Pet Pain Awareness Month

In honor of Pet Pain Awareness Month we want to give some information to help keep our beloved companion pets healthy and pain free.

Pets can be masters at hiding pain from us as they do this in nature and still have some of those basic instincts. Sometimes perceived pain can be obvious to see and other times more subtle.

These are some ways to look for pain in our pets:

Look for signs of difficulty rising after sleeping or napping, changes in walking patterns or obviously favoring of one or more of it’s extremities. Also look to see if your pet is painful to the touch in any suspicious places.

Also look for any changes in your pets normal behavior. Is your pet hiding or seeking a quiet area to be left alone? Is your pet acting more aggressive or anxious than usual? Sometimes pets will ignore their own grooming habits or over lick or groom painful spots on their skin. Sometimes they will have a more unkempt appearance than usual.

Also look for any changes in eating habits or changes in how your pet is chewing or swallowing its food or water. Make sure food and water are close by if your pet is reluctant to move closer on their own.

If you are suspecting pain somewhere and your pet allows it, do a brief feel of your pet’s body and see if any areas are tender to the touch or make your pet react differently than normal

If you suspect that your pet is painful it will be best to schedule an appointment with your regular veterinarian. If this is an after hours problem then the emergency veterinary hospital could certainly be contacted and many of these hospitals are open 24/7.

~ Dr. Mark Madzy, DVM