Nociceptive threshold measurements in the cat

Abstract

Five cats were trained to give a leg-lift response in order to turn off a thermal radiation source. The minimum duration of thermal radiation that would consistently evoke a leg-lift response was taken to be the noxious threshold. The mean calculated skin temperature for the five experimental cats, at threshold, was 52.6 ± 0.35 C. This is compared to a mean calculated skin temperature of 44.5 ± 0.13 C for human subjects under identical conditions of stimulation. Submitted on June 4, 1962