When veterinarians need to blow off some steam, they sometimes post comments to the Veterinary Information Network’s numerous veterinarian-only threads. In some cases, they even pen letters they wish they could have written...to their misbehaving clients.

Here’s one I’ve written to help elucidate the themes in evidence on a “Dear Client” thread on VIN:

This is not a “testimonial” intended for the commercial betterment of any one brand. It juts so happens that the only version of polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAG) in the veterinary marketplace is Adequan®. And it works.

Poly what?? OK, so it doesn’t really matter to me that you can’t pronounce this alphabet-soupy injectable drug. It’s enough for me that you know what it does so you can ask your veterinarian about it the next time your cat or dog suffers conditions for which it might prove beneficial.

Don’t get me wrong. Here on Dolittler we’re near-fanatical about the use of pain control measures in veterinary medicine. We also spend a significant amount of time rehashing the side effects some of these alternatives offer along the way. But that’s not what this post is about.

Nope, this post is about how the use of pain relief in pets provides a reasonable escape hatch for those who would prefer to treat pain than treat the disease that causes it. And it’s not just about hip dysplasia. We’re also talking cruciate disease, intervertebral disc disease, chronic ear disease, elbow dysplasia and any other process for which pain control measures offer a stop-gap for what ails our pets.

When the largest veterinary practice in the world refuses to crop your dog’s ears and dock your pups’ tails, you know the times they are a changin.’

Can there be any companion animal veterinary issue as contentious as the availability of cosmetic surgery for pets? Probably not. Surgical procedures that carry medical risks and the possibility of significant pain should be exclusively confined to the therapeutic arena, animal welfare advocates vociferously contend.