Knowledge and recognition of pain in companion animals – an important animal welfare issue.

In order to increase animal welfare, the aims of the present study are to investigate what knowledge Swedish animal owners have regarding physical and behavioural pain expressions in dogs and cats, and to educate the owners in pain evaluation.

If animal owners do not recognize signs of pain, the animal is subjected to unnecessary suffering and delayed treatment, which can affect the outcome negatively.The study consists of two parts; an online survey and a digital educational training module.

In the online survey, we will investigate the status of knowledge regarding what signs of pain Swedish animal owners recognize.

The digital educational training module will be designed based on existing evidence-based knowledge on pain assessment in dogs  and cats, as well as the results from the previously mentioned survey and existing clinical expertise. The educational training module aims to educate owners in pain detection in dogs and cats.

The short and long-term outcome of the training module will be evaluated.

The result is disseminated through dog and cat associations, training for animal health professionals, articles and social media.

After the completion of the study, the training module will be available for the Swedish and English speaking community.

The designed digital education will also be used as a model for  similar educational efforts for other species, since the inability to recognize pain is an animal welfare problem in multiple other species.