Using acute pain scales for cats

Abstract

THE Glasgow composite measure pain scale (GCMPS) is probably considered the gold standard to assess pain and analgesia needed in dogs, and is widely used in clinical settings and clinical research (Reid and others 2007). Its importance in the history of veterinary analgesia is such that we could probably use it to mark the years in an ideal veterinary analgesia calendar: 'before GCMPS' and 'after GCMPS'. The idea of using a psychometric approach to develop a reliable pain scoring tool for dogs was brilliant in its simplicity, and the success of this tool is proof that it not only works well, but is also easy to implement in a clinical setting. Being able to consistently assess pain in a semi-objective way in animals, with minimal interobserver variability, is crucial to move away from the two extremes of analgesic management: on one side, animals are managed as if they do not feel pain, and on the opposite side, animals' pain is managed assuming that the animal must be in pain because it underwent a procedure. While providing adequate analgesia for animals is, ethically