language barrier” that exists, or maybe just because we never really focused on how we might know our pet is experiencing pain.
We have all experienced pain. I had partial knee replacement 3 years ago. I knew one kind of pain when I tore my ACL when I was 21, another kind of pain as I became increasingly arthritic, and another kind of pain in the weeks and months after surgery. Fortunately, now I have only minor pain in that knee. Some of you suffer from other kinds of pain—such as migraine headaches that are debilitating or chronic back pain from disk disease and pinched nerves. When we hurt we do what? Verbally complain and seek out solutions to relieve the pain so that life is more enjoyable. What do animals do about pain? Do they feel pain like you and I? How do they express to you that they hurt? This is what I hope to address in this brief article, and I hope your pet benefits greatly from it in the future.
PAIN has been defined as “an aversive sensory and emotional experience (a perception) which elicits protective motor actions, results in learned avoidance, and may modify species-specific traits of behavior, including social behavior.” (Kitchell, 1987) Others have described it as “an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage.” (Tilley & Smith, 2007) More simply—it hurts!! And when something hurts it changes a pet’s countenance, behavior, physiology, and actions. We just have to learn to read the non-verbal. As a veterinarian, I know none of you will let your pet cry out in pain without getting on the phone with us quickly or bringing them in. But nonetheless, every day I see pets that are in pain, have been in pain, and the client, who loves the pet dearly, had no idea they were hurting. To some extent, as a pet doctor, I have learned to read facial expressions and know when a pet hurts. But so often, a pet has “learned to live with the pain” as it came on subtly and you would not know they hurt unless you are looking for it. Pets often “bite the bullet” or simply accept what life gives them. They are perhaps less “cerebral” about the pain than we are, but they feel pain just like we do. Now that scientists can measure what we call mu and other tissue chemicals and neurochemical responses we know that for a fact. We humans, due to our increased verbal skills and a tremendous sense of entitlement (that we should not have to hurt) are less apt to just live with the pain. We also know we most often don’t have to. “Felix” and “Jasper” weren’t given that info with their pet papers.
Most clinical pain is either inflammatory pain or neuropathic pain. Tissue damage or inflammation produces pain through stimulation of receptors that are sensitive to mechanical, thermal, or chemical stimuli. Neuropathic pain results from injury to nerve tissue. The most obvious pain pets experience is trauma involving either of the above. But the more subtle pain comes from degenerative processes like arthritis, tendon and ligament damage, cancer, or chronic inflammatory disease like lupus or myositis or rheumatoid conditions. I would have to say one of the most common pain that is missed by pet owners is DENTAL PAIN. Folks may smell the bad breath, but they often don’t associate it with tooth abscesses and cavities—and the pain that goes with it. I have actually unwittingly offended a client by emphasizing the pain factor involved with the FORLs (cavities cats get) her cat had too strongly and making her feel guilty. She had no clue her beloved cat was in pain and quickly identified with it deeply. Pets usually “live with” dental pain without being able to let their owners know. If they have arthritis, you see the lameness. If you watch very closely, you MIGHT see them only chewing on one side—until both sides hurt equally and they no longer do. The impetus to eat outweighs the experience of pain—and they eat. Always make sure your veterinarian examines your pet’s mouth very, very closely at every visit, and be quick to have issues addressed.
Other signs you can watch for that tells you your pet is hurting are vocalization (grunts and moans, whimpers), agitation, abnormal posture or gait, thrashing, being overly sensitive to touch or oversensitive to stimuli that would not normally cause pain. More subtle signs include trembling, depression, reduced appetite, stupor, and biting (not so subtle, but perhaps misconstrued). Others are rapid breathing, increased heart rate, dilated pupils and an anxious look. Long term pain might be very difficult as the pet may compensate so well, but might be less active or depressed—and mistaken for “just getting old”.
My profession for many decades was not on top of the pain management. In the last 10 years that has changed drastically. There is no room left this month, but I will follow next month with details of the many options we now have to keep our pets pain-free (as much as possible), healthy, active, and happy.
Dr. Craft may be reached at:443-1466; 31271 Niguel Road
Glenn
Glenn S. Craft, DVM
Monarch Veterinary Hospital, Inc.
31271 Niguel Rd. Ste E
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
(949) 443-1466
(949) 443-1467 Fax
www.MonarchVet.com
