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 .
Postoperative analgesic efficacy of meloxicam compared to tolfenamic acid in cats undergoing orthopaedic surgery.
OBJECTIVES To investigate the efficacy of meloxicam or tolfenamic acid administered preoperatively and postoperatively ( five days in total ) to cats undergoing surgical fracture repair . METHODS Eighty-eight otherwise healthy cats were matched according to fracture site and then r and omly allocated to one of two groups , receiving 0·2 mg/kg meloxicam by subcutaneous injection ( group M ) or 1·5 to 3 mg/kg tolfenamic acid orally ( group T ) before anaesthesia . Analgesia was continued with 0.05 mg/kg oral meloxicam once daily or 1·5 to 3 mg/kg oral tolfenamic acid twice daily for four days postoperatively . Pain was assessed by a blinded observer using visual analogue scales and a functional limb score . The drug administrator assessed feed intake and palatability of the treatment . RESULTS Data from 66 cats were analysed . Visual analogue scale pain scores and functional limb scores decreased over time in both groups but were not significantly different between treatments . Feed intake was similar in both groups . Meloxicam was significantly more palatable  than tolfenamic acid on all treatment days . CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Meloxicam and tolfenamic acid demonstrated comparable analgesia , without clinical ly observable side effects . Meloxicam may be associated with superior compliance in clinical practice due to the higher palatability and once daily treatment result ing in better ease of administration
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 .