Notes for non-veterinarians:

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1) Rights and responsibilities: The Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) is a tool used for acute pain assessment based on changes  in facial expressions in cats. You may use this App to learn about the Feline Grimace Scale and to assess acute pain in cats. If you have any concerns related to your cat’s health or if you suspect that it might be in pain based or not on the scores of the FGS, please contact a veterinarian immediately. Users have the right to share an image of their cat with the researchers to help improve feline pain management. By sending an image to the researchers, users are granting a non-exclusive license to use the images and such use is unrestricted in terms of time, territory and way of exploitation, including, but not limited to, research and educational purposes, publication in different medias, distribution, changes, use and storage by way of printed and audiovisual material.

 

2) Understanding the use of this App: The FGS can be used for acute pain (and not chronic pain) assessment in cats. This phone app explains how the tool works, teaches about its appropriate use including its action units and practical skills, and facilitates real-time pain scoring. The user may save and/or share images with the FGS team, the veterinarian or elsewhere. Changes in facial expressions in cats may be related to pain or not. If you have any concerns related to your cat’s health or if you suspect that it might be in pain based or not on the scores of the FGS, please contact a veterinarian immediately. The website www.felinegrimacescale.com contains the most up-to-date information about the FGS.

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3) Liability: Under no circumstances, this App, its creators, or developers can be hold accountable or liable for any decision, outcome or consequences from the use of this App. 

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Notes for veterinary professionals:

 

1) Rights and responsibilities: The Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) is a tool used for acute pain assessment based on changes in facial expressions in cats. It offers clinical guidance as it provides information related to pain severity and the need for the administration of rescue analgesia (scores ≥ 4/10). Users have the right to share an image of their cat with the researchers to help improve feline pain management. By sending an image to the researchers, users are granting a non-exclusive license to use the images and such use is unrestricted in terms of time, territory and way of exploitation, including, but not limited to, research and educational purposes, publication in different medias, distribution, changes, use and storage by way of printed and audiovisual material. The veterinarian is the solely responsible individual for the diagnosis and treatment of pain as well as for interpreting the scores based on clinical judgement associated with the patient’s clinical history, physical examination, and previously administered drugs.

 

2) Limitations: Fear and stress, and sedative and analgesic medications can affect pain assessment and the FGS scores. The tool has excellent discriminatory ability. However, individual variability exists with the interpretation of action units and pain scoring with possible false positive and false negative results. Please take these limitations in consideration while evaluating hospitalized patients. Updated information about new studies on the Feline Grimace Scales can be found at: www.felinegrimacescale.com.

 

3) Liability: Under no circumstances, this App, its creators, or developers can be hold accountable or liable for any decision, outcome or consequences from the use of this App.