Studies were primarily related to the assessment of pain in relation to surgical procedures , and no clear distinction was made concerning the onset of acute and chronic pain .
The metrics used within the tools appeared to focus primarily on the sensory aspect of pain , with no study clearly discriminating between the sensory and affective components of pain .
Objectives The objectives were to review systematic ally the range of assessment tools used in cats to detect the behavioural expression of pain and the evidence of their quality ; and to examine behavioural metrics ( considering both the sensory and affective domains ) used to assess pain .
Relationship between plasma concentrations and analgesia after intravenous fentanyl and disposition after other routes of administration in cats.
Data allowing rational use of analgesics in cats are limited . Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of fentanyl were studied in cats .  Plasma fentanyl concentrations were measured using radioimmunoassay in a crossover study in six cats after 10 microg/kg ( i.v . ) or by application of fentanyl in pluronic lecithin organogel ( PLO ) to the inner ear pinna . On a separate occasion thermal thresholds were measured after i.v . fentanyl ( 10 microg/kg ) or saline . Plasma fentanyl concentrations reached 4.7 - 8.31 ng/mL 2 min after i.v . administration and were undetectable after 95 min . Fentanyl was not detected in plasma at any time after PLO use . Thermal thresholds did not change following saline administration but were increased above baseline from 5 to 110 min after i.v . fentanyl . In this model a plasma concentration of > 1.07 ng/mL was required to provide analgesia . Plasma concentrations were measured in additional cats after intranasal or oral dosing ( 2 microg/kg ) and after 30 microg/kg in PLO gel . After oral and nasal dosing , Cmax values were 0.96 and 1.48 ng/mL at 5 and 2 min , respectively . Plasma fentanyl was not detected after application of the higher dose of fentanyl in PLO
Studies were primarily related to the assessment of pain in relation to surgical procedures , and no clear distinction was made concerning the onset of acute and chronic pain .
The metrics used within the tools appeared to focus primarily on the sensory aspect of pain , with no study clearly discriminating between the sensory and affective components of pain .
Objectives The objectives were to review systematic ally the range of assessment tools used in cats to detect the behavioural expression of pain and the evidence of their quality ; and to examine behavioural metrics ( considering both the sensory and affective domains ) used to assess pain .