Why Pain Relief isn't a Quick Fix

Animals can’t tell us they’re in pain. They don’t have words, they have behaviour. That’s their language. Changes like withdrawal, irritability, reactivity, reluctance to be touched, disrupted sleep, or altered movement are not random. They’re communicating. Yet we keep ignoring these early, obvious signs until there’s something we can see: a limp, swelling, muscle loss by which time the pain is already chronic and well established.

Then, when we finally admit the dog is in pain, we hand out pain relief and act surprised when everything doesn’t change overnight, as if medication were a magic wand.

Pain relief doesn’t flick a switch. It takes time for the medication to build up and even longer for the nervous system and emotional state to recalibrate. Dogs who have lived with pain exist in constant alert mode, they’ve learned that certain movements, touches, or situations lead to discomfort. Their brains are wired to expect pain. Even when the body starts to feel better, that learning doesn’t vanish overnight.

So yes, the medication might reduce the pain, but it doesn’t instantly erase the memory of pain. Behavioural change always lags behind physical recovery. Think of people who keep limping long after their injury heals it’s habit, it’s protection, it’s the brain doing its job. Why should dogs be any different?

And let’s not forget: many medications take days to weeks to reach therapeutic levels. Expecting an immediate transformation is not just unrealistic, it's unfair to the animal.

This is why “I gave the meds, but the behaviour hasn’t changed” completely misses the point

Dogs don’t know what medication is. They rely entirely on what they experience. If moving, being touched, or being left alone has consistently hurt, they’ll still anticipate that pain until enough safe, comfortable experiences overwrite those memories.

Proper pain relief means using the right medication, at the right dose, given at the right time, for long enough to actually work. You’re not going to see a change in a five-year-old behaviour problem after three days of pain relief, your dog isn’t that fragile.