Veterinary Pain Management Makes Great Strides
When a person is in pain, he or she usually makes it clear that something is wrong. Humans can speak, and we can ask for more pain killers. It is generally accepted in human medicine that effective pain control not only makes patients more comfortable. It also helps them heal.
Sadly, animals cannot give clear signals of pain, and they can’t ask for pain killers. But their need for pain management equals that of their human counterparts. This puts them, and the people who want to help them, at a disadvantage.
Years ago, veterinarians questioned whether animals could even feel pain. That ridiculous debate has been put to rest. But later an equally nefarious philosophy evolved. Many veterinarians believed that pain was good for animals. Pain helped keep animals from walking on broken legs. It kept post-operative patients from being excessively active–or so the theory went.
The idea that pain is good in any way has been completely discredited by modern veterinary medicine. All decent vets now agree that animals feel pain, and that pain is bad. It causes stress and interferes with healing. Pain hurts, and it causes suffering.
Veterinary practitioners now recognize that pain management is critical to their patients’ comfort and healing. And we have an ever-widening array of pain management solutions at our disposal.
Options include conventional painkillers such as opiods (related to morphine) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs). Local anesthetics are useful in some procedures. Rehabilitation and physical therapy are useful in other situations.
Newer pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements show promise in the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Lasers, stem cells, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy have the potential to help many animals.
The moral of the story is this: advances in animal pain management are occurring at breakneck speed.
If you suspect that your pet is at risk for pain–from dental disease, a surgical procedure, arthritis, trauma or any other sort of injury–talk to your vet. He or she should be willing to discuss a modern, comprehensive pain management protocol tailored specifically to your pet’s needs.
Veterinarians have lots of options for managing pain in their patients. There is no excuse for your pet to suffer.
You have questions. 
We are spaying tomorrow and were scoffed at by a neighbor who insists that vets just give pain meds so they have one more thing to charge for! We can’t forget that hiding pain is part of a survival technique that was and essential strategy for past generations — and that many pets do their best not to show any weakness.
The next step, IMO, is to try to keep people from being so scared of anesthesia that they opt out of good quality of life procedures (such as dental work) in order to avoid sedation.
How do you know if your dog is in pain?
taianne – recognizing pain in your pet can be difficult. Those of us that work with painful animals watch for a number of signs, such as:
Decreased ambulation or activity, lethargic attitude, decreased appetite, decreased grooming (cats), inappropriate elimination, vocalization, aggression or decreased interaction with other pets or family members, altered facial expression, altered posture, restlessness, hiding (especially in cats), increased body tension or flinching in response to gentle palpation of injured area and palpation of regions likely to be painful, e.g., neck, back, hips, elbows (cats) Elevations in heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and blood pressure; pupil dilation.
You know your pet best. Usually recognizing pain can be just a gut feeling that something isn’t right.
It’s difficult to recognize pain in your dog, especially the more stoic breeds like the rottweiler.
With an injury or any surgery I assume my dog will have pain (even though the rottie was up and about right after anethesia wore off) and use pain killers. How could surgery possibly be pain free?
We are lucky our vet is great and understands this topic – Troop (13+ lab mix) is on previcox and tramadol for severe arthritis.
Like any medication make sure you closely monitor for reactions and maintain blood testing etc. He’s old and I assume he has aches and pains that naturally come with aging.
Hoping it will be for an affordable price, because no one wants to see their pets in pain.