Analgesics in Small Mammals.

Managing pain effectively in any species is challenging, but small mammals present particular problems. Methods of pain assessment are still under development in these species, so the efficacy of analgesic therapy cannot be evaluated fully. Methods of assessing abdominal pain are established; however, applying these can be challenging. Alternative methods, using assessment of facial expression, may be more applicable to a range of painful procedures and across species. Multimodal and preventive analgesic strategies are most likely to be effective. Although data on analgesic dose rates are limited, sufficient information is available to enable analgesia to be provided safely. Crown