Pain certainly may have a protective role in minimizing tissue damage. Animals learn many things about their environment through pain, and acute pain frequently serves to change behavior and prevent further tissue damage. However, pain may also serve as a stimulus for destructive behavior. The metabolic and functional derangements characteristic of the stress response following an injury may be important for survival in untreated patients. In contrast, these same adaptations may be detrimental in patients under veterinary care.
Unrelieved pain can induce suffering.
Pain and suffering are associated with maladaptive physiological responses and maladaptive behaviors. As stated previously, there are no beneficial effects of unrelieved pain in animals under veterinary care. The need to provide adequate analgesia to animals may be more compelling now than ever before. During the last decade, many veterinary practitioners have adopted anesthetic practices which result in rapid recoveries following surgery. Anesthetic drugs such as propofol, diazepam-ketamine, and isoflurane are known for providing quick recoveries from anesthesia.