You might also direct those who persist with “pain is good” arguments to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) standards page at

http://secure.aahanet.org/eweb.....eStandards .

Conscious and proactive attention to pain assessment, management, and training is obviously a characteristic they feel is important to include as they work to identify and accredit hospitals that deliver quality care for animals.

The AAHA Outline for Pain Management Protocol appears at

http://trends.aahanet.org/eweb.....otocol.pdf .

I fail to see anywhere on this document where it states that “pain is good” or “let them sit in their cage and whine; throw a towel over the door or put them in a back room so you don’t have to watch them suffer”.

Thanks for that info about Suzanne Clothier’s sensitivity to the connection between pain and aggression in dogs. I see this in cats as well. My equine veterinary colleagues who have taken my acupuncture course report that horses who have previously been hard for anyone to work with settle down once their back or neck pain is treated. Imagine having someone on your back with a poorly fitting saddle or pulling on the reins when your neck hurts.

Newborns, like our animals in a way, are unable to clearly report pain and as such it is up to others to recognize, assess, and manage these non-verbal patients’ pain.

Three decades ago, anesthetists considered newborns and infants too sensitive to gas anesthetics and opioid analgesics; as such, “newborns and infants were regularly denied adequate analgesia for painful procedures”; sometimes no analgesia was used at all [Mancuso T and Burns J. Ethical concerns in the management of pain in the neonate. Pediatric Anesthesia. 2009;19:953-957.]

There was also the widespread belief that newborns’ nervous systems weren’t developed enough to perceive pain. This belief system was shattered by later research that revealed that newborns demonstrated similar or even exaggerated physiologic and hormonal responses to pain compared to older children and adults. Research also indicated that prolonged or severe pain could worsen health status in neonates.

While there is ongoing debate about the relative safety of various analgesic and anesthetic agents on the developing nervous system, this article on “Ethical concerns in managing pain in the neonate” concludes that: “Until more definitive research closes gaps in our knowledge, it is both medically and ethically prudent to follow existing consensus guidelines on the prevention and management of pain in the newboard than emphasize ‘routinely assessing pain, minimizing the number of painful procedures performed, effectively using pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies for the prevention of pain associated with routine minor procedures, and eliminating pain associated with surgery and other major procedures.”

Sounds to me like a good plan for our non-human friends as well.

One of Suzanne Clothier’s favorite techniques in her workshop on “aggressive dogs” is point out to the owner some obvious (when looked for) sign of pain. If the dog snaps when the owner scratches her back, it might be because the dog is having hip pain (shown through limping). Rather than being aggressive, the dog is asking the owner, in the only way a dog has, to please not touch that spot.

Comment by Christie Keith — October 11, 2009 @ 7:58 pm

Well said Christie. How would we feel if a doctor was to use this same reason for withholding pain relief from our child/parent ?

Purposely leaving pain untreated has potentially long-term negative consequences, including but not limited to the precipitation of chronic pain states as stated earlier. The physiologic costs of unmitigated pain include added stress on the cardiovascular and other organ systems.

Maladaptive behaviors may also result that bring into play additional sources of long-term suffering and difficulty living with others. Dogs and cats may suffer abuse because they are doing things that are unacceptable in the household not because they want to be “ornery” but because they are suffering in some way.

Then there’s the other matter, not yet addressed in this discussion, of saying that this or that animal is a “baby” when it comes to pain or that they are “just being over-dramatic” to get attention.

While each of us has our own associations with pain that are colored by our past experiences and resulting nervous system changes, there is also the genetic predisposition to being more or less tolerant to pain that must be considered. Some animals (and people) have a richer supply of pain receptors or pathways that send stronger pain signals.

For example, research has revealed a scientific reason why readheads have more pain susceptibility and exhibit resistance to local anesthetics, which accounts for their intense fear of dentists.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH.....index.html

Could a genetic predisposition encoding a higher sensitivity to pain and emotional upset be why Northern breeds are so expressive about their feelings? Rather than brushing aside their whining and cries, might we accept that their experience of being left alone all day or their post-traumatic or post-operative pain experience is truly that much worse because of how their nervous systems are wired?

We DO have to be our pets’ zealous advocates on this topic. I’ll never forget when years ago, my bulldog developed severe knee pain on a Saturday and the last vet left at our clinic (who did not know me or my dog) refused to see her or call in a pain med to hold us through the weekend. Unable to leave Lucie in that state, I took her to the nearest e-vet, but while they readily confirmed her extremely painful state, the only way to get a diagnosis would be emergency surgery, which the emergency doctor was reluctant to do. They kept her sedated and started antibiotics right after blood work came back.

Lucie ended up being hospitalized for almost a week, including having her knee opened, drained, old hardware removed, IV antibiotics, IV painkillers, and her recovery was touch and go. Vet#1 mercifully did not last long at our clinic.

Pain, after all, is also a symptom.