I often hear people say that they have considered euthanizing their pet because they are in such terrible pain. Of all the reasons to euthanize a pet, pain seems like an extreme. Severe trauma, yes. Cancer, okay. Untreatable debilitating illness, sure. But pain?
Pain can be treated. It can be dealt with. It is often temporary.
It is actually difficult for us to tell when an animal is in pain. They don't cry or whine, and still want to go for a walk or car ride. Sometimes the only way to know is to say, Well, if my eye looked like that, I'm pretty sure it would hurt. Or the relatively obvious, If it didn't hurt, he wouldn't be limping on it.
The human pharmacy is full of drugs that treat different kinds of pain. There might be many drugs in the same class, like Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDs), because response to these drugs differs from one person to the next. Many of these drugs are not safe for use in dogs and cats, so it is not a good idea to treat your pet with things you find in your own medicine cabinet at home. We tend to use a smaller variety of drugs with animals, because we don't know how they feel in the first place. The current trend is towards polypharmacy, where drugs are used in combination in an attempt to mitigate the toxic side effects of each one. Using them together often allows lowered and safer doses.
Naturally, there are all kinds of options. Boswellia is the classic "arthritis herb." The herb Slippery Elm soothes digestive irritations. Homeopathy offers many remedies for various kinds of pain and discomfort; the most common one is probably Arnica montana for trauma and bruises. Massage, chiropractic, acupressure, and myofascial release all have their places in the natural medicine chest.
I suggest that if you think your pet is in pain, or if there is a diagnosis of a condition that would be painful for a human, check out all your options. All drugs have side effects, so it can be helpful to use the safer herbs and homeopathic remedies first, and only turn to the drugs as a last resort. In addition to the modern tendency to "take a pill for that," we should remember the healing benefits of the hands-on manual therapies like massage as well as the hands-off therapies like Reiki and Healing Touch.
