{"id":1040,"date":"2018-10-24T19:05:30","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T19:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.parksidevet.ca\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2021-11-17T10:44:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T15:44:41","slug":"a-practical-guide-how-to-know-if-your-pet-is-in-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.parksidevet.ca\/blog\/a-practical-guide-how-to-know-if-your-pet-is-in-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"A Practical Guide: How to Know If Your Pet is in Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We all love our pets, and keeping them healthy and pain-free is a top priority. However, it\u2019s not always easy to tell if our pet is not feeling well, due to a basic survival instinct – and of course, the fact that they don\u2019t have language to tell us how they feel. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, there are subtle signs that can alert you to when your pet is in pain. This is a lesson we all want to learn, so we can help our beloved furry family members feel better quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Basic Instincts<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Animals have evolved to mask signs of pain and discomfort, in order to survive. In the wild, when an animal shows pain, they become vulnerable to predators. This is one reason that identifying pain in our pets is so difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d all like to think that we would recognize that our pet is in pain right away. But studies show that pet owners are actually not very good at recognizing pain in our pets. Careful observation of behavior changes has been shown to be the best way to catch problems that cause pain early, and thus, learning to identify these behavior changes becomes important. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past two decades, veterinary medicine has made giant strides in the area of pain assessment and pain management in pets. There is an industry recognized pain scale, which allows veterinarians and teams to identify and objectively measure pain in pets in order to more strategically manage pain. So we\u2019ll also help at your pet\u2019s <\/span>annual preventive care exam<\/span><\/a> to look for signs of pain and help alleviate it if found. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs Of Pain In Pets<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So what can you do to observe and identify pain in your pet? Start with understanding animal behavior, and look for the following changes in pet behavior to clue you in to possible pain. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n