This is available right now online using a laptop. I’ve just used it. I used a photo of a Bengal cat that I had on file. He is not my cat. This cat looks healthy and not in pain. In fact, he is a rescue cat who’s been at a shelter for 12 months because …
Cat Pain Detector assesses portrait photo. Available now. Read More »
Nathan Winograd was the director of an open-admission animal control shelter. He is America’s best-known and best-informed shelter animal advocate. When he was a director of a shelter, he ensured that the animals in his care, both dogs and cats, were released from their cages during the day as follows: Dogs: a minimum four times …
Out-of-cage time for cats and dogs at animal shelters Read More »
At the time this article was first published (2013) Onsior was a fairly new painkiller for pets. The active drug is robenacoxib. Before this drug became available in June 2012, a cat owner had little else to choose from when their cat was in need of drug therapy. You had Metacam, which has proven to …
A cell phone (smartphone) app, in development, but in beta version called Tably, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to be able to read a domestic cat’s facial expressions to tell the owner how their cat feels. It is an interesting development on the back of previous studies which showed that domestic cats do have subtle facial …
Cell phone app understands your cat’s facial expressions Read More »
I don’t believe that cats feel pain exactly like humans because their brain processes pain signals from their peripheral nerves in a way which is similar to methods used by therapists when teaching people how to manage pain through psychological therapies. I think cats do it automatically whereas humans have to be taught how to …
COMMENT: There’s a new study published online which looks at the way the normal facial expressions of a domestic cat are distorted by selective breeding when creating purebred cats with extreme appearances. It makes sense because the neutral facial expression of some of these breeds are heavily distorted from the normal. At least this will …
Extreme breeding of cats creates misleading facial expressions Read More »
This is an intriguing story because it illustrates what a domestic cat feels when they have an infestation of ear mites (Otodectes cyanotis). It is going the extra mile and it took a bit of courage for a veterinarian, Dr Lopez, to scoop a gram of “ear mite exudate” from a domestic cat and place …
I think the best answer to the question in the title is that a cat’s diseased kidneys do not cause pain themselves but where there is chronic kidney disease there is likely to be uraemia which is a condition in which poisonous waste products accumulate in the body. This is a life-threatening condition and the …
The question in the title presupposes that all Scottish Fold cats suffer from chronic pain but my research indicates that this is not necessarily true. Whether a Scottish Fold suffers chronic and severe pain depends on how the cat was bred. There are two ways to breed Scottish Folds. One way is acceptable while the …
Thankfully vets are getting better at deciding if a cat is in pain. Back in the old days they didn’t really consider it. Although there are behavioural signs which are discussed on this site, a more practical and efficient method of measuring cat pain is through a range of facial expressions. This is the Grimace …
Feline Grimace Scale tells you more effectively if a cat is in pain Read More »
Yes, IBD in cats is painful. It is painful in people and therefore it must be the same for cats. Also, I know this because today I was reading about a study on facial expressions when cats are in pain. It’s a study which looks at how cats’ facial expressions change subtly when they are …
This is an interesting test and I’d like cat owners to come forward to do it and report in a comment. Let’s see what happens. Note: the results may be muddied by the fact that domestic cats often don’t like their paws being fiddled with. But it is worth trying nonetheless, I believe. Americans need …
Does hyperthyroidism cause pain in cats? The reference books I have do not say that pain is directly caused by this disease. I believe that you have to know what causes hyperthyroidism in cats and ask if the illnesses which causes it also causes pain in the cat. As mentioned hyperthyroidism per se does not …
Veterinarians admit that one of the hardest things they have to do when managing animal care is to try and figure out how much pain the patient is experiencing or even if the drug is effective. We need to remind ourselves of that unpleasant thought.
Domestic cats show pain and discomfort in their facial expressions. A cat’s facial expressions are much more subtle than those of humans but they are distinct. When in acute discomfort the face becomes strained and tense with half-closed eyes and a mouth more downturned than usual.
