Can cat caregivers reliably assess acute pain in cats using the Feline Grimace Scale? A large bilingual global survey

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate if cat caregivers could reliably assess acute pain using the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS), and if participant demographics could affect scores. MethodsAn online survey in English and Spanish was advertised by International Cat Care and other platforms (March-May 2021) using convenience sampling. Eligible participants were caregivers >18 years old and non-veterinary health professionals. Participants and a group of eight veterinarians scored 10 images of cats with different levels of pain. Data were analysed using linear models and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC; & alpha; <0.05). Interpretation of the ICC was ResultsA total of 3039 responses were received with 1262 completed answers from 66 countries (86%, 11.1% and 2.9% identified as female, male or other, respectively). Scores for each action unit (AU; ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whiskers change and head position) and their sum (FGS score) were not significantly different between caregivers and veterinarians, except for muzzle (caregivers 0.9 & PLUSMN; 0.0; veterinarians 0.7 & PLUSMN; 0.1; P = 0.035). The ICC single (caregivers) was 0.65, 0.69, 0.58, 0.37, 0.38 and 0.65, respectively, for AU ears, eyes, muzzle, whiskers, head and sum of scores. Demographic variables did not affect FGS scores. Conclusions and relevanceTotal FGS scores had good reliability when used by cat caregivers, regardless of demographic variables, showing the potential applicability of the instrument to improve feline pain management and welfare worldwide.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine if cat caregivers could reliably assess acute pain using the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) and if participant demographics could affect scores. The study recruited cat caregivers and non-veterinary health professionals through an online survey. The results showed that there were no significant differences in FGS scores between caregivers and veterinarians, and demographic variables did not affect the scores.