04/06/2026
BELANGRIJKE POST VAN KAROLINA JONIEC
QUOTE
Pain in dogs awareness post
Last week we went to a neurologist to try to find the reason behind fly catching behavior in Lou (first suspicion: a neurological problem). They routinely perform an orthopedic exam too, to rule out pain. I saw Lou flinch during the physical examination of her back. It was very subtle, but it was a reaction. She subtly whipped her head to the back.
The MRI came back with no bad news: no structural changes to the brain. So the fly catching could be a functional glitch, or behavioral.
Since I saw the reaction to the back, I brought Lou to her physio,
SAM dierfysiotherapie en chiropractie last Monday. Margriet clearly noticed pain in her lumbar area.
Then later that day we received the neurology report, which said no pain was found during the exam. (Which did surprise me, because I did see her react). Yesterday we went back to one of Lou’s first line vets, Sarah Farrand from Dierenkliniek Westlandgracht and she did notice pain in the hip area too.
Lou is currently on a pain medication trial. We do not know if pain caused fly catching, there might be more at play. But it might contribute.
I am writing this post not to bash the neurologist, but to stress how hard it can be to spot pain in dogs. If I hadn’t follow a Pain in Dogs seminar organized by Michelle Vrolijk many years ago, I might have not been as attuned to subtle pain signals in Lou.
So, bottom line of this story: with every change of behavior, pain needs to be examined as the underlying reason. And if one vet excludes it, but you have a hunch, get a second or third opinion. Because dogs hide pain very, very well!
Also: routine physio checks with healthy dogs, which we have been doing since 2019, will help the physio develop a relationship with your dog and learn their body in detail, which is favorable for discovering very minor changes.
As last: please pray we can help Lou and tackle the fly catching, because the negative impact on her wellbeing is not something to take lightly. 🥹
UNQUOTE
Uit bovenstaand verhaal blijkt hoe belangrijk het is om pijn te herkennen, voor de professional maar OOK voor de hondeneigenaar!
Daniëlle Dessauvagie en ik hebben het seminar Pijn bij honden 2026 eindeloos onder de aandacht gebracht. We zijn blij met alle inschrijvingen, maar in feite bereiken we slechts een fractie van de mensen die we zouden willen bereiken. Aangezien de lesdagen 3 maanden online beschikbaar blijven, is het nog steeds mogelijk om in te schrijven. De sprekers zijn top en de reacties tot nu toe ook, dus schrijf je in! Alle info kun je vinden op: https://michellevrolijk.nl/workshops-en-lezingen.html
Foto: Lou
