Pain and problem behaviour in cats

Did you know that pain can appear in behaviour problems. Imagine stroking your cat while they are on the side of the sofa. They look at your hand and then their pupils dilate, they retract their paw and scratch you. A cat with constipation can be in pain around their tummy or back meaning that any touch around these areas could result in dilated pupils and a scratch or a bite. A vet check to rule out anything overtly medical and making a note of any behavioural challenges in your cat and when they first started, when they present and any noticeable triggers is all helpful information.

Cats may start to avoid areas where painful events occur. For example, if a cat has trouble walking in and out of a litter tray, perhaps they are in pain therefore they may start going to the bathroom elsewhere.

There are different types of pain:

Pain and stress

Pain can lead to stress and stress can exacerbate poor health and delayed recovery time. A stress response leads to adrenaline and noradrenaline being released. This can result in increase in heart rate or dilated pupils.

A cat may avoid an area or start overgrooming in that area as a coping mechanism. This can lead to hair loss or injiury on that area.

To conserve energy cat may start being inactive, this is obviously a huge concern if they are not getting up to eat or drink therefore monitoring their activity with a budget about what they do day to do is a great idea.

Taking videos of your cat to assess their gait is a great idea a and noticing if they are climbing less.

Handling can be painful and can lead to an aggressive response.

If you’d like me to help you create home modifications to assist a cat that is in pain, in association with your vet, please contact me.

Reference

An introduction to Pain Behaviour and Cat Pain Behaviour Research, Natalie Waran, APBC Feline Conference 2013