Do dogs have headaches?

It is normal and natural for people to judge and analyse the world around them in terms of their own image and experience. It is therefore normal for a person to think about other people and other phenomena in terms of his or her established worldview. Trying to get to know one’s pet is no exception. One of the most frequent complaints that comes out of a person’s mouth is a headache, so one often wonders whether one’s pet might not also have a headache from time to time. What is it really like?

Scientifically speaking, it is not thought that dogs can get headaches, and therefore there is no diagnosis or treatment for this condition. However, it should certainly not be forgotten that head pain is not a disease, it is just a sign of the progression of diseases such as dehydration, brain tumours and many others. Therefore, it would not be completely wrong to assume that dogs can also have headaches. After all, they are subject to various other types of pain. However, objectively speaking, it is not known whether dogs experience headaches, as there is no way of detecting and measuring them.

Our clients and we ourselves and our colleagues often fantasise that we can often observe a dog and suspect something like a headache at that moment. You’ve probably seen a poor, hungover puppy? Certainly, deliberately plying an animal with alcoholic beverages is a very sad, unfriendly and irresponsible behaviour towards an animal. But it is the next morning that it feels and is like any other human being who has had a drink in the evening. Whatever such an animal feels, it will not be a pleasant experience.

Probably any vet, anaesthetist or oncologist, would tell you that most people, including vets themselves, tend to underestimate the severity of the pain that an animal experiences. That is to say, if the animal has not started howling because of its condition, then it is assumed to be fine. The more we learn, the more we learn about the impact of pain on health and that we can do much more to mitigate and reduce the effects of pain. Most vets are drawing the appropriate conclusions and applying additional measures in their work to give puppies more relief from a wide range of conditions, from cancer to arthritis. At the end of the day, however, we still have to accept that we cannot control a symptom that cannot be identified and that we do not know exactly exists.

So, do dogs get headaches? Probably not, but the assumption remains. The owner must know their puppy or kitten. To know when a pet is behaving normally and when it is becoming suspicious. If you sense something really unusual, trust your instincts and take your pet to the vet. Subtle and subtle signals may indicate the onset of complex and serious health problems that need to be addressed in time.