Your horse’s face reveals pain

Did you know that Danish research shows that your horse’s face reveals whether it is in pain?

That knowledge supplements already existing knowledge about how you assess whether your horse is in pain.
The Danish research team Karina Gleerup, Björn Forkman, Casper Lindegaard and Pia H. Andersen are behind the discovery. They studied six horses that showed very specific changes in their facial expressions when exposed to pain. The pain to which the horses were subjected was induced using the same method used in human pain research. Simply put, it’s a cuff, as you know it from blood pressure measurements, with chili paste underneath.

Pain is perceived differently

To videnskab.dk, one of the researchers behind the experiment, Karina Gleerup, said that as a veterinarian and horse lover, it was a big challenge to expose horses to pain, and that it therefore took place with many reservations:

“I first tested the sources of pain – which are frequently used in pain research on humans – on myself. Two types of pain were needed to see if the pain signs were the same. In addition, I had trained the horses a lot beforehand, so they were completely comfortable with the situation. Then I was also sure that it was pain and not, for example, stress, that I could read in their faces”, she says.

The experience of pain is very individual. What hurts you a lot may hurts me less. Or the other way around. What hurts a lot today hurts less tomorrow. It is the same with horses.

The experiment also showed that there was a difference in how clearly the horses’ faces revealed their pain. There was both a difference from one horse to another, and between the same horse from trial to trial.

How to look at your horse’s face to see if it is in pain

The ears:

If your horse is in pain, it has a greater distance between the ears, and they get an outward rotation – i.e. out to the sides. It may also be that the ears are asymmetrically positioned. If the horse puts its ears back, it can also be a sign that the horse is in pain.

Forehead and eyes:

A “frown forehead” or “worried expression” in people is often interpreted as a sign that everything is not quite as it should be. The same applies to horses.

We see it as a worried expression on the horse’s face, but it is probably in reality, a tension in the horse’s eyes, so that they get a slightly triangular appearance. At the same time, the gaze is not present but more inward.

The nostrils:

When a horse is in pain, its nostrils may become dilated and tense. When the horse breathes in, the nostrils expand into a square shape. Normally, the nostrils are round when the horse takes a breath.

It is an important sign of pain, because it can be seen, even if the horse otherwise seems to be breathing normally.

Mule:

When the horse is in pain, it tightens the muzzle so that it becomes more square in shape – normally it is soft and rounded.

Other discoveries in the study on pain in horses

The horses in the experiment wanted to be with the researcher, even if they were in pain. It is different from previous research. Here, the horses have been more hesitant to interact with humans when they were in pain.

The difference is perhaps that in this experiment, the horses were trained before the study, and the researcher was a person they knew and associated with something positive.

It is worth noting. Because perhaps horses that feel in a safe environment seek more contact when they experience mild or acute pain.

 

Sources:
Gleerup, KB, Forkman, B., Lindegaard, C., & Andersen, PH (2015). An equine pain face. Veterinary anesthesia and analgesia, 42(1), 103-114.

This is how you know if your cat is in pain

How do I tell if my cat is hurting or in pain?

That’s a good question, because it’s not easy to tell if your cat is in pain. In fact, research shows that most of us can’t tell if a cat is in pain.

In many cases, it will try to hide it.

It is of course, not to be overlooked if your otherwise cuddly cat turns its head and hisses at you, bites or runs away when you pat it down the back. But cats, like people, can have pain that is not related to a specific injury.

And how do you discover if the cat has pain in the head, bones or muscles? Or if it has a stomach ache?

How to tell if your cat is in pain

If we ask science, the safest thing to do is look at your cat’s behavior and body language.

If your cat is in acute pain, it may appear depressed and quiet, as well as not wanting to move.

It may seem tense and try to hide. The cat does not respond to petting or attention. Some cats become manic and aggressive, growling, hissing and rolling around.

Many of the signs that your cat is in pain are subtle. And because they don’t come from one day to the next, you might think that they are just signs that your cat is no longer quite young.

Here are some signs to look out for:

The cat stops grooming its own fur. It hesitates to jump up on its favorite spots. It starts feeding outside its litter box. Some cats start to limp. It sleeps more and more.

How to help your cat with less pain

If your cat is in pain, you can help it in several ways until the vet’s pain treatment works. Because just as for humans, care has an effect on how much the cat thinks something hurts.

Pain is an emotional and subjective state. A cat that is freezing, wet, scared, hungry, thirsty or unable to empty its bladder suffers more than an animal that is warm, comfortable, well fed and safe.

If your cat has to go to the animal hospital, you can give it its toys or blanket from home. The same if it has a favorite basket it usually sleeps in. Because a safe cat has less pain than a scared cat.

If your cat has symptoms, you should take it to the vet. The vet can investigate whether your cat is doing something wrong that is causing it chronic pain.

You may not realize how impaired your cat was until you see how well it does after receiving the proper treatment from the vet.

Is my dog in pain?

Are you worried that your dog is in pain? Maybe you think it’s stomach hurts? Or do you wonder what symptoms a dog with a hurting back has? Do you know if the dog’s paw is hurting, if the shoulder is in pain or maybe the back part?

We understand your worries because it is not easy to see whether the dog is in pain.

Acute pain is easiest to discover; nobody is in doubt if the dog is in pain if it’s leg is in an awkward position, or it has a large wound.

Sneaking pain is the hardest pain to discover and assess.

Pain is a perception, and not an objective, physiological reaction. What hurts on one dog may not give another dog pain.

Your dog’s behavior reveals pain

Pain assessment and treatment of animals’ pain is an area that has developed a lot in the recent years. There are different methods to assess if a dog is in pain.

Even though the methods are developed for vets that assess whether your dog is in pain after ex. an operation, we also believe they can be useful for you as the dog owner. These methods can help you assess when you should take your dog to the vet.

Hereby, you as the dog owner can help the vet assess the dog’s pain because you know the dog’s daily routine. Ex. maybe your dog sits differently when it begs for treats.

This can be a sign that your dog has an illness that means its physiological and physical functions are changed or impaired.

How to assess if your dog is in pain

Look at your dog’s position without approaching your dog.

Does it seem to be:

Look from a distance at your dog’s behaviour. Does it seem to be:

If your dog makes a sound when approaching is it:

Now try to approach your dog and call the dog. While you do it keep an eye on its behavior and especially see if it acts differently than normal. Does your dog seem to be:

Next step is to assess how your dog reacts when you put the lease on, walk the dog and ask for sit and to get up. Assess if your dog:

The last step is to assess how your dog reacts when you touch it, optionally where you think it has pain. What did your dog do when touching it:

If you think your dog is in pain, please see the vet.