Painspan
Pet Pain and Mobility Management
Chronic pain rarely stands still. Pets need care that is a step ahead.
We walk beside you and your pet through good days, hard days and every step in-between. Steady support for pets and their families for as long as you need us.
"You helped everyone yesterday. Thank you so much"
CB, caring for Vas, Bambi, Frosty and Nana
How Painspan can help
Painspan starts with time. An unrushed, in-depth consultation where we take in the whole picture: your pet, your home, your worries, your hopes. Whether it's the first time your vet has mentioned 'chronic pain', you're noticing changes others haven't yet or you're wondering whether behavioural shifts might have an underlying pain component, we listen first, and then plan together.
Step by Step
At every step, we keep a holistic view - concurrent conditions, the context of daily life, pet personality, behaviour, emotions and the demands on carers.
We look past the pain and the problem list to the pets and the people beyond.
Meet
An unhurried conversation to understand your pet's routine, medical picture and the rhythm of your daily lives. You may opt for us to visit you at home, so we can see your pet behave, move and interact naturally within their familiar environment.
Measure
Choosing the best means of assessing pain is personal to your pet and their experience of pain - Objective gait analysis tools, pain scoring systems validated by top universities and research institutes plus good old fashioned hands-on examination experience are all there for your pet's benefit.
Manage
Together we create a pain management plan that suits you and your pet's needs and lifestyles. It will be holistic and multi-modal, taking all the 'best bits' of pharmacology, complementary medicine and physiotherapeutic options, balancing individual response and impact with pain relief and enjoyment of life.
Monitor
Regular check-ins to track developments in mobility, comfort, additional medical conditions or life in general. Your insight and observations are a crucial part of this and we help you become confident in taking small but effective guided decisions and actions around your pet's day to day care.
Is Painspan What We Need?
GP Vet
Painspan is for pets who need more in-depth assessment and management of pain than a 15 minute GP consultation can provide.
Painspan
Specialist
Painspan is for pets under specialist care, who need monitoring continuity and responsive adjustments between appointments.
Painspan is not about replacing specialist or primary care - it's about bridging the gap between the two, with continuous observation, adjustment and partnership.
Painspan is for pets experiencing…
- •A pain or discomfort that has been going on for more than a few weeks
- •Pain due to osteoarthritis, back, neck or tail issues, nerve, muscle or tendon injury, chronic disease discomfort such as IBD
- •Mobility issues, which aren't necessarily due to pain but could be causing discomfort and secondary stresses and strains
- •Behavioural issues, in which pain could be a factor and needs assessing
What Painspan Includes
Longitudinal Pain Scoring
A carefully considered assessment of pain levels from day one, tracked over time to inform treatment choices and changes.
Functional Assessment
How your pet moves, sleeps, plays and interacts are key in assessing the impact of pain. We assess behaviour and mobility in the context of daily life, not just the consulting room.
Home and Lifestyle Advice
Practical, realistic guidance for adapting your pet's home routines and environment to help make life easier and more enjoyable for both of you.
Multi-modal Management
A review of current medications and how supplements, regenerative medicine and physical therapies fit together for an effective plan with minimal side effects.
Integrated Acupuncture
Acupuncture is offered as a valuable asset within the management of chronic pain. It is provided by experienced veterinary surgeons from Greenway Veterinary Acupuncture.
Veterinary Specialist Connections
Benefit from our knowledge of UK veterinary pain, rehabilitation, behavioural and orthopaedic specialists. We provide independent advice to help you navigate the options when referral-level expertise is called for.
Allied Pet Professionals
A trusted local network of allied professionals, each dedicated to their area of expertise and pet wellbeing. From evidence-based strengthening and movement work with veterinary physiotherapists, to groomers who understand chronic pain and the importance of gentle attention.
Objective Gait Analysis with Pawscheck
Pain and mobility changes are often subtle and gradual. What owners describe as "slowing down" or "just getting older" may reflect significant functional decline.
Pawscheck is a clinical gait analysis system that provides objective, quantifiable measurement of how your pet moves - removing guesswork and subjective observation.
What Pawscheck measures:
- •Weight distribution across all four limbs
- •Gait symmetry and compensatory patterns
- •Stride length and timing variations
- •Longitudinal trends - how movement changes over weeks and months
By establishing a baseline and tracking changes over time, Pawscheck helps identify deterioration before it becomes obvious and helps validate improvement when interventions are working.
Pawscheck is integrated into Painspan assessments where appropriate, providing the objective data that supports better clinical decisions.
We see you in this, too
Living alongside a pet in chronic pain quietly reshapes a household: sleep, social plans, work, the headspace to enjoy ordinary things. Every day, we see owners putting their pet's wellbeing miles ahead of their own. But the two are inextricably linked, so supporting you is a non-negotiable.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Painspan complements your existing general veterinary care by providing focussed, comprehensive chronic pain assessment and management. If in our findings and through discussion with you, we decide that further diagnostics such as x-rays or blood samples would be beneficial, we direct you to your GP vet to have those specific tests. If we decide together that more specialist diagnostics and interventions are warranted, we discuss options and can facilitate referral.
Specialist pain clinics offer interventional procedures like nerve blocks, joint injections (intra-articular), regenerative medicine techniques and other advanced diagnostics and treatments by association with a wider, on-site team of RCVS/EBVS anaesthesia, imaging and surgical specialists. Painspan can provide the care and co-ordination between those appointments with continued observations and supportive treatments.
Greenway Veterinary Acupuncture provides acupuncture on a referral basis from your GP vet. This is when your pet has undergone full assessments and diagnostics with your main vet and/or specialist, has a full management and medical plan in place and you and your pet's care team would like a regular acupuncture session added in or continued. Acupuncture may be a part of the Painspan treatment plan but Painspan embraces the whole field of pain and mobility management.
No, we contact your primary care vet to ensure communication is open between us regarding your pet's current clinical situation - we request information about relevant history and current medications and then provide a report so that everyone is kept in the loop.
Yes, we provide flexibility and choice regarding prescriptions and medications - you can continue to obtain current medications and/or prescriptions from your GP vet or we can take on prescribing and observation responsibilities for high-needs, chronic pain conditions. In this instance, we provide prescriptions to allow you to shop around for the most cost effective pharmacy option. For patient safety, you will have access to our affiliated out of hours emergency service and we may also ask that your pet has an occasional blood-test from a static or mobile GP vet if on long-term medication.
Absolutely. We coordinate with physiotherapists, hydrotherapists, osteopaths and other practitioners to ensure we maximise each other's expertise. We help integrate therapies into the broader management plan and monitor how rehabilitation exercises and physiotherapy strategies are working in the context of daily life.
Painspan is designed for pets with chronic or recurrent pain conditions where an in-depth assessment, ongoing monitoring, functional tracking and multi-modal, holistic management would support better quality of life. If you're unsure, talk to us about your pet's specific needs - we'll be transparent about whether this service is appropriate.
Still have questions? Explore our Concierge Membership, Healthspan Testing, or Our Story to see how we help pets live longer, healthier lives