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 .
Assessment of the influence of surgical technique on postoperative pain and wound tenderness in cats following ovariohysterectomy
Elective ovariohysterectomy was performed on 66 cats . Surgical approach was flank ( group F ) or midline ( group M ) allocated by block r and omisation . Pre-anaesthetic medication was acepromazine ( 0.1 mg/kg ) via intramuscular injection . Anaesthesia was induced with intravenous thiopentone , and maintained with halothane in 100 % oxygen . Carprofen ( 4 mg/kg ) was administered by the subcutaneous route immediately after induction of anaesthesia . Postoperative pain and wound tenderness were assessed at 1 , 3 , 6 , 9 , 11–12 and 20–24 h after the end of surgery , and the assessment outcome marked on visual analogue scales ( VAS ) . Intervention analgesia ( if  pain VAS was > 40 mm ) was pethidine 4 mg/kg via intramuscular injection . Area under the curve ( AUC ) for VAS for pain and VAS for wound tenderness for each cat were calculated . AUC for wound tenderness was significantly greater for group F ( P=0.007 ) . There was no significant difference for AUC for pain between the groups . In conclusion , wounds after flank ovariohysterectomy are significantly more tender than after midline ovariohysterectomy in the cat . This indicates that interactive methods , including wound palpation , must be used to assess postoperative pain and the findings should be appropriately weighted in the overall assessment
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 .