The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) educates and informs pet owners about their pet’s health and well-being when it comes to pain management, be it acute or chronic pain.

IVAPM has proclaimed September as Animal Pain Awareness Month, and this coincides with human medicine’s Pain Awareness Month. Animals suffer from pain just like people do. Pain comes in many forms: surgical pain, arthritis and cancer related pain, just to name a few. Acute pain is obvious and distressing. Chronic pain can be subtle, and masked as “getting old” or “slowing down.” Old age is not a disease, but pain is. There are many options to treat the various causes of pain in animals including pain medications, physical rehabilitation, acupuncture, laser therapy, and therapeutic massage.

The proclamation of the month is in keeping with IVAPM’s commitment to encouraging pain management for all animal species through education and advocacy. During this annual campaign, IVAPM is also encouraging various veterinary organizations to raise public awareness about pain and pain management as it pertains to veterinary patients.