Cover Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
ISSN:
0003-1488
Publication Date:
15 Apr 2007
  • 1.

    Robinson DA, Romans CW, Gordon-Evans WJ, et al. Evaluation of short-term limb function following unilateral carbon dioxide laser or scalpel onychectomy in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2007;230:353–358.

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  • 2.

    Cambridge AJ, Tobias KM, Newberry RC, et al. Subjective and objective measurements of postoperative pain in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:685–690.

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  • 3.

    Dixon MJ, Taylor PM, Steagall PV, et al. Development of a pressure nociceptive threshold testing device for evaluation of analgesics in cats. Res Vet Sci 2007;82:85–92.

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  • 4.

    Lascelles BD, Robertson SA. Use of thermal threshold response to evaluate the antinociceptive effects of butorphanol in cats. Am J Vet Res 2004;65:1085–1089.

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  • 5.

    Tobias KM, Harvey RC, Byarlay JM. A comparison of four methods of analgesia in cats following ovariohysterectomy. Vet Anaesth Analg 2006;33:390–398.

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  • 6.

    Romans CW, Gordon WJ, Robinson DA, et al. Effect of postoperative analgesic protocol on limb function following onychectomy in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2005;227:89–93.

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  • 1.

    Nolen RS. FDA approves first canine diet drug. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2007;230:641–642.

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Editorial Type:
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Letters to the Editor

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.230.8.1142
Volume/Issue:
Volume 230: Issue 8
Online Publication Date:
15 Apr 2007
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Objects to analgesic procedures in cat study

I was disturbed to read the study1 comparing limb function in cats following onychectomy by laser or scalpel. Several issues contributed to my discomfort, including my personal and ethical opposition to declawing, but my main concern is the lack of adequate analgesia in the experimental protocol.

First, there appears to have been no preoperative or even perioperative analgesia. The initial dose of the analgesic butorphanol tartrate appears to have been given after surgery but before anesthesia was discontinued. The benefits of preemptive analgesia are well known2 and should have