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How can I tell if my cat is in pain?
We get this question all the time. Cats are very good at hiding disease and pain. They are hardwired to look everything is normal.
This post is going to address acute pain and most directly post surgical pain. We are planning on addressing chronic pain in a future post.
We send home different pain medications after every surgery. Some procedures are more painful than others and all of us differ on our tolerance for pain. We tell people to give medications if they think their cat is painful. How can you tell if your cat is in pain?
Fortunately there is now a validated test to help us recognize if a cat is in pain. The test is called The Glasgow Feline Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS-Feline). We are very proud to say that our clinic participated in the original study that helped to validate this test.
We will be sending this test home with all our surgical patients to help their human companions treat their pain properly. . You can click here to see the questionnaire If your cat scores higher than a 5 out of 20 you should call your veterinarian to help you determine the best treatment options for your cat. The test is written for a hospitalized patient so ignore the references to being in a cage.
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