Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Managing pain in cats with opioids and other drugs
By Robertson, Sheilah A·Published in The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice·2005·Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Managing pain in feline patients.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Cats often experience pain, but managing it effectively has improved significantly in recent years. Veterinarians now use a combination of medications like opioids, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and local anesthetics to help relieve pain in cats, especially after surgery or injury. While chronic pain management can be tricky due to potential side effects from long-term NSAID use, low doses given less frequently have shown promise. Newer medications like amitriptyline and gabapentin are also being explored to enhance comfort for cats suffering from pain. Overall, these advancements are helping to ensure that cats receive better pain relief than ever before.
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Abstract
In the past 10 years, great strides have been made in the field of feline analgesia. A better understanding of the cat's unique metabolism has led researchers to realize that extrapolation across species boundaries is unwise,and this has resulted in feline-specific studies. The opioids are now used more commonly in cats, with good analgesic effect and few side effects. Excellent acute pain management is achievable in cats by using opioids, NSAIDs, alpha2-agonists, and local anesthetics. Although much of the research data has compared the use of single drugs, a multimodal approach using agents that work at different parts of the pain pathway is commonly used in clinical settings, with added benefit. Compared with dogs, few pain-scoring systems have been developed for cats, and this remains an important goal. Management of chronic pain in cats is a challenge because of the potential problems with long-term NSAID use; however, reports of low doses given at extended intervals are encouraging. As we gain experience with less traditional analgesics, such as amitriptyline, amantadine, and gabapentin, and critically evaluate complimentary therapies, our ability to provide comfort to this population of cats will improve.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15627631/