It's a Pain in the Bum
Dr Jules Wilson MRCVS of the Maunu Rd branch of the Northland Veterinary Group HAS THIS SAY...
Some people are of the opinion that animals are not able to feel pain. Anyone who has accidentally trapped their cats tail in a closing door will testify differently.
I can hear you forming questions in your mind, and being clairvoyant I can give you the answers.
What is pain and what purpose does it serve? Pain is the sensation we feel when our body is telling us that it is being or about to be damaged. It may be your younger sister pinching your arm or you picking up that hot casserole dish fresh from the oven. Pain is our early warning system to say that things are not right and to suggest that we do something to make things better e.g. put the hot dish down. If we break a leg our pain early warning system tells us not to put any weight on the broken bone as we will make the injury worse. It also tells you to go and seek help to make it better.
What sort of things cause pain in our pets? Funnily enough the same things that hurt us also hurt our pets. So any sort of injury to the body will result in pain. Physical things e.g. being kicked in the shins by your brother, chemical things e.g. spilling bleach on your skin and hot things e.g. sunbathing too long in direct sunlight are the major causes of pain. The IRD are also reputed to be a major source of pain.
In what ways do animals show us that they are in pain? This is the major question, I'm glad you asked it: Many pets will show us signs of acute pain as we would expect. Sudden injury may cause them to yelp, squeak, growl, scream, etc.
Alongside voicing their pain, many pets will try to run away from the thing that is hurting them. Low grade and long term pain may be less obvious to the human observer. Many pets will become quieter than normal, will sleep more than usual (impossible for your cat I hear you say), they often avoid contact with people (especially loud and boisterous children), and may stop coming to greet you when you come home or do so but with less enthusiasm than usual.
Some dogs will spend more time on their own and moan to themselves. While cats will often hide up and growl or hiss at you if you try to pick them up. Both dogs and cats will spend considerable time licking areas that are uncomfortable (often in secret) resulting in areas of hair loss of a specific body part.
The joint pain of arthritis will lead your pet to be very careful about lying down or getting up from rest and they may appear "stiff" fro the first few minutes when getting up in the morning. Leg pain will cause your pet to limp or not use one leg at all. Headaches are often apparent when the pet spends time pressing their head against hard objects e.g. walls.
What can we do to help them?
DO unto others as you would have them do unto you.........
Where ever and whenever possible try to relieve your animal’s pain. Provide your old arthritic dog with a soft foam bed to lay his aching bones on. Take your pet to the vet when you see them showing signs of pain, especially in those very sensitive areas of eyes and ears (these are often left far too late for anything but salvage work by your vet).
When your pet is having an operation ask your vet to give them pain relief both at the time of the operation and also for the next few days. Any of us who have been in hospital for surgery will be well aware of the long lasting effects of the surgeons knife and the gratitude we have for those who give us the pain relief.
Look at your pet, if something will hurt you then be assured it will hurt your pet too and they are just as entitled and in need of good pain relief as we are.
A word of caution: NEVER NEVER NEVER (yes I mean never) give your cat tablets or other forms of pain relief that you might use yourself or give to your dog.
The cat metabolism is SO different from any other species that you will probably cause a lot more damage or even KILL your cat than make it feel better.
SO here is the summary: animals feel pain just like you and I do. Yes some people and some animals are more sensitive than others (compare men and women...). Any one or any animal in pain deserves relief from that suffering. Your vet knows the best way to deal with all these problems, that is, after all, what they are trained to do.
Most of the welfare problems dealt with by the SPCA and vets in NZ concern unnecessary suffering and pain inflicted on animals whether intentional or not. Look out for animals in pain, AND HELP THEM because most of the time they cannot help themselves.
Issue 5
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