Pain Recognition and Assessment in Birds

Nicole A Mikoni; David Sanchez-Migallon Guzman; Joanne Paul-Murphy

doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2022.09.002

Pain Recognition and Assessment in Birds

Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2023 Jan;26(1):65-81. doi: 10.1016/j.cvex.2022.09.002.

Authors

Nicole A Mikoni¹, David Sanchez-Migallon Guzman², Joanne Paul-Murphy³

Affiliations

¹ William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, 944 Garrod Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
² Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Electronic address: guzman@ucdavis.edu.
³ Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

PMID: 36402489
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvex.2022.09.002

Abstract

The recognition and assessment of pain in avian species are crucial tools in providing adequate supportive care in clinical, laboratory, zoologic, rehabilitation, and companion animal settings. With birds being a highly diverse class of species, there is still much to be determined regarding how to create specific criteria to recognize and assess pain in these animals. This article provides a clinical review on the physiology of pain in birds, observed behavioral and physiologic alterations with pain, how different sources and degrees of pain can alter behaviors observed, and how this information can be applied in a clinical setting.

Keywords: Acute pain; Avian; Chronic pain; Pain assessment; Pain recognition; Pain-related behaviors; Somatic pain; Visceral pain.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds*
Pain Measurement / veterinary
Pain* / diagnosis
Pain* / veterinary