Adequate pain management in companion animals requires veterinary recognition, appropriate drug selection, and owner compliance, with undertreated pain being widespread despite available effective medications.
Undertreated pain in companion animals is both a welfare failure and a preventable one given the range of effective analgesics available. The barriers include veterinary culture that historically underestimated animal pain, owner reluctance to administer medications, cost constraints, and limited drug options for some species. Overcoming these barriers requires veterinary education that emphasizes pain as a welfare priority, practical owner education in recognizing pain and administering medications, and development of longer-acting formulations that reduce compliance burden. Every companion animal experiencing preventable pain represents a welfare failure that better systems could prevent.