Pain management in pets
Our pets can suffer from a wide range of painful conditions. From planned surgeries, accidental injuries, aging and to disease, there are many ways our friends can suffer. You know your pet best, if you think they are hurting, it’s worth checking out. You are their voice!
Our cat and dog friends may have different signs that indicate discomfort. Feline friends may decline to jump and ignore their usual positions on the back of the sofa. Sometimes sleeping more than usual is a sign of discomfort or specifically for cats, soiling outside of the litterbox is often a sign that shouldn’t be ignored. Our canine friends tend to snooze more when uncomfortable but are more likely to vocalize or become withdrawn. They can seem aggressive or growl at us; they can be so painful to touch that they don’t know another way to let us know. Dogs often lick sore spots (making an even bigger problem) or flatten their ears, appear restless or do off and on panting. These are all reasons to get an appointment with your vet and get things checked out.
What can we do? Well, it depends on what the problem is. Acute pain is most likely due to an injury. Chronic pain is more ongoing and more common in older pets. A frisbee chasing incident, from twisting a limb to just overdoing it, is an acute injury that will heal and get back to normal with rest and anti-inflammatory medications. Acute pain generally heals and doesn’t come back. Chronic pain requires ongoing management. Things like arthritis are not something we can “cure” but we can manage them. The goal is to minimize the pain and keep them as mobile as possible for as long as possible.
Human pain medications such as Advil or Tylenol are not recommended for our pets. This is a good time to remember what a cat or dog weighs in relation to a human. These drugs can damage their livers or kidneys or cause ulcers or bleeding. Ask your veterinarian to make recommendations for you. Depending on whether your pets’ issue is acute or chronic, they may find it necessary to perform bloodwork to ensure that any long-term medications aren’t harming any of their other systems internally.
Solensia is the first and only FDA-approved treatment to control osteoarthritis pain in cats! It has been a game changer! If you know our cat Leo, here at LVH, you would know that he is an elderly gentleman who started having mobility issues a few years ago. He had stopped jumping up onto the counters completely, until Solensia! I am happy (and sad) to report that since starting Solensia, he can frequently be found up high again AND on our staff room lunch table stealing from us again-naughty cat!
Librela, also made by Zoetis, is a monthly injection for dogs providing long-lasting pain relief from osteoarthritis pain. This is a great advancement for dogs in the arthritis arena. These two drugs aren’t for everyone, but have been tremendously effective for many! Ask your veterinarian if it might be right for your pet and don’t worry, if they aren’t a good candidate, there are many other medications to help them with their discomfort.
Please refer to our section on Acupuncture! Dr. Molter is always happy to discuss chronic pain management, and other health concerns, and how acupuncture might help!