Does Breed effect pain?
Recognising and treating pain in canines is something I feel passionately about. I also understand that thinking our beloved pet might be in pain, let alone then recognising the symptoms is difficult for us to process. What loving owner wants to admit their friend is suffering, even a little bit…..
Interestingly, over my years of experience, I believe I’ve directly witnessed the effect the animals breed has with respect to its tolerance to pain. For instance, I believe guarding breeds and terriers appear to have higher tolerance to pain than herding breeds such as German Shepherds and companion breeds such as Pugs (Gruen, White & Hare, 2020). Why do I want to highlight this perspective in this blog? Well, if you own a higher pain tolerance breed this can further add to the difficulty of spotting an animal that is suffering. Complicating things even more is the effect of gender and age. Again, in my experience the expressions of pain can also vary between males and females and equally the life stage of the animal. Even their surroundings can have an effect, you may find your pet trying to mask discomfort even more when they are at the vets than when they are at home (Ijichi, Collins & Elwood, 2014). Finally, the individual personality of the animal can also affect how they express pain (Ijichi, Collins & Elwood, 2014).
In summary, it’s a complex landscape and unique to your animal – rest assured, it’s not just you as an owner that can find it hard to see if your pet is experiencing pain but us professionals caring for your pet.
The key is knowing your own animal. What is normal for them and what is not normal. I also strongly believe we should not subscribe to the thought that pain is inevitable as an animal ages.
So if you are going to see your vet as you suspect your animal is in pain, here’s some advice from me.
· If you dog seems in pain when eating, walking etc take a video to show to your vet. As discussed, your animal’s behaviour can change at the vets – capture the symptoms in the most natural environment
· Take pictures or close up videos if it is an area that particularly hard to see, there’s never “too much information” when making a diagnosis
· Nothing is irrelevant. If something your animal is doing that it has never done before, tell the vet. Better still show them.
Your vet and local veterinarian physiotherapist can work together to find the best solutions to your animals pain, ultimately we are here to help – no animal needs to suffer unnecessary.
Gruen, M., White, P., & Hare, B. (2020). Do dog breeds differ in pain sensitivity? Veterinarians and the public believe they do. PLOS ONE, 15(3), e0230315. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230315
Ijichi, C., Collins, L., & Elwood, R. (2014). Pain expression is linked to personality in horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 152, 38-43. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2013.12.007
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