Cats don’t always cry when they’re in pain, which makes our job as cat lovers and veterinary surgeons challenging.
In fact, cats have the capacity to hide pain for a long time, before they can’t take it anymore.
Remember, in Nature, if an animal acts sick, they get eaten.
This is a trait cats still have, it’s an instinct.
Below are frequent changes you might observe and share with your vet or your surgeon.
Those changes fit in 3 main categories: mobility changes, behavior changes and physical changes.
1. Mobility changes
Cats are designed to walk, run and jump, even in their old days.
Any change in mobility should lead to a visit to your vet or surgeon.
- Limping is the most common problem we deal with at LRVSS.
What limping means is a common misconception, so let’s make it simple:
In 99% of cats, LIMPING = PAIN.
- Stiffness.
- Difficulty going up or down the stairs.
- Difficulty jumping up or down (bed, sofa, windowsill, cat tree, etc).
- Difficulty lying down or getting up.
- Reluctance to walk or move.
2. Behavior changes
Cats are the same as humans: when we have a migraine, or we stub our toe, our personality may not be the greatest…
In a cat, this may translate as:
- Reluctance to play.
- Not wanting to be touched. A classic example is a cat with a raging ear infection. They hate getting ear drops because it hurts, and they may become head shy…
- … or they can become aggressive, and could hiss or swat when touched.
- Eliminating (peeing, pooping) in odd places.
- Different sleep patterns, typically sleeping more.
- Vocalizing: hissing, crying, meowing, moaning, whimpering, yelping, howling, growling etc.
Here is another common misconception: purring can be a sign of pain.
At our surgery practice, we sometimes see cats purr despite having a broken leg!
- Persistent licking or biting a body part (e.g. a joint, because of arthritis), over-grooming, sometimes to the point of self-mutilation.
- Or the opposite, less grooming, for example because of pain in the spine, which makes bending painful. This leads to a poor haircoat condition.
3. Physical changes
Cats are creatures of habits.
You know your cat’s routines.
If something changes, please reach out to your vet or surgeon to determine the cause.
Pain should be suspected when you observe:
- Licking their lips (a subtle but classic sign of pain).
- Panting or open-mouth breathing for no obvious reason.
- Muscle twitching, muscle spasms.
- Arching the back (e.g. back pain, belly pain).
- Holding the head down (e.g. neck pain).
- Holding a leg up, or favoring a leg (see limping above).
- Decreased appetite, or refusing to eat (especially dry food), or chewing differently (this could be a sign of dental disease, or a mass in the jaw).
- Shifting weight off one leg (see limping above).
- Shaking.
- A change in facial expression. In fact, “grimacing” is used to rate a cat’s pain level (Feline Grimace Scale).
Source: www.felinegrimacescale.com. AU stands for Action Unit.
The problem with pain
The problem with pain is that it can be caused by anything, from mild (a tooth infection) to devastating (cancer).
This is the reason why it is so critical to seek help as soon as you suspect one of the above changes.
If the signs are subtle, or only occasional, a helpful tool is to take picture or videos of what you see at home, which your vet or surgeon may not see in a hospital setting.
Fortunately, in this day and age, we have multiple ways to diagnose and treat pain.
Please don’t procrastinate, you cat’s well-being depends on it.
If you would like to learn how we can help your pet with safe surgery and anesthesia, please contact us through www.LRVSS.com
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Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified
Pete Baia, DVM, MS, DACVS
www.LRVSS.com