Chronic pain is common in dogs, particularly from arthritis, but frequently goes unrecognized and undertreated. Multimodal pain management combining medication, physical therapy, and environmental modification significantly improves quality of life.
Chronic pain in dogs is a welfare issue of enormous scale that is systematically undertreated because dogs' stoicism masks their suffering effectively. A dog who has gradually become less playful, sleeps more, and struggles to rise may be interpreted as 'slowing down with age' rather than experiencing chronic pain. The welfare intervention begins with recognition - owner education about subtle pain indicators is the essential first step. Once recognized, multimodal pain management combining pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches provides better welfare outcomes than any single treatment. The concept of pain 'wind-up' - where untreated pain creates sensitization making future pain worse - provides additional welfare rationale for early, adequate pain treatment in dogs with chronic conditions.