Picture of a cat in considerable pain is useful for cat owners

This is a follow up page on the Feline Grimace Scale which is a way of assessing if a cat feels pain moderately or severely or is pain-free. This is an interesting picture showing a cat in pain. It sums up the facial expression that cat owners can expect to see when their cat or another cat is in pain. We need to be alert to this because it can be so difficult to get into the head of our cats to decide if she is suffering discomfort. Care needs to be applied with painkillers. There is one, Metacam (Meloxicam), which I think is dangerous and I don’t believe that it should be used as it can cause kidney failure. In other words it can make things a lot worse and fatal.

Cat suffering from acute pain showing the facial expression compared to a pain free cat and one suffering moderate pain.

You can see the flattened ears, the nearly closed eyes, the alteration in the posItion of the whiskers. I think the shape of the muzzle alters because the whiskers are thrust forward.

I am sure that many cat owners have not seen or had a good look at the face of a cat suffering considerable pain. Cat shelter workers have many more opportunities to observe cats who may be suffering pain to varying degrees. It would be nice to hear from them.

SOME PAGES ON PAINKILLERS:

    Did you find this article useful and interesting? Can it be improved? Please tell me in a comment. I am always keen to improve the site for animal welfare and reader enjoyment.