Comfort Care Veterinarian, PLLC

07/18/2026

Anger at the Vet

Many pet owners feel anger toward their veterinarian after a loss — even when the care was good. This is a well-documented part of grief, not a fair verdict on the care given. Dr. Sife (founder of APLB) encourages processing this with a counselor before acting on it.

Did you experience anger at medical staff after your pet's passing — and how did you work through it?

07/11/2026

I created this Quality of Life assessment app for you. Check it out! Link:

PawQoL Tracker — built on Replit. Update this description to reflect the app.

06/16/2026

I'm testing out some ideas 💡 for the logo and would be grateful ☺️ for your feedback to guide me in the right direction. 🙏🏻

03/17/2026

👇🏻

This study found that owners who elected euthanasia reported lower levels of guilt compared with those whose pets were not euthanized.

These findings reflect how complex and deeply personal end-of-life decisions can be. Reduced guilt in euthanasia cases may be linked to active participation in decision-making, perceived support from the veterinary team, and the belief that the decision helped alleviate the animal’s suffering. The opportunity for a structured farewell may also contribute to this reduced sense of guilt. Consistent with this, owners who felt that the veterinary team was emotionally responsive tended to report lower guilt.

Conversely, higher guilt among owners of non-euthanized animals may stem from the emotional burden of decision-making, lack of guidance, and difficult memories of their pet’s final moments—especially when suffering was present and felt to be potentially avoidable. Individual factors, such as empathy toward animals and emotion regulation, may also play a role.

Interestingly, the data also showed a trend toward higher levels of grief among owners who chose euthanasia compared with those who did not, although this was not statistically significant and was not further explored in the study.

Importantly, the study also highlights the role of the veterinary team. Owners who felt excluded from the decision-making process reported higher levels of grief, anger, and prolonged grief, whereas those who perceived the team as emotionally responsive tended to experience lower levels of guilt.

Given the cross-sectional design and relatively small sample size, these findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Full study cited in comments.

02/10/2026

The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (JVIM) has just published a systematic review examining how well the acute pain scoring instruments used in cats and dogs actually perform. Using rigorous COSMIN standards, the authors evaluated the validity, reliability, and responsiveness of commonly used pain scales—critical properties that determine whether these tools can be trusted to guide clinical decision-making.

Across 25 studies, 15 acute pain instruments were assessed.

Assessed feline pain scoring instruments included:
• Feline Grimace Scale (FGS)
• UNESP-Botucatu Multidimensional Pain Scale (MCPS)
• UNESP-Botucatu Multidimensional Pain Scale – Short Form (UFEPS-SF)
• Revised Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale–Feline (rCMPS-F)
• Composite Measure Pain Scale–Feline with facial images
• Colorado State University Feline Acute Pain Scale (CSU-FAPS)

Assessed canine pain scoring instruments included:
• Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) and modified versions
• University of Melbourne Pain Scale (UMPS)
• 4A-Vet Pain Scale and modified versions
• Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
• Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)
• Simple Descriptive Scale (SDS)

The review found that feline pain scales generally have stronger and more complete evidence, with the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional pain scale, its short form, and the Feline Grimace Scale demonstrating the highest quality measurement properties.

In contrast, many canine pain scoring instruments lacked robust development and validation, highlighting an important gap in veterinary pain assessment. The absence of a universally accepted gold standard for acute pain measurement remains a key challenge.

Read in full:
Jungyoon Lee, Paulo V Steagall, A systematic review of acute pain scoring instruments and their measurement properties in cats and dogs, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 1, January-February 2026, aalaf062, https://doi.org/10.1093/jvimsj/aalaf062

Illustration below is from:
Evangelista, M.C., Watanabe, R., Leung, V.S.Y. et al. Facial expressions of pain in cats: the development and validation of a Feline Grimace Scale. Sci Rep 9, 19128 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55693-8

02/10/2026

"Gabapentin was shown to reliably induce sedation, reduce stress-related behaviors, and exert analgesic effects in both acute and chronic settings... without altering any cardiovascular, echocardiographic, or hemodynamic aspects."

Let’s look back at this study published last September 2025, a systematic review that analyzed 20 articles on the sedative, analgesic, behavioral, cardiovascular, and adverse effects of gabapentin in cats. The review highlights its consistent benefits in reducing stress and anxiety, improving handling compliance, and providing analgesia, consolidating evidence to guide clinical decisions and strategies for feline stress management.

Read in full:
Laguardia, M. V., Polvere, M., Piemontese, C., Gernone, F., & Staffieri, F. (2025). A systematic review of the sedative, behavioral, analgesic and cardiovascular effects of gabapentin in cats. Veterinary Sciences, 12(10), 938. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci12100938

02/07/2026