This is an excerpt from the article I am writing. Maybe it will turn into a book: A Look at Pain Behavior and Pain Tolerance Specific to Felines It is a common believe that cats exhibit pain in a similar manner as its human and canine companions. But there are stark differences between humans, canines and many other species versus cats when it comes to pain behavior. This is, in my opinion, the number one reason why cat owners, and also many Veterinarians, misunderstand a cat that is in pain and discomfort. As quoted by the Cat Hospital of Chicago, when it comes to concealing pain from disease or injury, most cats are capable of an Academy Award-winning performance! Unlike dogs and many other animals, cats may behave overall quite normally when they are in pain. They also add that studies with hidden cameras have shown some cats to behave pain-free around humans, but alone exhibit pain behavior such as licking or a hunched posture. This masking-of-pain behavior is believed to be a survival instinct from domestic cats ancestors in the wild. In the wild, a sign of pain makes a wild cat vulnerable. cathospitalofchicago/online-cat-health-library/pain-recognition-and-management-in-cats To understand pain behavior in cats, and how this pertains to declaw surgery, it is important to make a 180 degree turn and begin to see past the stoic gaze of a cat and look at how cats reveal clues they are in pain. In my humble opinion, there are probably more signs of pain fitting of a stoic companion than otherwise recognized. Some of the subtle signs I have noticed throughout my 30 years living with cats, and listed in different websites include, increase in vocalization, changes is vocal tone, licking in particular areas of the body, avoiding the use of a certain body structure, exposed nictitating membrane, hiding, panting, changes in mood, irritability, hissing, biting, changes in appetite, changes in mobility and gate, most importantly changes in litter box use, clingy behavior, unkempt coat, overreaction to touching a body structure, in the case of injury to a paw or limb lifting leg off ground. catbehaviorassociates, catbehaviorassociates/10-signs-that-your-cat-may-be-in-pain/ When my first cat begun showing signs of illness at a ripened age of 12, he became periodically irritable and at times would try to bite or scratch. At times he would leave me a small segment of solid material in front of the litterbox. At times he ate sporadically. I was an inexperienced cat owner, even after 12 years, and thought my kitty was turning into a grumpy old man but looked basically fine. Although he looked fine, once his hair seemed unkempt my instinct kicked in, and upon an evaluation by a Vet, he was diagnosed with a geriatric disease which took his life in a short period of time. Another anecdote that pertains to this subject, a dear friend of mine and cat lover has an elderly cat that for several years behaved irritable. Her kitty had a tendency to bite and hiss. During a yearly checkup, her Vet discovered her kitty had an abscessed tooth. Not even the Vet detected pain behavior in her kitty. Dental work was performed, and her kitty’s behavior drastically changed. She is now the loving, cuddler she once was in her youth. The bottom line is if your cat appears fine but has become different then there is the possibility your cat is masking a problem. A dog looks sick. A cat may seems different but otherwise fine. This last sentence may leave the reader with a question mark. That is the complexity and amazement of the nature of cats. After my first kitty past away, I gained cat wisdom, and embarked on a quest to think like a cat in order to understand my future cats. I believe this is probably the primary reason why my couch has gone through 5 cats with extremely minor damage, and I have been able to successfully train my cats to cohabitate with my belongings. My couch is 20 years old, and hardly has a scratch. I love my couch. I have not found another like it and will probably keep it another 20 years. And it will probably experience another 5 feline companions, of course, claws included. So, as you can see it is not necessary to amputate a cat’s 10 toes to preserve furniture. But for some, the question may still remain, how does feline pain behavior pertain to declawing. These are some of the blogs I found regarding cats post-declawing: “My cats looks fine after declawing although she has changed somewhat.” “She no longer plays like she used to.” “He seems to lift one paw then the other.” “He runs and walks but doesn’t seem to do so like before.” “She seems to lick her paws a lot.” “She became irritable after declawing.” These are all signs your cat has post-operative chronic pain. At another time I will post an excerpt of what I have found regarding the anatomy of the feline paw. Perhaps this will help others better understand the gravity of the multiple toe amputation called Declawing. Stay tunes…
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 03:23:02 +0000
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