Pain Management For Your Pet

Why Pain Management for Dogs is Important

Dogs are, unlike people, unable to express their pain in words. This means that there is no way to tell just how much your dog is suffering. This is why pain management for dogs is important. As a dog owner, it is your responsibility to ease your dog’s pain once you see signs of pet pain. You never know just how much pain already becomes too much for your dog to bear, so at the first sign of pain, pain management becomes necessary. Veterinarians have acknowledged this, especially recently, when managing pet pain is now prioritized and recommended. But, as a dog owner, veterinarians can only be there when you call. The responsibility to detect any sign of pain, and the need to manage pet pain still depends entirely on you.

Identifying Pain in Your Pet

There are kinds of pain that are easy to detect because they are expected. For example, your pet suffered an accident or got severely wounded. But aside from those types of pain that can be easily expressed through whimpers and whines, there are also some mild but constant pain that can be trouble your dog without your knowledge. These types of pain can still be detected in several ways. The first sign that you have to look at is some slowness, inability, or hesitation to do something that your pet normally does. The decline in the level of activity they pursue can be an evidence of pain. Another thing that you should watch out for to detect pain is whether your dog has any negative reactions to touch. Sometimes, a dog aches in particular parts of their bodies, but only when touched or pressed against. If you hold your dog and you feel it avert your touch, this might be a sign of pain. To detect pain in your pet, you have to be very sensitive to its behavior and reactions. A good dog owner would know right away when something is wrong or something seems different.

Managing Your Dog’s Pain

The first step to managing your dog’s pain is detecting the pain and its causes. This will help you trace back the pain to some other condition that needs to be treated for the pain to be relieved. Dog owners are not supposed to know this right away, so it is of utmost important, in the spirit of pain management, that you rush to your veterinarian once you detect any sign of pain in your pet. Handling your pet’s pain is not your sole responsibility. The first move is just supposed to be yours, but your vet is the best person who can tell how to manage your dog’s pain. Your vet can also prescribe certain medications and health products that will help in managing pet pain. Nowadays, a lot of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are being used to relieve pain in pets. Such drugs can relieve pain related to various conditions such as arthritis, joint pain, rashes, and the likes. Before you give your pet any kind of medication to manage your dog’s pain, be sure to ask about what it can do to your pet, and what its possible side effects are. Also, since prevention is still better than cure, be sure to take very good care of your dog to keep it away from pain.