Pain Management for Cats

​What is pain? 

Pain experts define pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage." Pain is very subjective and difficult to measure, and there are as many manifestations of pain as there are injuries, conditions, and individuals. Demonstrations of pain vary widely among pets but are even more elusive in cats. In general, if something would hurt a human, it would hurt a cat.

Other examples of a cat in pain

• A cat may decline to jump
• They may still be able to get to their favorite resting spots, but take several small jumps to get there
• A cat may decide that the stairs are too difficult to navigate and remain on a single level of the home.
• Some will sleep more than usual, while others may be restless and unable to settle into a comfortable position.
• A cat that begins to soil out of the litter box may in fact be feeling pain and is avoiding the step or jump into a high walled litter box.

Pain remains an enormous unmet medical need, for both humans and cats. By paying attention to behavior changes that may signal pain and by working with your veterinarian, you can help your cat enjoy a pain-free life.