Pain management protocol for dogs, cats and rabbits

Evaluate the animal once it has recovered sufficiently from anesthesia (as scores can be affected by the hangover effect of sedative and anesthetic drugs).

If pain scores are equal or greater than intervention level – inform veterinary surgeon and give analgesia as directed.

Intervention levels
DOGS 6/24
CATS 5/20
RABBITS 4/10

Allow the analgesic to take effect and reassess after 1 hour; If the score has decreased to below the intervention level, reassess in 2 hours.

If not consider additional analgesia.

Thereafter assess every 3-4 hours or earlier as appropriate (depending on the severity of the surgical procedure and the class/route of administration/expected duration of analgesic administered) and after each analgesic administration.

The pain scales are intended to be an adjunct to clinical judgment, and no animal should be denied analgesia on the basis of the scores alone.