It’s a typical morning. Your cat is walking around proudly, tail up in the air, acting like the king (or queen) of their castle. Everything’s as it should be until suddenly you hear a crash, scuffle, then the telltale sound that your precious kitty has likely injured themselves—a loud, crying-out meow.
You rush to the scene to find your cat looking alarmed but otherwise visibly fine. At this point, it might be difficult to tell if your cat is in pain, as they’ll likely try to avoid you as much as possible, making it tough to examine them closely.
Given the fact that cat personalities range the full spectrum, your particular cat may also act like everything is fine after a potential injury, making it hard for you to tell if your cat is actually in pain or not unless there are clearly visible signs.
In this article, we outline the behaviours, actions, and reactions that you will likely encounter if your cat is in pain. Plus, we provide tips for how to comfort a cat in pain and recommendations for what you give a cat for pain relief.
If you suspect that your cat is suffering, you’re probably wondering how to tell if your cat is in pain. Aside from the obvious physical signs, like bleeding or swelling, there are behavioural signs that you can look for.
While every cat has a distinct personality, there are certain behaviours that a typical cat will exhibit if they are in pain. These behaviours include:
It’s important to remember that your cat may display one or all of these behaviours, and at different severities. You know your kitty best; if they are acting strangely and the behaviour isn’t improving, they might need a trip to the vet.
Aside from behaviours, you may be able to recognize physical signs your cat is in pain. While physical signs might seem obvious, you may not always recognize them as indications of pain and instead mistake them for something else.
Here are some examples:
If your cat is in pain, they will likely exhibit behavioural signs like irritability, meowing more than usual, and hiding or avoiding contact with you. But before you can answer the question of how to tell if your cat is in pain or not, it’s important to understand the difference between signs and symptoms.
Cats’ faces can also tell us much about their feelings. The feline grimace scale was developed by the University of Montréal in 2019 to give cat owners and veterinarians a useful visual tool for how to tell if a cat is in pain.
The scale involves observing your cat undisturbed when they are awake and not eating, drinking, or vocalizing. Then, it’s simply giving your cat a score, either 0, 1, or 2, depending on the position of their ears, eyes, muzzle, whiskers, and head.
Feline Grimace Scale Score |
Meaning |
0 (action is absent) |
|
1 (action is moderately present or there is uncertainty about its presence) |
|
2 (action is very present) |
|
Visually, the feline grimace scale looks like the following:
The best way to tell if a cat is in pain or not is to observe their behaviour and facial expressions over a period of time and take notes. Jot down any unusual reactions to your touch, food, or toys so that when you do visit a veterinarian, you’ll have clear information about your kitty to give them. If there are no obvious physical signs a cat is in pain, then your vet will need to rely partly on what you tell them to determine the next steps.
When your cat is in pain, you naturally want to provide them with some sort of comfort. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to provide multiple comfortable places for them to relax until they heal. And give them space. Since cats naturally want to hide away when they are sick or injured, your kitty may not be interested in spending time with you while they are recovering.
There are also small changes you can make to your home to help your kitty get along better while they are healing:
If your cat is injured or recovering from a procedure like spaying or neutering, you may be asking yourself, “What can I give my cat for pain relief?”
Veterinarians will usually prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are specially formulated for cats to provide them with pain relief. However, NSAIDs can have negative side effects, so it’s important to use them exactly as your vet prescribes.
NSAIDs have been developed to control fever, swelling, headaches, and other inflammatory responses to pain in animals like cats. At a high level, NSAIDs work by influencing the production of certain substances in the body, specifically prostaglandins, that affect inflammation and pain in the body.
While NSAIDs formulated for cats effectively manage their pain, they can come with some undesirable side effects, especially if they are taken for a long time. These side effects include:
It’s important to remember that not all cats will experience these issues, and some may present with minor symptoms initially until their bodies get used to the medication.
Human medications can be expensive, so it’s no surprise that cat pain medication can also be tough on the bank account. This leads to people asking questions like the following:
The truth is that, yes, you can give aspirin to your cat, but that comes with a huge asterisk. Aspirin may be the only ingredient in a medication (good) or part of a product containing other medications like caffeine, acetaminophen, opioids, antihistamines, and decongestants (bad). These additional ingredients can have negative effects on your cat. Acetaminophen, in particular, is toxic to cats.
Even if the aspirin you want to give your kitty doesn’t contain all of that stuff, there is still a risk of aspirin poisoning. This is because aspirin is one compound in a group of chemicals called salicylates. If your cat ingests a large amount of salicylates, it is toxic to their bodies and results in gastrointestinal irritation like bleeding in the gut and ulcers. Cats will often not show signs of poisoning immediately, but signs of internal bleeding include dark, tarry stools, pale gums, and general weakness.
A veterinarian may suggest giving your kitty aspirin, but you have to follow their directions to the letter to ensure that your cat takes the medication safely.
Unfortunately, there are no NSAIDs that you can give your kitty over the counter safely without asking a veterinarian first. There are only a couple of FDA-approved NSAIDs that are safe to give your cat, and both must be obtained by a veterinarian's prescription. These painkillers are also the only ones offered for cats in Canada.
Active Ingredient |
Brand and Generic Names |
How it’s Administered |
Metacam® Loxicom®, OroCAM®, Rheumocam, Mobic®, Mobicox® |
Oral liquid, injection, or oral spray (spray not available in Canada) |
|
Onsior® |
Injection or oral tablet |
However, if your kitty is suffering from joint pain, you can give them a cat joint supplement like TRI-ACTA H.A. This supplement in particular is completely safe to give your kitty because it contains ingredients that naturally occur in your cat’s body, but at therapeutic amounts to help relieve the pain that comes with achy joints.
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If your cat has chronic cat joint pain or is a senior cat, you may be wondering if there are alternatives aside from NSAIDs for what can you give a cat for pain to prevent these issues from occurring.
Thankfully, there are a couple of options:
When it comes to joint supplements for cats, there are a few important things that make Integricare’s TRI-ACTA products stand out from other options.
Another important mention is that TRI-ACTA products are made with 100% active ingredients with no fillers, additives, or preservatives. Because of this, you get the maximum value for your money in each container, and you can feed your pet less supplement per serving. Plus, TRI-ACTA products are approved by Health Canada as a Veterinary Health Product, meaning that the ingredients and manufacturing are the gold standard.
Sometimes it can be difficult to assess the signs a cat is in pain. Paying attention to your specific cat’s behaviours is the first step in how to tell if your cat is in pain or not.
So the next time you’re wondering, “What can you give a cat for pain?” you’ll be armed with the knowledge you need to make educated and effective decisions regarding your cat’s health and well-being.
Joint issues are one common cause of pain in cats. If you suspect that joint issues may be the cause of your cat’s pain, consider getting them started on TRI-ACTA H.A. right away. If your cat is not suffering from joint pain, but you want to be proactive and help protect their joints as they age, then get them started on our regular-strength version, TRI-ACTA.
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