title: Perceptions and opinions of Canadian pet owners about anaesthesia, pain and surgery in small animals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceptions and opinions of Canadian pet owners about anaesthesia, pain and surgery in dogs and cats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six Canadian veterinary hospitals participated. Each practice received 200 copies of a questionnaire that were distributed to pet owners. Questions regarding the use of analgesics, anaesthesia, surgery and onychectomy (cats) were included. Responses were transformed into ordinal scores and analysed with a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 849 out of 1200 questionnaires were returned. Owners believed more frequently that analgesics are needed for surgical procedures than for the medical conditions. Owners rated as very important/important: "knowing what to expect during illness/injury/surgery" (99·3%), "being assured that all necessary analgesic drugs/techniques will be used" (98·6%), "being informed about procedures/risk" (98·5%), and having a board-certified anaesthesiologist (90·5%). Most owners agreed/partly agreed that pain impacts quality of life (94·2%), and affects their pet's behaviour (89·5%). Most respondents (69%) were women; they were significantly more concerned than men about anaesthesia, pain, cost and client-communication. Cat owners believed that analgesics were necessary for some procedures/conditions significantly more often than canine-only owners. Pet owners with previous surgery disagreed more frequently that "pain after surgery can be helpful" and that "pain in animals is easy to recognize" than those without previous surgery. Most owners think onychectomy should be banned in cats (56·4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study identified important areas of client communication regarding pain and its control in pets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec J2S 2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Steagall
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec J2S 2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec J2S 2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: H L M
authors.initials: HLM
authors.lastname: Ruel
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec J2S 2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe Quebec J2S 2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luca
authors.affiliation: Douglas Animal Hospital, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3G 7J2, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: Bytown Cat Hospital, Ottawa Ontario K1K 1G6, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Little
authors.affiliation: Sherwood Park Animal Hospital, Montreal Quebec H9W 2E4, Canada.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stiles
authors.affiliation: Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pang
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000662:veterinary*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D002415:Cats / Q000523:psychology; D004285:Dogs / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010067:Ownership; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013522:Surgery, Veterinary; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome