A survey study on the recognition and treatment of pain in dogs and cats by Slovenian veterinarians.

Objective: To obtain information on pain management in dogs and cats by Slovenian veterinarians, and to compare it with reports from other countries.

Study Design: Prospective online survey.

Methods: The questions were uploaded using open source survey software and pertained to demographic data, self-evaluation of acquired and current knowledge, attitude towards pain and evaluation of actual knowledge, assessment of chronic and acute pain and pain due to surgery or medical conditions, and the use of analgesics. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize frequency distribution. Wilcoxon signed rank test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rho were applied where appropriate.

Results: The response rate was 11%. From 680 registered members of the Veterinary Chamber of Slovenia, 73 veterinarians completed the survey. Most of the respondents were women (71.2%) working in small (60.3%) or mixed (21.9%) animal practices. A more recent year of graduation was positively correlated to the self-reporting of knowledge acquired during undergraduate studies (r = 0.339, p = 0.003) and to current knowledge about the topic (r = 0.293, p = 0.012). Cats were assigned higher scores than dogs for signs of acute (p < 0.001) pain. Female respondents assigned higher scores than male respondents for chronic pain in dogs. Dogs were assigned higher pain scores than cats for surgical procedures and medical conditions. The most frequently used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in dogs and cats were meloxicam and carprofen, and butorphanol was the most commonly used opioid. The choice of NSAID was influenced by perceived effectiveness, experience with use and anti-inflammatory effect. Opioid use was influenced by experience with use and perceived effectiveness.

Conclusions And Clinical Relevance: Slovenian veterinarians acknowledged the importance of pain management as reported for other European countries. However, the use of multimodal analgesia is limited, and inadequacies remain in the pain management of cats.