Figure 3.

Clinical pain assessment incorporates 1) observations of posture, general behaviour, comfort, activity, attitude, body position and facial expressions, and 2) a dynamic and interactive approach involving greeting the animal and performing gentle palpation of the wound/painful area. The response elicited during touch and palpation may help with clinical decisions and with determining the sensory-discriminatory domain of pain (intensity, location and duration). (a) A healthy cat is examined prior to surgery. After observing the cat’s normal behaviour, the cage is opened, and the patient is gently approached and stroked. (b) The cat responds to the interaction with the observer and shows a friendly demeanour. This should be maintained after surgery if the cat is not painful. Images reproduced from Steagall and Monteiro (2019) ⁵