Signs of Pain

I wish I could say the us doggies never hurt and never have pain but unfortunately that is not the case. Since we are animals we hide our pain. In the wild (ok I know your thinking what do I know about the wild?..I live in a house and sleep on a doggie bed) animals hide sickness because if we don’t we become a target for other animals to have us for dinner! So here are some signs for you pet parents that something is wrong and to get us to the vet asap.

1. Change in behavior — If we start acting funny, grumpy, mean, we don’t want to play, if we become clingy, or even want to left alone that could be a sign that something is wrong.
2. Grouchiness — If we are grouchy more so at night that is a sign we are in pain. Even a small strain by the end of the night after we have been up all day can get very tender. Thus, we may get a little short with you.
3. We have good days and not so good days — Just like you humans we have off days too. But this could also be a sign that we have pain that gets worst some days.
4. We get Mean/Aggressive — This is a classic pain sign. If we are in a lot of pain and out of the blue we are aggressive (that is if we have never showed any signs before) that means something is really wrong.
5. We Won’t Play — Well this only applies if we like to play to begin with. I LOVE to play and mom knew something was wrong when I wouldn’t play fetch one evening with my bone. It ended up being that I had a bladder infection.
6. We Won’t Eat — This is another good indicator. I love my food and if I don’t clean my plate especially over a couple of days then something is wrong with me.
7. We Don’t Let You Touch Us (or We Act Weird When You Do) — We may pull away from you, grow, cry, leap, or even try to snap at you. I promise we don’t mean it we just aren’t feeling good.

So if you see any of these signs..pick up your phone, call that vet, and get us in to see him/her ASAP.