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Identifying Pain in Your Pet: 
Ending Your Pet's Bad Dream Forever
by Dr. Don DeForge
Animal Doc AM-Multi-Media
14August2012



“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.” 


Pets have NO recourse but to "smile" even though they may be living in pain.  As your pet's advocate, you must work hard to identify "signs" of pain and remove this pain with the counsel and help of a veterinary professional.  Your Local Doctor of Veterinary Medicine may seek help from a pain specialist if the cause or the pain center is difficult to diagnose.  Pain specialists exist in veterinary medicine just as they do in human medicine.

There are two COMMON TYPES OF PAIN in our companions: 

First, there is ACUTE PAIN:

Common Examples of ACUTE PAIN are:
  • Crying-Howling-Bleeding from trauma
  • Broken bones; a ruptured ligament; a slipped disc
  • Auto accidents; falling large distances; being hit by an object
  • Being shot or wounded as part of malicious mischief
  • An obstructed urethra and not being able to urinate
  • An abdominal infection or blockage in our gastrointestinal tract
  • Ear Infections
  • Impacted Anal Glands
  • Oral infections and abscessed teeth
  • Crushing chest injuries
  • A ruptured eye or an eye ulceration
  • Skin abscesses
  • Other neurological disorders besides the slipped disc
  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Osteoarthritis
Most ACUTE PAIN has a "red flag sign" that makes you think something is wrong.  That should then drive you to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian who can pinpoint and treat the discomfort.

BAD PAIN or CHRONIC PAIN is much more difficult to ascertain.  Your veterinarian's input or the input of a specialist is needed in this type of pain.

Here are some of the signs of "BAD PAIN" that you must look out for as you pet's advocate.  You love your pet as much as a child.  Read these warning signs and make a mental note to look carefully at your pet today to see if any are evident.


Some Common Signs of "BAD PAIN" are:
  • Not eating as much as usual
  • Picking up and dropping food
  • Not interested in playtime or toys that were always important to your pet
  • Trouble jumping into the car or truck
  • Trouble going up or down stairs
  • Not wanting to jump up on a couch or a bed to be near you
  • Sleeping more that normal
  • Howling or hyperactivity
  • Drooling excessively
  • Squinting or not opening an eye
  • Sleeping in the winter near a radiator
  • Not wanting to get up in the morning for breakfast
  • Eating in a different position
  • Eating on one side of the mouth
  • Strong abnormal mouth odor
  • Teeth grinding and clicking when eating or after eating
  • Snapping at you or your children which has never occurred before
  • Growling when being touched
  • Scratching doors, furniture, or walls in a normally well-behaved pet
  • Not using a leg; holding it up at times
  • Stiffness when getting up from sleeping
  • A different sleeping posture with the hind legs in a "frog-leg" position in a pet that has not slept that way before
  • Blood in the urine; or multiple urinations
  • Straining to defecate
  • Difficulty moving the head up and down or from side to side
If your pet is showing any of these subtle "SIGNS OF BAD PAIN," you must get to your veterinarian immediately.  "BAD PAIN" is difficult to diagnose and your doctor may have to run some tests or take some x-rays.  Other times, referral to an Internal Medicine Doctor or a Pain Specialist in Critical Care might be the road to discovering the source of the pain.

Once the pain center is found, a prescription for pain control is then initiated.  Many clients are concerned about narcotics and drug dependence.  Other clients do not want to give medicines at all.  Remember Zusak's quote about being slapped in the face and smiling and doing that for 24 hours a day.  Your pet wants a quality-pain free life and does not want to live in pain.  Let your doctor guide you to the best pain prescription for your pet.  There are many options today than can be utilized without drug dependence.  Do not be fearful of medicine for pain.  Allow your veterinarian to be your support-system and guide.  Ask for a referral to a pain specialist if the medicine your local doctor has prescribed in not helping.  Become a pain-control advocate starting today for the good of your pet.

14August2012
Dr. Don DeForge
Animal Doc AM-Multi-Media
www.SilverSandsVeterinary.com
Ph-203-877-3221
DoctorDeForge@yahoo.com
Become a Friend at Silver Sands Veterinary
Join us each Tuesday on Blogger-Animal Doc AM-Multi-Media


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