We all are able to recognize acute or sudden pain. It is clear to us when our dog or cat is screaming, crying, or growling uncharacteristically when touched or handled that something is hurting. Generally, if your pet will not bear weight on a leg or is limping, it is in pain.
Chronic pain is often a dull aching pain that increases gradually over time. Since chronic pain starts slowly gradually increasing with time, our pets do not always exhibit obvious pain. Since dogs and cats adjust, tolerat,e and accept chronic pain, we often are left without many clues.
While some of the signs of chronic pain are similar in dogs and cats, many times they do not even exhibit pain in the same way. It is important that we recognize the possible signs of chronic pain in our dogs and cats so they do not suffer in silence.
Management of pain involves the use of traditional medications as well as new alternative techniques.
