Some pathologies cause chronic pain to the cat: it is possible to relieve its suffering, it is enough to know the causes, remedies and the best methods of treatment to make the cat feel better.
Medical science makes continuous progress and with it also veterinary: this means that many chronic diseases that affect our four-legged friends today can be kept under control longer than in the past, so dogs and cats live longer even if sick.
Extending the life of a dog or cat is certainly a positive thing, if you can guarantee a good quality of life: this is why today more than ever it is essential to know how to recognize and manage chronic pain in our pets in the best possible way company.
In particular, in this article we address the topic of chronic pain in cats: let’s find out together what are the causes, symptoms, consequences and remedies to be able to treat this symptom and better treat our domestic feline.
Chronic pain in cats: everything you need to know
Chronic pain is a disease that affects the cat’s nervous system, making it hypersensitive to a state of persistent physical pain that does not resolve even when the main disease that caused it is improved or, in cases where this is possible, resolved.
Adequately treating chronic pain in cats is an integral part of treating the main disease from which the problem arises, also because a series of further symptoms derive from this painful state that increasingly heavily affect the animal’s daily well-being, such as nausea, lethargy and inappetence of the cat.
Common causes of chronic pain in cats
Chronic pain is usually associated with some specific pathologies that affect the cat at different times of its life: in most cases it is chronic diseases whose symptoms and signs are observable daily by keeping the typical behaviors of the sore cat under control.
If the cat has little appetite, sleeps more than usual and tends to spend less time than normal on its daily grooming activities, it is possible that it is experiencing pain: depending on the triggering pathology, it is possible that there are obvious physical signs or that the the only way to understand if there is a problem is the palpation of the animal’s body. In both cases, it is essential to contact your trusted veterinarian who will be able to identify and diagnose the disease in question.
In general, cats are very good at hiding their pain so it is important to keep your eyes open and recognize any signs that are different than usual. An early diagnosis, in fact, can be essential to better treat the cat from one of the most common pathologies that cause chronic pain, among which we remember:
– urinary tract diseases,
– chronic feline pancreatitis,
– chronic hepatitis,
– chronic constipation or megacolon,
– degenerative neurological disorders,
– chronic eye diseases,
– oral diseases and stomatitis in cats,
– various types of cancer.
Treatment and treatment of chronic feline pain
As mentioned, recognizing the presence of chronic pain in a cat can be a rather complex challenge, so much so that it is said that the first step in alleviating the problem is to recognize it. Once it has been established that the cat suffers from this painful pathology, treatments can be carried out to alleviate the symptoms to give the cat the right relief.
The treatment of chronic pain in cats must have a multiple approach: in fact, it is necessary to act simultaneously with some environmental and lifestyle changes, with pharmacological treatments and alternative therapies. While medications and therapies must be prescribed by the vet, let’s take a closer look at what we can do to help a cat with chronic pain:
– if the cat’s pain derives from problems with the musculoskeletal system, such as in cats suffering from arthritis, it may be useful to make the cat lose weight to relieve bone and muscle strain.
– joint pains can be kept under control by reducing jumps and other physical strain due to moving, so it is important to make their favorite places to rest easily accessible to the cat.
– among the alternative therapies useful for chronic pain there are for example acupuncture for cats, massages and homeopathic remedies.
