RESEARCH PAPER Current attitudes regarding the use of perioperative analgesics in dogs and cats by Brazilian veterinarians S  ılvia ERS Lorena*, Stelio PL Luna*, B Duncan X Lascelles† & Jos e E Corrente‡ *Department of Veterinary Surgery and Anesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brazil †Comparative Pain Research Laboratory & Small Animal Surgery, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA ‡Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Biosciences, UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Correspondence: Stelio Pacca L Luna, Departamento de Cirurgia e Anestesiologia Veterin aria, FMVZ, UNESP, 18607-350, Botucatu, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil. E-mail: stelio@fmvz.unesp.br. Abstract Objective To correlate the demographic data of Brazilian veterinarians with their use of, attitudes towards, knowledge of and preference for continuing education regarding use of analgesics in small animal practice. Study design Prospective survey. Methods The questionnaire was composed of sec- tions pertaining to demographics, personal data, use of analgesics in general and specific procedures, analgesia used, and attitudes towards the assess- ment and relief of pain. The descriptive statistics with frequency analysis was performed using SAS for Windows 9.1.3. Chi-square for simple comparisons test was used. Results Questionnaires were obtained from 1298 small animal veterinarians. Women and younger graduates attributed higher pain scores than men and older graduates but the frequency and duration of analgesic treatment did not differ between gen- ders. The most commonly used opioids were tram- adol (79%) and morphine (51%). NSAIDs of choice were meloxicam (81%) and ketoprofen (70%). Cats received lower pain scores for laparotomy, orchiec- tomy and dental procedures than dogs. Practical experience (64%) and national (47%) and regional meetings (43%) were the main sources of informa- tion for identifying and treating pain in small animals. Conclusions Although the number of Brazilian veterinarians believed that their knowledge in the area was lower than in other countries, the focus in pain management was similar or higher than in other countries, showing a good attitude in pain relief in animals. Keywords analgesia, analgesics, attitudes, NSAIDs, opioids. Introduction Hansen & Hardie (1993) published the first report on the attitude of veterinarians to the recognition and treatment of pain in small animals in the USA. Following this, several other studies looking at attitudes to analgesic provision have been published (Dohoo & Dohoo 1996a,b; Watson et al. 1996; Capner et al. 1999; Lascelles et al. 1999; Williams et al. 2005; Hewson et al. 2006; Joubert 2006; Weber et al. 2012). Several of these studies found that the veterinarians provided analgesia more readily to dogs than to cats, though there was no difference between the pain scores given by these professionals to the two species undergoing the same surgical procedures (Capner et al. 1999; Lascelles et al. 1999; Joubert 2001; Williams et al. 2005). 82 Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 2014, 41, 82–89 doi:10.1111/vaa.12104