ArticleJournal of feline medicine and surgery2023
Construct validity, responsiveness and reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale in kittens.
Article in Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- CowPainCheck: AI-based facial expression analysis for dairy cow welfare.Journal of animal science and technology · 2026Review
- Erector spinae plane block with bupivacaine contributes to intraoperative opioid sparing but provides limited postoperative pain control in cats undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy under continuous propofol infusion.Veterinary research communications · 2026Article
- A systematic review of acute pain scoring instruments and their measurement properties in cats and dogs.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2026Article
- Challenges using the Feline Grimace Scale in brachycephalic cats with ocular pain.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Agreement of Feline Grimace Scale scores between chatbots and an expert rater.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pain and pain management in cats: an ever-evolving field.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2025Article
- Characterization of pain behaviors in kittens following ovariohysterectomy using video assessment.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- How facial expressions reveal acute pain in domestic animals with facial pain scales as a diagnostic tool.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
- Development of the calf grimace scale for pain and stress assessment in castrated Angus beef calves.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of training on Feline Grimace Scale scoring for acute pain assessment in cats.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2024Article
- Video-based compilation of acute pain behaviours in cats.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2024Article
- Fully automated deep learning models with smartphone applicability for prediction of pain using the Feline Grimace Scale.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Randomised, prospective, blinded, clinical trial of opioid-free injectable anaesthesia with or without multimodal analgesia in kittens undergoing ovariohysterectomy.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of the present study was to investigate the construct validity, responsiveness and reliability of the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) in kittens.
methodsA total of 36 healthy female kittens (aged 10 weeks to 6 months) were included in a prospective, randomized, blinded study. Video recordings of all kittens were made before and 1 and 2 h after ovariohysterectomy using an opioid-free injectable anesthetic protocol with or without multimodal analgesia. Additional recordings were taken before and 1 h after administration of rescue analgesia (buprenorphine 0.02 mg/kg IM) to painful kittens. Screenshots of facial images were collected from the video recordings for FGS scoring. Four observers blinded to treatment groups and time points scored 111 randomized images twice with a 5-week interval using the FGS. Five action units (AUs) were scored (ear position, orbital tightening, muzzle tension, whiskers position and head position; 0-2 each). Construct validity, responsiveness, and inter- and intra-rater reliability were evaluated using linear models with Benjamini-Hochberg correction, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and single intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC
resultsFGS total ratio scores were higher at 1 and 2 h after ovariohysterectomy (median [interquartile range, IQR]: 0.30 [0.20-0.40] and 0.30 [0.20-0.40], respectively) than at baseline (median [IQR]: 0.10 [0.00-0.30]) ( CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The FGS is a valid and responsive acute pain-scoring instrument with moderate inter-rater reliability and good to excellent intra-rater reliability in kittens.
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