Did you know there is now an app that purportedly detects whether a kitty is in pain? A Calgary, Alberta, animal health technology company, Sylvester.ai, has developed an app called Tably that uses the phone’s camera to tell whether a feline is feeling pain. The app looks at ear and head position, eye-narrowing, muzzle tension, and how whiskers change, to detect distress. A 2019 study published in peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports found that the so-called ‘feline grimace scale,’ or FGS, is a valid and reliable tool for acute pain assessment in cats.
–
Journal References:
Evangelista, M.C., et al., Facial expressions of pain in cats: the development and validation of a Feline Grimace Scale, Scientific Reports, volume 9, Article number: 19128 (2019). Study.
–
Evangelista, M. C. et al. Feline Grimace Scale for acute pain assessment: real-time versus image scoring and the influence of sedation and surgery [Abstract]. In: Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists Autumn Meeting; Sep 12–13 Ghent, Belgium (2019).
Ian
FIREPAW, Inc. 