Introduction

Adequate pain management is one of the most challenging issues in small animal practice. The main goal in pain management is to identify the best analgesic drugs, or a combination of them, to ameliorate this noxious experience.

Objectives

To compare the analgesic efficacy of tramadol, ketamine, and meloxicam for pain control after elective ovariohysterectomy in cats.

Methods

Thirty female cats that underwent elective ovariohysterectomy were included in this prospective, double-blinded, randomized clinical trial in order to compare the efficacy of three analgesic drugs (ketamine 1,5 mg/kg, tramadol 2 mg/kg, and meloxicam 0,1 mg/kg) administered preoperatively (n=10 per group). Depending on the analgesic used, further analgesia or a placebo was administered every 6 hours. Pain assessment was performed 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 12 h, 18 h, and 24 h after extubation, using a previously validated pain assessment score.

Results

There were no statistically significant differences between treatments; in all patients, a score <12 was observed, indicating that all three analgesics provided adequate pain control.

Conclusions

Ketamine, tramadol, and meloxicam - at the doses used in this study - have similar analgesic effects and are equally indicated for the treatment and prevention of postoperative pain in cats after midline ovariohysterectomy.