Table 1. An ethogram of acute pain behaviors in cats submitted for content and face validity with I-CVI scores.
| Categories | Behavior | Descriptors | I-CVI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position in the cage | Back (D) | Cat is positioned in the back of the cage [9,12] | 1 |
| Front (D) | Cat is positioned in the front of the cage [9,12] | 0.5 | |
| Exploratory behavior | Withdrawing (F) (D) | Move away from a stimulus or an observer [14,20] | 0.75 |
| Investigating (D) | Directed, purposeful movement of the head and/or whole body towards objects or surfaces that are sniffed or contacted with a front paw [14] | 0.5 | |
| No attention to the surroundings (D) | Absence of investigatory behaviors [9,13] | 1 | |
| Activity | Restlessness (D) | Unwilling or unable to stay still or to be quiet or calm [7,9,20,21] | 0.75 |
| Feigned sleep (F) (D) | Not related to sleeping. Eyes are partially closed, the ears are pulled apart, and the muzzle is retracted backwards [4,22] | 1 | |
| Grooming (D) | Gentle licking, nibbling, biting or chewing of a body part. Includes licking of the medial thoracic limb and wiping it over the body and/or head [14,20] | 1 | |
| Stretching (F) | Straighten or extension of body parts making their longer or wider [14] | 0.75 | |
| Scratching (F) | Using the extended claws of a back leg to gently scrape the body [14] | 0.25 | |
| Tail twitch (F) | A rapid flick of the tail [4,7,14,20] | 0.25 | |
| Attention to the wound (F) | Licking or pawing a wound or painful area excessively, or attempting to do so, often moving the head towards the painful area [7–9] | 1 | |
| Posture & Body Position | Sitting (D) | Maintaining the same position with the thoracic limbs extended and the pelvic limbs flexed with the tarsi in contact with the ground [14] | 0.5 |
| Crouched/Hunched up (D) | Leaning forward with the shoulders raised, head down and/or limbs bent [4,8,20–22] | 1 | |
| Lying dorsoventrally with pelvic limbs extended/contracted (F) (D) | Lying in dorsoventral recumbency and contracting or extending its pelvic limbs [4,7,9] | 0.75 | |
| Abnormal gait (F) | Abnormal gait, but still able to weight bear to some degree on all four limbs [4,20] | 1 | |
| Non-weight bearing (F) | Failing to bear weight on a limb [4,20] | 0.75 | |
| Affective-emotional states | Depressed (D) | Unresponsive, immobile [8,12] | 1 |
| Vocalization * | Repelling (F) | Any behavior related to a protective response, including biting, attacking, growling, piloerection and tail twitching [1,8] | 0.75 |
| Growling (F) | A low-pitched, throaty, rumbling noise produced while the mouth is closed [8,14] | 0.75 | |
| Hissing (F) | A drawn-out, hissing sound produced by rapid expulsion of air from the cats’ mouth, usually during exhalation [8,14] | 0.75 | |
| Playing (with an object) a | Pawing (D) | Directed contact with the object using the forepaw(s) [14] | 0.75 |
| Not pawing but interest to play/towards the object (D) | Tracking the object with the eye and/or head movement without pawing [13] | 0.25 | |
| Not pawing/no interest towards the object (D) | No reaction to or moves away from the object [13] | 0.25 | |
| Feeding b | Eating (D) | Approaches food and prehends, chews and swallows normally [14] | 0.25 |
| Difficulty grasping or holding food (F) | Approaches food but unable to properly prehend (grasp or hold food) [13] | 1 | |
| Head shaking during feeding (F) | Shakes the head in a side to side movement during eating and/or in the intervals between chewing food with the teeth and swallowing [13] | 1 | |
| Not eating but interest in food (D) | Shows an interest by sniffing or licking the food but does not progress the action of eating [9,13] | 0.5 | |
| Not eating/no interest in food (D) | No interest to food [9,13] | 0.75 | |
| Post-feeding b | Lip licking (F) | Touches the lips and/or nose with tongue [13,14] | 0.5 |
| Grooming (D) | Gentle licking, scratching, nibbling, biting or chewing the fur of a body part. May also include the licking of a front paw and wiping it over the body and/or head [14] | 0.75 | |
| Facial expressions or features | Head shaking (not related to eating) (F) | Episodic shaking of the head in a side to side movement [13] | 0.5 |
| Eye squinting (F) | Continuous orbital tightening [7,9,10,21] | 1 | |
| Blepharospasm (F) | Frequent abnormal, uncontrollable contraction/twitching of the eyelid muscle [20] | 1 | |
| Lip licking (not related to eating) (F) | Touches the lips and/or nose with tongue [13] | 0.25 | |
| Lowered head position (D) | Head held below the shoulder line or angled down with the chin moving towards the chest [10,20] | 1 |
(I-CVI) item content index validity; (D) Duration of behavior; (F) Frequency of behavior.
*when audio is available.
awhen playing with the cat.
bwhen food is offered.