Fighting Against Chronic Pain in Dogs: New Methods and Understandings
Yayın Tarihi | 25 April 2024, Thursday
Chronic pain in dogs is defined as a continuous discomfort that arises mostly from trauma, injury, or various diseases and exceeds the normal healing time. This situation negatively affects both the physical and emotional health of dogs, reducing their quality of life. Chronic pain management in dogs has become a major focus in veterinary medicine, especially in recent years. Specialized tools such as the Helsinki Chronic Pain Index and the Dog Short Pain Inventory are used to determine the severity of pain, and changes in dogs' behaviors, decreases in activity levels, and responses to daily activities are considered as key indicators in pain assessment. Dog owners play a significant role in their pets' health; the behaviors they observe help veterinarians develop effective treatment strategies. It is believed that increasing this level of awareness and working on simple and effective pain assessment methods suitable for pet owners will contribute to improving the overall health status of dogs.
Role of Pet Owners
A new study highlights the role of pet owners in detecting chronic pain in dogs. The study focuses on early diagnosis of pain symptoms such as mobility restrictions, excessive licking, and changing ear-tail positions with data obtained from owners' daily observations, and determining the level of perception of these symptoms by pet owners. In the study, it is seen that most pet owners report changes in their dogs' behaviors and body language due to pain, especially during activity/exercise and position changes. Based on this, the research suggests that integrating key parameters such as movement-based behaviors and ear-tail positions determined by owners' daily observations into pain assessment processes could increase the effectiveness and accuracy of treatment strategies. The importance of developing user-friendly pain assessment scales that can more effectively use owners' observations in ensuring timely and accurate intervention in dogs is emphasized. It is stated that by recognizing such behavioral changes, owners can detect and manage chronic pain in their dogs at earlier stages, which will help improve the quality of life and overall health of animals in cooperation with veterinarians. This collaborative approach, which can also reduce treatment costs, is thought to be of great importance in improving the overall health and happiness of pets.
Link to the Study: