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Who’ll stop the pain? Veterinarians can ease the hurt
By Pet Connection Staff
January 22, 2010
From Dr. Marty Becker, Gina Spadafori and Christie Keith, an update on a 2007 feature on animal pain control in this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:
Just as with human medicine, advancements in the way we think of and treat pain for animals is improving the quality of life for pets, with veterinarians now being able to choose from a wide array of products and strategies to ease the hurt.
“Animals can feel all the same aches and pains that we can because they share the same physiologic structures,” says Dr. Robin Downing, owner of Colorado’s The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management.
Treating pain doesn’t just make the hurting stop: It also promotes healthy healing. Untreated pain slows healing time, interferes with sleep and depresses the immune system. The treatment of pain improves respiration, shortens post-surgical hospitalization times, improves mobility, and can even decrease the spread of cancer after surgery.
Most veterinarians prescribe pain medication when needed, but some still believe a pet will move around less during recovery from surgery or injury if in pain — a belief no longer supported by studies. If an animal needs to be restrained, it’s better to use a leash or a crate.
Still, many owners don’t give pets pain medications — even if they are prescribed — because of concerns about side effects. All drugs can cause unwanted effects, but those risks need to be balanced against the problems caused by untreated pain. Side effects can also be minimized by using drugs appropriately.
Find out more here.
From Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Shannon Becker, related news that joint disease is often untreated in cats:
An article in Veterinary Practice News compared the written medical records of 100 cats older than 12 years to X-rays of the cats taken at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The study found that while only four records contained mention of degenerative joint disease (DJD) by veterinarian or owner, X-rays found DJD in 90 percent of the cats. The study concluded that DJD occurs in most geriatric cats and is overlooked and undertreated.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week!
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