Pets do experience pain and do remember it.
Raise your hand if you believe pets who have undergone surgery shouldn’t receive pain relief afterward because they’ll be too active, possibly injuring themselves or tearing their stitches. Believe it or not, people still disseminate that idea.
We’re here to tell you it’s not true. It’s one of many misconceptions about pet pain management that just won’t die. What we do know is that untreated acute pain can delay healing and have lifelong implications for a pet’s physical and emotional well-being. Here are some myths – and the reality – on pet pain and its relief and management from three of the nation’s top experts on the subject.
Myth: That doesn’t hurt me, so it will not hurt you. The experience of pain is different for everyone. Each of us – and each of our dogs, cats, birds and other animals – experience pain as individuals, with individual thresholds and sensitivities and in a different context, said Ralph C….
