Companion Animal Welfare

Cat Pain Assessment and Management Advances

Advances in feline pain assessment have transformed our ability to identify and treat chronic pain in cats.

Key Facts

The Feline Grimace Scale uses facial action units to objectively assess acute pain
The Montreal Instrument for Cat Acute Pain assesses multiple behavioral pain indicators
Chronic pain assessment tools including owner questionnaires capture pain in home environments
Multimodal analgesia using NSAIDs, gabapentin, and local anaesthetics provides better control
Buprenorphine is highly effective for acute feline pain

Welfare Considerations

Cats in pain historically suffered silently due to the difficulty of assessing their discomfort. Validated pain assessment tools and improved analgesic options mean that feline pain can now be identified and treated more reliably.

What You Can Do

Ask your vet to use a validated pain assessment tool during consultations
Be alert to subtle pain signs including reduced activity and changed grooming
Discuss multimodal pain management with your vet for cats with chronic conditions