Riconoscere il dolore nel gatto: fantascienza o realtà?

The diagnosis of pain in veterinary medicine is a real challenge: in fact, in contrast to adult human patients who can describe their pain, animal patients communicate their pain perception predominantly by non univocal behavioural patterns and physiologic changes common to various conditions (such stress) occurring in the sympathetic nervous/endocrine systems. In an attempt to improve pain diagnosis, work has been done to evaluate pain scales for use in domestic animals. Pain scales allow a semi-quantitative evaluation of the degree of pain an individual may be experiencing, and usually take into account both physiologic signs (such as increased heart rate and respiratory rate) as well as the animal's response to stimulus and manipulation. Unfortunately, no pain scales have been validated for cat right by now, and the diagnosis of pain is based on knowledge of the degree of pain associated with particular surgical procedures and illnesses, and on recognition of the signs of discomfort and pain.