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Assessment of Acute Pain in Farm Animals Using Behavioral and Physiological Measurements

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In this paper various aspects of animal pain and methods for its assessment are considered. The responses of lambs and calves to castration and of lambs to tail docking are used to illustrate quantitative approaches to the recognition and assessment of acute pain in farm animals. the validation of physiological and behavioral measurements for assessment of pain is examined by relating measurements made from young lambs, after a range of treatments, to an independent ranking of the order of severity of the treatments.
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V. Molony and J. E. Kent
measurements
Assessment of acute pain in farm animals using behavioral and physiological
1997, 75:266-272.J ANIM SCI
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266
1
Presented at a symposium titled “Effects of Stress in Farm
Animals” at the ASAS 87th Annu. Mtg., Orlando, FL, July 26, 1995.
2
The authors wish to thank the Agricultural & Food Research
Council, the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Food, the Scottish
Office Agriculture & Fisheries Department, the Meat & Livestock
Commission and the Moredun Foundation for their support. We are
also grateful for statistical advice from staff of the Scottish
Agricultural Statistics Services, Edinburgh.
Received August 25, 1995.
Accepted September 10, 1996.
Assessment of Acute Pain in Farm Animals Using Behavioral
and Physiological Measurements
1,2
V. Molony and J. E. Kent
Department of Preclinical Veterinary Sciences, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies,
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 1QH, Scotland
ABSTRACT: In this paper various aspects of
animal pain and methods for its assessment are
considered. The responses of lambs and calves to
castration and of lambs to tail docking are used to
illustrate quantitative approaches to the recognition
and assessment of acute pain in farm animals. The
validation of physiological and behavioral measure-
ments for assessment of pain is examined by relating
measurements made from young lambs, after a range
of treatments, to an independent ranking of the order
of severity of the treatments.
Key Words: Pain, Hydrocortisone, Behavior, Castration, Docking, Discriminant Analysis
J. Anim. Sci. 1997. 75:266–272
Introduction
The development of methods of recognition and
assessment of animal pain has been delayed by the
unwillingness of some people to accept that animals
are capable of experiencing or suffering pain when
subject to injury, disease, or other noxious events.
This may be due to expediency or to confusion of
animal with human pain. For this paper it is assumed
that animal pain generally serves the same purposes
as human pain and that the experiences are similar,
but that animal and human pain are not the same
(Molony, 1986, 1992).
The following working definition of animal pain is
used for this paper: animal pain is an aversive sensory
and emotional experience representing an awareness
by the animal of damage or threat to the integrity of
its tissues; it changes the animal’s physiology and
behavior to reduce or avoid damage, to reduce the
likelihood of recurrence and to promote recovery;
unnecessary pain occurs when the intensity or dura-
tion of the experience is inappropriate for the damage
sustained or when the physiological and behavioral
responses to it are unsuccessful at alleviating it.
Although physiological and behavioral changes are
used here to define the presence and intensity of the
experience, more studies are required to determine
which changes to measure and how this can be
achieved so that they can be applied to individual
animals under clinical (field) conditions.
For unequivocal examples of animals in pain that
might be ethically acceptable models for investigation,
we turned to castration and tail docking of lambs and
castration of calves. These practices are carried out
with two main justifications: they improve the overall
welfare of the animal, and the economic benefits
outweigh the welfare costs. It is not intended to debate
this here, but it seems reasonable that those carrying
out such practices should be aware of how much pain
they cause, and that they should support efforts to
find the most humane ways of carrying them out.
The studies described in this paper were justified on
two grounds: first, as part of the search for more
humane methods for the procedures; and second,
because the lambs or calves would normally be
subjected to the procedure as part of an accepted
husbandry system. This helped to obtain the permis-
sion of the licensing authorities in the UK (Home
Office).
The studies are based on those used for the general
assessment of pain (Chapman et al. 1985; Sandford et
al., 1989), pain in young children (McGrath, 1987),
and for assessment of pain produced in experimental
animals by subcutaneous formaldehyde (Dubuisson
and Dennis, 1977; Coderre et al., 1993; Abbott et al.,
1995) or by sciatic ligatures (Bennett and Xie, 1988;
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ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE PAIN IN FARM ANIMALS
267
Attal et al., 1989; Attal et al., 1990; Kupers et al.,
1992).
Following the introduction of some principles for
assessment of pain, evidence for acute pain from
castration and tail docking will be discussed, and an
attempt to validate some indices for assessment will
be described.
Principles for Assessment of Animal Pain
Because direct measurement of subjective ex-
periences is not possible, assessment of animal pain is
of necessity a value judgment relying on physiological
and behavioral indices to provide indirect evidence of
this particular mental state. Several different indices
ought normally to be used and their evaluation should
be improved by training and experience. Those in the
best position to make judgments will know the species,
breed, and individual animal well; they include
veterinary surgeons, farmers, and stockmen and
stockwomen. To give animals the benefit of any doubt,
where there is a choice, judgments should overesti-
mate the intensity of pain to avoid missing animals in
pain at the cost of treating some that are not.
Humans have a highly developed capacity for
accurately appreciating the feelings of at least some
other humans; this capacity may be misused, however,
by applying it to humans from very different cultural
backgrounds, to animals that have different cerebral
capacities, and even to inanimate objects such as soft
toys. Observation of an event that would be noxious if
applied to the observer may thus illicit unwarranted
empathetic feelings and emotional responses, and
observers should make allowance for this in their
assessment of animal pain.
Types of Animal Pain
Acute and chronic pain occur over different time
courses: acute pain does not outlast the healing
process, whereas chronic pain persists beyond the
expected healing time for an injury. Acute pain is
generally accompanied by autonomic changes and
responds to analgesic treatment. Acute recurrent pain
is a term that can be used to describe prolonged pain,
such as cancer pain, which has a definable cause and
consists of repeated attacks of acute pain. Chronic
pain may have no obvious cause or temporal onset
(American Pain Society, 1987).
Somatic and visceral pain originate in different
parts of the body and have other notable differences
(e.g., somatic pain is generally well localized, whereas
visceral pain is poorly localized and may be referred to
distant parts of the body).
Pain originating within the peripheral or central
nervous system is often chronic and may not be
dependent on activity from nociceptors; it seems to be
produced by damage to the mechanisms underlying
the pain process and its control.
Types of Pain Response
Several types of responses can be recognized: 1)
those that modify the animal’s behavior by learning
and so enable the animal to avoid recurrence of the
experience; 2) those, often automatic, that protect
parts or the whole animal (e.g., withdrawal reflexes);
3) those that minimize pain and assist healing (e.g.,
lying or standing still); and 4) those that are designed
to elicit help or to stop another animal (including
humans) from inflicting more pain (e.g., communica-
tion by vocalization, posture, or other means such as
smell).
Physiological and Behavioral Evidence for Acute
Pain After Castration and(or) Tail Docking
Activity in Afferent Nerves.
It has been shown that
castration and tail docking of lambs with rubber rings
produces significant increases in the afferent activity
from nociceptors in the testes and tail (Cottrell and
Molony, 1995; Graham, personal communication
1996). Increased activity of nociceptors with similar
properties can be recorded directly from the nerves of
conscious humans who report the stimulation as
painful (Rice and Casale, 1994). The time course of
the increase in nociceptor activity after these proce-
dures can be related to increases in plasma cortisol
and increases in abnormal behavior.
Activity of the Sympathetic Nervous System. There
are several ways of measuring the activity of the
sympathetic nervous system, including changes in
heart rate, pupillary diameter, skin resistance, and
peripheral blood flow. Because the system generally
works as an integrated whole, several of these changes
may occur in parallel. The state of the system can
most easily be assessed by monitoring the heart rate
from an electrocardiogram or by serial measurements
of plasma catecholamines. Changes in heart rates of a
limited number of animals subjected to castration
have been measured (Kent et al., unpublished obser-
vations), and although changes consistent with
predicted pain were detected, there were many inter-
fering variables such as eating, exercise, and extrane-
ous noises. It would therefore be difficult to use such
changes in heart rate as a practical index for
assessment of pain.
Activity of the Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis.
This is most easily measured from levels of cor-
ticosteroid hormones in plasma or saliva. A series of
measurements must be made both before and after the
treatment to accommodate the characteristics of
release and elimination of the hormones and to
determine the changes produced. Changes in plasma
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268
cortisol concentrations closely follow the time course of
changes in posture and activity after castration and
tail docking (Kent et al., 1993). There are, however,
interfering variables that can limit the use of such
measurements for assessment of pain, including in-
dividual variation, diurnal changes, and the wide
variety of stressors that activate the hypothalamic-
pituitary-adrenal system.
Changes in Posture. Postural changes can be volun-
tary or involuntary. Involuntary spinal and brainstem
reflexes can be initiated by activity from nociceptors,
some of which may cause hyper-reflexia, including
increased muscle tone; an example of this may be seen
after castration of lambs with rubber rings as full
extension of the hind limbs (Molony et al., 1993b). A
voluntary change in posture after castration may be
the adoption of an immobile stance (statue standing)
to avoid or reduce stimulation of hyperalgesic tissues.
Under experimental conditions, the changes in
posture after different methods of castration or tail
docking can be compared with changes exhibited by
animals subjected to sham treatments. Many different
postures are available for use as indices, including
various forms of lying and standing categorized
according to the positions of the limbs and head. These
postures have been divided somewhat arbitrarily for
lambs into 1) normal lying, ventral (sternal) with the
head down ( V
1
), with the head up (V
2
), both
occurring frequently in sham-treated lambs; 2) abnor-
mal lying, ventral with partial extension of one leg
( V
3
) or full extension of one or more legs (V
4
), and
lateral lying with a shoulder down and the head up
( L
1
) or down (L
2
), none of which occurred in control
lambs under the environmental conditions for these
experiments experienced in Scotland; 3) standing
postures including normal standing/walking (S
1
),
abnormal standing/walking with just detectable
ataxia, swaying, or abnormal stance ( S
2
), grossly
abnormal standing/walking with stilted gait walking
on knees or walking backward (S
3
), and immobile or
statue standing ( SS) (Molony et al., 1993b, 1995).
The time spent by lambs in these postures after
castration and(or) tail docking when compared with
that spent by control lambs indicates how much the
treatments changed behavior. The prevalence of par-
ticular postures or activities after treatments of
different severities helps determine any weighting
given to them as indices.
Changes in Locomotor Activity. In addition to
changes in posture, castration and tail docking
produce increases in locomotor activity, including
restlessness, kicking, stamping, rolling, jumping, eas-
ing quarters, licking/biting at the site of damage, and
tail wagging; the incidence of these behaviors can
increase until all of the animal’s time is spent in
“abnormal” active behavior (Molony et al., 1993b).
Although some of these active responses seem to have
no beneficial effects, they may be generally described
as attempts to escape and may represent specific pain
behavior. They are usually replaced by abnormal
postures when the animal alters its strategy from
active to passive attempts at avoidance.
Fatigue also contributes, because prolonged active
behavior uses up reserves of energy (changes plasma
glucose and FFA), produces heat (increases body
temperature), and causes metabolic and electrolyte
changes including acidosis and dehydration, all of
which can be measured as physiological changes but
none of which has been shown to be a specific index for
pain.
Changes in Evoked Behavior. Intense noxious stimu-
lation by castration and tail docking leads, in some
lambs, to periods of inert lateral lying (Molony et al.,
1993b) during which it can be difficult to elicit any
evidence of conscious awareness. Some ewes paw
vigorously at their lambs when they see them lying
immobile in this lateral posture; this seems to be a
way of evoking activity to help alleviate the ewe’s
concern for the “state” of its offspring. It illustrates a
common approach to assessment of the “state” of a
lamb by both ewe and shepherd.
Part of any assessment of pain should include the
animal’s response to standard stimuli, the commonest
being its response to the approaching shepherd or
sheepdog. Systematic experimental use of evoked
responses has been by means of tests such as the open
field test (Fell and Shutt, 1989).
Reduction of Physiological and Behavioral Changes by
Local Anesthetic Treatment.
Local anaesthetic treat-
ment can reduce or eliminate both physiological and
behavioral changes produced by castration and tail
docking by blocking transmission of neural activity
from the affected tissues, thus confirming the
peripheral nociceptive basis of this acute pain (Wood
et al., 1991).
Reduction of Physiological and Behavioral Changes by
Analgesic Treatment.
Although some analgesia has
been achieved in sheep with opioids, a
2
agonists and
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) (No-
lan et al., 1987; Waterman et al., 1991; Ley et al.,
1991; Welsh et al., 1992), no systematic dose-related
reductions of the physiological and behavioral changes
produced by castration and tail docking have been
achieved. Of the analgesics tried, xylazine (an a
2
agonist) reduced both physiological and behavioral
responses to tail docking (Molony et al., 1993a), and
diclofenac, a NSAID, was effective against the pain
produced by burdizzo castration but not against that
produced by rubber ring castration or tail docking
(unpublished observations). The opioids morphine
and etorphine, however, when administered intrathe-
cally, had no effect on responses to castration and tail
docking (Wood, 1991; Molony and Wood, 1992). More
studies are required to demonstrate a clear dose-
response relationship between indices of pain from
castration and tail docking and increasingly effective
doses of analgesics. However, it seems that the
visceral (testicular) pain produced by rubber ring
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ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE PAIN IN FARM ANIMALS
269
Figure 1. Responses of groups of 5- to 6-d-old Dorset crossbred lambs (n = 7) to the following treatments of
decreasing severity: castration and tail docking (C+TD); bilateral castration (C*2); unilateral castration (C*1); short
scrotum castration (C*0); tail docking (TD); short scrotum castration + local anesthesia (C*0+LA); or handled controls
(H). (a) The mean (± SD) times spent lying during the 180 min after treatment. (b) The mean (± SD) times spent lying
abnormally (V
4
) during the 180 min after treatment. (c) The mean incidences (± SD) of restlessness + roll/jumping +
foot stamp/kicking + easing quarters (REQ) during the 180 min after treatment. (d) The mean (± SD) peak cortisol
concentrations (nmol/L) reached during the 180 min after treatment. The median value for each group is indicated by
the full-width horizontal line. Mean values for treatment groups labelled with the same letter are not significantly
different (P > .05).
castration may be resistant to alleviation by com-
monly used analgesics, and indices for measuring this
pain cannot be validated if they are also required to
assess the effectiveness of the analgesic.
Validation of Indices and Elimination
of Redundant Indices
For clinical assessment of pain it is necessary to
determine the validity and sensitivity of each index
and to eliminate as many redundant indices as
possible. This has been attempted using indices alone
or in combinations, to assign animals to a series of
groups ranked in order of decreasing severity of
treatment based on alternative independent indices.
An abstract with some results is included to illustrate
the approach.
Methods
Forty-nine Dorset crossbred lambs weighing 3 to 6
kg were penned (3.6 m × 1.5 m) with their dams and
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MOLONY AND KENT
270
Table 1. Discriminant analysis with cross-validation using posture V
4
a
and the REQ
b
score
c
a
V
4
= ventral lying with full extension of the hindlegs.
b
REQ = summation of restlessness, roll/jumping, foot stamp/kicking, and easing quarters.
c
Lambs in different treatment groups (Actual) are assigned to a group according to the V
4
/REQ values obtained after treatment.
d
No. = 49.
e
No. correct = 31.
f
Proportion correct = .633.
Assigned
group
Actual group
C+TD C*2 C*1 C*0 TD C*OLA H
C+TD 5 100000
C*2 1 4 10000
C*1 1 1 4 0000
C*0 0 1 2 4 100
TD 0003420
C*OLA 0000130
H 0000127
Total no.
d
7777777
No. correct
e
5444437
Proportion
f
.71 .57 .57 .57 .57 .43 1.00
siblings. Groups of seven lambs were treated at 5 or 6
d old. The treatments were ranked before the experi-
ment in decreasing order of severity according to the
amount of tissue involved and the established effec-
tiveness of local anesthetics, thus providing a rank
order of severity.
1. Bilateral castration and tail docking with rubber
rings ( C+TD).
2. Bilateral castration with a rubber ring (C*2).
3. Unilateral castration with a rubber ring (C*1).
4. Short scrotum castration with a rubber ring: the
testes were pushed up into the inguinal region and
the ring placed around the neck of the scrotum
( C*0).
5. Tail docking with a rubber ring ( TD).
6. Short scrotum castration with a rubber ring plus
.3 mL of local anesthetic (Bupivacaine .25%) into
the neck of the scrotum on each side just proximal
to the rubber ring (C*0+LA).
7. Handled controls ( H).
It was considered that the increments in severity
between treatments C*0, C*1, and C*2 were most
likely to be similar. Ranking of TD was uncertain
because different tissue and a different location were
involved.
Plasma cortisol concentrations were measured be-
fore ( 20 min and 0 min) and at intervals for 180 min
after treatment (nine samples). Postures (scanned at
2-min intervals) and active behaviors (continuous)
have been described above; they were recorded by
direct observation for 180 min as in previous studies
(Molony et al., 1993b). Statistical analysis was by
one-way analysis of variance; significant differences
between groups were established using Student’s t-
tables and the standard error of the difference. To
investigate the value of different indices alone and in
combination, cross-validated discriminant analysis
(Minitab v9) was carried out. This measured the
proportion of lambs that could be assigned to appropri-
ate (correct) treatment groups using the values
obtained for particular indices.
Results
Examples are presented of the relationships be-
tween the different indices investigated and the
intensity of pain as predicted from the order of
severity of the treatment.
Lying (total) during the 180 min after treatment
(Figure 1a) was not different in any of the treatment
groups ( P > .05). Abnormal ventral lying (V
4
)
separated the four most highly ranked groups from
the rest ( P < .05; Figure 1b), and the sum of the
scores over 180 min for restlessness, rolling, foot-
stamping/kicking and easing quarters (REQ) sepa-
rated the treatments from each other (P < .05) except
C*1 from C*0 (Figure 1c). Peak plasma cortisol
changes did not distinguish between either the three
most or three least highly ranked treatments but
distinguished a treatment of intermediate severity
(C*0) from both the least and most severe groups (P
< .01; Figure 1d).
To find the most economical combination of the
indices used, they were subjected to cross-validated
discriminant analysis. A combination of V
4
and REQ
gave one of the best results, placing 63% of the lambs
in their appropriate treatment groups (Table 1);
addition of the peak cortisol response reduced this to
59% (Table 2).
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ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE PAIN IN FARM ANIMALS
271
Table 2. Discriminant analysis with cross-validation using posture
V
4
a
, REQ
b
score, and peak plasma cortisol concentration
a
V
4
= ventral lying with full extension of the hindlegs.
b
REQ = summation of restlessness, roll/jumping, foot stamp/kicking, and easing quarters.
c
No. = 49.
d
No. correct = 29.
e
Proportion correct = .592.
Assigned
group
Actual group
C+TD C*2 C*1 C*0 TD C*OLA H
C+TD 4 100000
C*2 2 4 10000
C*1 0 2 5 1000
C*0 1 0 1 4 000
TD 0002420
C*OLA 0000221
H 0000136
Total no.
c
7777777
No. correct
d
4454426
Proportion
e
.57 .57 .71 .57 .57 .29 .86
Discussion
These results are consistent with the hypothesis of
Wood (1991) and Molony (1991) that plasma cortisol
can exhibit a ceiling effect, a maximal response being
obtained when only one testis (C*1) was involved.
Some behavioral indices also showed ceiling effects,
but for rubber ring castration and tail docking of
lambs of this breed and age, a more economical index
for assessment of acute pain was obtained by combin-
ing the time spent lying ventrally (V
4
) and the
incidence of the active behaviors (REQ). Weighting of
the values of V
4
and REQ according to their contribu-
tions to the discriminant analysis could help provide a
single measuring instrument similar to those used for
assessment of formalin-induced pain in rats (Coderre
et al., 1993; Abbott et al., 1995). Further analysis
should determine the requisite minimum measure-
ment time for these indices to obtain a similar level of
discrimination, and if less than about 20 min, this
approach may be of clinical use for assessment of this
type of pain in individual lambs.
Implications
Animal pain can be recognized and assessed using
physiological and behavioral indices but different
types of pain in different species should be considered
separately before generalizations are made about the
value of particular sets of indices for assessment.
Assessment is improved by using several indices, each
of which changes over different parts of the range of
intensities of pain. Multivariate analysis can help
determine the weighting of indices to obtain the most
robust and economical methods of assessment for each
type of pain in each species. If assessments with such
methods are shown to be consistent with those made
by suitably experienced veterinary surgeons, stock-
men, and stockwomen, it will help in appreciation of
the methods used by such experienced people, and in
standardizing the assessment of acute pain in farm
animals.
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... Research on other ruminants indisputably demonstrates that clamp castration is painful [2][3][4][5]. Animals move less or stand more after castration and show characteristic pain-related stiff movement or standing postures [6][7][8][9]. Moreover, untreated pain manifests as restlessness and increases in locomotor activity [6] and as alterations in resting and sleeping behaviours [10][11][12]. ...
... Animals move less or stand more after castration and show characteristic pain-related stiff movement or standing postures [6][7][8][9]. Moreover, untreated pain manifests as restlessness and increases in locomotor activity [6] and as alterations in resting and sleeping behaviours [10][11][12]. However, compared to various castration methods, successful clamp castration seems to cause the shortest afterpain period to young bovine calves [13]. ...
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Background During seasonal round-ups, free-grazing reindeer are gathered from natural pastures. Reindeer bulls removed from breeding are clamp castrated, traditionally without analgesia, and then returned to the grazing grounds. The new Finnish Animal Welfare Act requires the use of analgesia in painful procedures. Our earlier studies have shown that a single dose of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) meloxicam may maintain therapeutic plasma concentrations for 2–3 days in reindeer. No studies have been conducted on the effect of meloxicam on the locomotor activity of free-ranging castrated reindeer after castration. We installed GPS collars on 16 male reindeer (at least 5 years old, 130–160 kg), chosen to be castrated as a standard procedure during the round-up held on 5 Oct 2020. Of these, eight were randomly selected to receive approximately 0.5 mg/kg of meloxicam subcutaneously (NSAID group) and eight received no analgesia (TRAD group). The trackers were set to provide location twice per hour with 10 m accuracy. From the GPS data, we calculated the daily distances travelled by the reindeer during the 3 days after castration and analysed the differences between the treatments using a GEE model. Fixed factors were treatment (NSAID or TRAD), days (1–3) and hours, and the interactions between these variables. Our key presumption was that a meloxicam injection can reduce the pain related restless locomotion of newly clamp castrated reindeer. Results The overall mean ± SE daily distances travelled by NSAID (n = 8) and TRAD (n = 8) reindeer did not differ (6.60 ± 0.67 km vs. 8.60 ± 1.54 km). However, all reindeer (n = 16) moved more on day 1 than day 3. TRAD reindeer travelled farther than NSAID on day 1 (11.67 ± 2.25 km vs. 7.08 ± 0.61 km, P < 0.05), but no differences were observed on days 2 or 3 due to high variation (10.19 ± 3.87 km vs. 6.59 ± 0.85 km and 5.35 ± 0.39 km vs. 6.17 ± 0.70 m, P > 0.1). NSAID movement remained stable between the days (P > 0.1), while TRAD activity declined (P = 0.002), levelling with NSAID by day 3. Daytime distances exceeded nighttime distances on days 2 and 3, with TRAD showing more disrupted daily rhythms. Conclusions Meloxicam may reduce restlessness in newly castrated reindeer, changing postoperative locomotor activity patterns in a way that suggests pain alleviation during the first 2–3 days following clamp castration. Further studies are needed on the use of analgesia and GPS collars for pain monitoring in freely grazing reindeer.
... Noninvasive monitoring of pain and discomfort in calves can be achieved through assessment of behavioral changes [15]. There can be altered daily lying times due to calves adopting immobile stances in an attempt to minimize pain by reducing stimulation of hyperalgesic tissue, which can also assist healing [16]. There can also be changes to locomotor activity with increased restlessness, which may be a result of animals attempting to escape pain [16], or more time spent inactive, which includes sleeping [10]. ...
... There can be altered daily lying times due to calves adopting immobile stances in an attempt to minimize pain by reducing stimulation of hyperalgesic tissue, which can also assist healing [16]. There can also be changes to locomotor activity with increased restlessness, which may be a result of animals attempting to escape pain [16], or more time spent inactive, which includes sleeping [10]. ...
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Use of pair housing for preweaning calves has shown positive benefits in terms of health and production, with it also being thought to offer social support in times of stress such as when calves are disbudded. Calf disbudding through thermal cautery is a common procedure, with recognized physiological and behavioral implications. This study’s objective was to utilize continuous monitoring accelerometers to compare the impact of disbudding on the behavior of pair and individually housed calves. Data from an all-year-round dairy herd in the southwest of England were collected via an accelerometer (ABS breeder tag, Genus, Cheshire, UK) fitted to a forelimb of a convenience subset of calves (n = 265) within two weeks of age. Data were collected between March and December 2020 and covered the period 7 days prior to disbudding until 30 days post disbudding. Calves underwent thermal cautery disbudding by farm staff using local anesthesia and a systemic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Data from 205 calves (125 pair-housed and 80 individually housed) were included in analysis through generalized estimating equations models. The calf activity (p = 0.98), number of lying bouts (p = 0.40), and lying time per day (p = 0.75) were not associated with the housing treatment of the calves. Calf activity was associated with the day compared to disbudding (p < 0.001), with both housing treatments having decreased activity in the days following disbudding, taking approximately 14 days to return to pretreatment levels.
... Others have also found that assisted cows took longer to stand after parturition and spent less time self-grooming postpartum when compared to cows that were not assisted [44,45]. Although these behavioral changes are subtle, many of these changes are indicators of pain [46,47]. ...
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Pain is an adverse experience causing distress and decreased production in dairy cattle. Pain, and its associated distress, is also undesirable from an animal welfare standpoint. Consumers consider animal welfare an important issue; therefore, ensuring proper pain management, and by extension good welfare, is important to maintain the social acceptability of dairy production. However, while some painful procedures and diseases can be avoided, some are inevitable. When this is the case, it is important to provide pain mitigation where possible. Various dairy quality assurance programs provide guidance on pain management practices for producers; however, guidelines differ across countries and jurisdictions. This narrative review covers common painful conditions and procedures, including disbudding and dehorning, castration, calving and dystocia, surgeries, disease conditions, and lameness. Further, this paper reviews evidence of the necessity and efficacy of pain management in these cases, current uptake of pain management, and quality assurance program standards for addressing pain in dairy cattle. Overall, there are clear advantages to providing pain mitigation for some conditions and procedures. For others, gaps still exist in understanding the best methods for pain control. Further attention should be paid to understanding and reducing the barriers to adoption of pain management strategies, as it is crucial to minimizing pain in animals and ensuring productive and sustainable dairy production.
... " ( [18], Text Box 2). While the IASP explicitly addresses the pain experience of animals now, earlier definitions emphasized the focus on the animals' response to pain: … [pain] changes the animal's physiology and behaviour to reduce or avoid the damage, to reduce the likelihood of recurrence and to promote recovery…" ( [19], p.266). A key aspect to bear in mind, in this respect, is that the inability to communicate the pain experience verbally does not negate the possibility that an individual is experiencing pain and requires appropriate pain relief (cf. ...
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Background Pigs can suffer from pain due to spontaneously occurring diseases, wounds, injuries, trauma, and physiological conditions such as the farrowing process; however, this pain is often neglected. To increase knowledge and awareness about this phenomenon, the current article presents a scoping review of basic and new approaches for identifying, evaluating, and treating pain in pigs. Methods A scoping review was conducted with results from a search of the electronic database VetSearch and CABI. With regard to eligibility criteria, 49 out of 725 publications between 2015 and the end of March 2023 were included. The findings are narratively synthesized and reported orienting on the PRISMA ScR guideline. Results The results of this review showed that practitioners need to consider pain not only as a sign of a disease but also as a critical aspect of welfare. If both the symptoms of pain and the underlying reasons remain unassessed, the longevity and prosperity of pigs may be at risk. In this respect, veterinarians are obliged to know about intricacies of pain and pain mechanisms and to provide adequate treatment for their patients. Conclusion It is pivotal to increase knowledge about pain mechanisms, the reasons for heterogeneity in behavioural signs of pain, and methods for evaluating whether a pig is experiencing pain. This article will help practitioners update their knowledge of this topic and discuss the implications for everyday practice.
... However, comparisons between both disbudded calves and the control SD calves had no significant differences over the 72 h after disbudding. These results contradict the findings of other studies that have reported increased transitions from lying to standing [51] and less lying time after disbudding [52,53]. However, Doherty et al. [8] also reported no significant differences in lying times of calves dehorned with lidocaine, with saline, or not dehorned. ...
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Cautery disbudding is a painful procedure and major welfare concern in organic dairy production, which lacks effective and easily implemented methods of pain control. Willow bark (WB) has been used to treat chronic pain in humans, but there is no scientific evidence that WB has an analgesic effect in dairy cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an oral WB bolus on heart rate, salivary cortisol concentration, ocular temperature, and lying behavior (time, bouts, and bout duration) of 42 Holstein and crossbred calves. Heifer calves were born at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris, MN organic dairy. Calves were disbudded from 4 to 7 weeks of age (42 ± 3 d) and randomly assigned to one of three treatments (n = 14 calves/treatment): hot iron disbudding with lidocaine (LID; 5 mL per horn bud), hot iron disbudding with oral WB (200 mg/kg), or sham disbudding (SD). Saliva samples and thermal images were collected 1 h before disbudding, at disbudding, and 5 min, 10 min, and every 30 min until 240 min after disbudding. Cardiac monitors recorded heart rates continuously throughout the 5 h study period. HOBO loggers recorded lying behavior during the 72 h following disbudding. The variables included in the statistical model for analyses were fixed effects of treatment, time, and the interaction between treatment and time, and calf was a random effect. The mean heart rate of LID calves (123.3 ± 2.8 beats/minute) and WB calves (124.5 ± 3.2 beats/minute) were higher than SD calves (110.8 ± 2.3 beats/minute). Salivary cortisol concentrations were higher for the LID calves (103.8 pg/mL) and for the WB calves (103.4 pg/mL) than for the SD calves (85.5 pg/mL). The ocular temperature was not affected by treatment group. There were fewer lying bouts 24 to 48 h after disbudding compared to the first 24 h after disbudding in both the LID and WB treatment groups. Treatment group did not affect lying time or lying bout duration. Neither LID nor WB alleviated the pain of calves throughout the post-disbudding period. The results highlighted the need to discover suitable options for pain mitigation of calves in organic livestock production.
... Sensation refers to the lower level of neurological and biochemical components (nociception), while perception is the higher cognitive processing or interpretation of the damage (Millman 2013). Thus, experienced pain produces learned avoidance behaviour and can induce changes in behavioural, physical, and physiological patterns that are evidence of poor welfare (Molony and Kent 1997). It has been amply demonstrated that goats, like other livestock species, are capable of experiencing pain (Moussu and Dollar 1905). ...
Chapter
The capacity of goats to adjust to handling and husbandry in a wide variety of production systems, even under extreme climatic conditions, has made these animals a valuable resource in ancient and contemporary human societies. Every year, millions of goats worldwide are subjected to routine husbandry practices (injections, ear-tagging, hoof trimming, castration, disbudding, or dehorning), transport (land, sea, and air), and slaughter (for human consumption, euthanasia, and population control). Some of these practices are carried out because they have been shown to be effective in preserving animal health and welfare, or improving production performance and ensuring the quality or safety of goat milk and meat. However, even under good conditions, these practices can cause a stress response in the animals, and states of pain, fear, anxiety, and frustration. At the same time, there is a growing public concern for improving the conditions under which farm animals are raised, transported, and slaughtered. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to describe the current scientific evidence on these practices and possible strategies to optimise, refine, and/or replace them to improve and preserve goat welfare.
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Pain is one of the main events that ch allenge animal welfare due to its alterations in the five domains, including the mental state. Because each species perceives and reacts to pain differently, the study of pain in veterinary medicine has focused on using tools that allow it to be recognized quickly and objectively. Ethology is part of these tools since animals modify their behavior to prevent further damage. To preserve animal welfare, veterinarians have the ethical obligation to recognize, manage, and avoid pain. Therefore, this review aims to discuss the study of animal behavior as an essential part of identifying pain in domestic animals.
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A comparison of the analgesic potency of the α2-adrenoceptor agonist, xylazine, in control healthy sheep and sheep suffering chronic pain from footrot, indicated that the analgesic effectiveness of xylazine was significantly reduced in the animals experiencing chronic pain. This was measured by recording the threshold to a mechanically applied pressure stimulus. Furthermore, when the condition was apparently resolved, by conventional treatment over a period of 2 to 3 weeks, the decreased analgesic effectiveness of the α2-agonist was still apparent although the animals were clinically cured of the footrot.
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A combination of plasma cortisol and β-endorphin measurement, behavioural observation and estimation of aversion to humans (by an arena test) was used to assess the response to the modified mules operation in 6-7-month-old Merino wethers. The operation involves the surgical removal of wool and skin from the lamb's breech to protect the sheep against blowfly strike. Ten animals were mulesed and compared with 10 which were handled in the same way except for mulesing. Marked elevation of plasma cortisol and β-endorphin occurred between 5 and 15 min after the operation. The highest levels of both hormones were recorded during the 24 h post-operative handling. At 48 h post-operation there was apparently little hormonal response to handling. An analgesic effect, associated with the release of the β-endorphin, was evident in the sheep behaviour for 1-2 h post-operation. Thereafter, paddock behaviour of mulesed sheep was characterised by abnormal posture and locomotion at first, then by significantly increased time spent standing and significantly reduced time spent lying, grazing and feeding from a trough. After 72 h the mulesed sheep resumed normal behaviour in the paddock. Arena testing at intervals from Day 1 to Day 37 post-operation revealed a pronounced aversion to the human handler (male) who had held the sheep during the operation. At Day 114 this aversion was no longer evident. The regular handler (female) who normally fed the sheep produced significantly less aversion between Days 42 and 114. Mulesing of weaners by contractors (rather than owners) and minimal post-operative handling are both indicated as means of reducing stress from mulesing.
Article
Four groups of Ayrshire calves (n = 8 each) were castrated at 1 week of age by either surgery, crushing by a Burdizzo, rubber ring or a combination of the Burdizzo and rubber ring methods. Responses of castrated calves were compared with a control group (n = 8) of handled calves. Plasma cortisol was measured in blood samples taken during the first 3 h after castration. Observations of behaviour were made for 3 h immediately after castration, and for 3 h each afternoon for the first 4 days and then on every third day to 48 days after treatment. An assessment of the castration site (lesion score) was made after each observation period and the calves were weighed every twelfth day. Acute changes in behaviour and plasma cortisol were consistent with those reported previously, namely that increases in active behaviours, abnormal postures and plasma cortisol occurred in the first 3 h after castration. The behavioural response to both surgical and Burdizzo castration was characterised by immobile postures. The combined Burdizzo and rubber ring method produced a significant reduction in the activity (count per 3 h period) of two behaviours (foot stamping/kicking (11.9) and easing quarters (13.3)) compared with the use of a rubber ring alone (27 and 23.7, respectively). During the 48 days after rubber ring treatments there was an increase in the calves' concern with the site of castration, indicated by a significantly (P < 0.01) increased incidence of licking which was associated with increased abnormal standing, with slow movements of the tail, alternate lifting of the hindlegs and head turning as the integrity of the skin broke down. If these indices are valid, they demonstrate that considerable acute and chronic pain is associated with rubber ring methods of castration of calves and that the chronic pain can last for at least 42 days.
Article
We have previously demonstrated that scratching was significantly increased in a rat model of polyarthritis and that this could be reversed by morphine and electrical stimulation of pain-modulating brain areas. We therefore proposed that scratching might represent a parameter of chronic pain. In this study, we examined the spontaneous behaviour of rats in a model of peripheral neuropathy induced by loosely tying 4 ligatures around the right common sciatic nerve. In half of the animals (N = 7), the ligatures were made with resorbable sutures and, in the other half (N = 7), with non-resorbable sutures of the same size. Postoperatively, scratching was significantly increased at the ligated side. This increase was already observed on the first postoperative day, and maximal effects were reached on the 3rd day. We also observed a qualitative change in the scratching behaviour; postoperatively, scratching was often a vibratory-like shaking of the hind paw in the air. The time course of the increased scratching was time-locked with the development of allodynia to thermal stimulation. No differences were found either in the time course of the increased scratching behaviour or in the time course of the thermal allodynia between the rats ligated with resorbable and with non-resorbable sutures. However, a difference in the walking pattern, as measured by the sciatic functional index (SFI), was observed between the two groups: whereas the SFI normalized after 4 weeks in rats ligated with resorbable sutures, it remained disturbed until the end of the 16-week observation period in the rats ligated with non-resorbable sutures. Morphine 1, 2 and 5 mg/kg dose-dependently reduced the increased scratching behaviour. This was not due to a general depressant effect on the rats' behaviour. This finding is discussed in light of the debate on opioid sensitivity of neuropathic pain. The present results add new evidence that scratching is a possible sign of chronic pain in the animal.
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The reliability of some behavioral and physiological indices used for the recognition and assessment of acute pain in lambs after castration and tail docking has been examined. Changes in the indices were measured after blocking neural activity with local anaesthetic (lignocaine) and after an opioid antagonist (naloxone) was administered. Six lambs, aged less than one week, were allocated randomly to each of six treatments. (i) control handling and blood sampling; (ii) castration plus tail docking with tight rubber rings; (iii) local anaesthesia; (iv) local anaesthesia followed by castration and tail docking; (v) intravenous naloxone only (0.2 mg kg-1); and (vi) intravenous naloxone followed by castration and tail docking. Local anaesthesia eliminated the behavioural and plasma cortisol changes which usually follow castration and tail docking. Naloxone had a limited effect on the increase in cortisol but altered the behaviour. The results support the view that such indices are useful for assessment of the response to acute pain and that, although endogenous opioids do reduce pain in young lambs after castration and tail docking, the effect is small.
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The analgesic drug butorphanol tartrate has proved useful clinically in horses and dogs but its analgesic profile had not yet been investigated in sheep. This study was initiated to determine the thermal and mechanical antinociceptive activity of butorphanol (at the dose rates 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg kg-1) in sheep. The drug produced significant analgesia in the thermal test system, the duration of which was dose related but no significant elevation in mechanical pressure thresholds could be detected. In a further set of experiments the dose rate was increased to 0.4 mg kg-1 and mechanical testing was repeated. There was still no clinically significant elevation in pressure thresholds. At a dose rate of 0.2 mg kg-1 the drug had no detectable effect on respiratory blood gas tensions. Behavioural changes were severe if a dose rate of 0.2 mg kg-1 was exceeded.
Article
A comparison of the analgesic potency of the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist, xylazine, in control healthy sheep and sheep suffering chronic pain from footrot, indicated that the analgesic effectiveness of xylazine was significantly reduced in the animals experiencing chronic pain. This was measured by recording the threshold to a mechanically applied pressure stimulus. Furthermore, when the condition was apparently resolved, by conventional treatment over a period of 2 to 3 weeks, the decreased analgesic effectiveness of the alpha 2-agonist was still apparent although the animals were clinically cured of the footrot.
Article
In animal models of inflammatory pain, we have demonstrated that the opioid antagonist naloxone induces a paradoxical analgesic effect at very low systemic doses, and a hyperalgesic effect at high doses. We have therefore proposed, that opioid systems are modified in these animals with persistent pain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the activity of naloxone through another model of pain in the rat due to a peripheral neuropathy of the sciatic nerve. The neuropathy was created by 4 ligatures around the sciatic nerve. We analyzed the effects of i.v. naloxone (3 and 10 micrograms/kg, 1 mg/kg) on the vocalization thresholds to paw pressure 8 days after the sciatic ligation. Three and 10 micrograms/kg naloxone produced a significant paradoxical antinociceptive effect on responses from the affected paw (with a mean increase of about 50 and 30% of the preinjection values, respectively) and also from the non-affected paw, although the effect was less potent. By contrast, 1 mg/kg naloxone elicited a significant hyperalgesia on responses from the affected and non-affected paw. The effects of the microdoses, but not those of the high dose, were clearly related to the vocalization thresholds measured for each rat just before injection. This study clearly shows that naloxone induces bidirectional effects in a rat model of neuropathic pain, which contradicts the current statement that neuropathic pain is opioid-resistant. The present results also suggest that these effects are not related to inflammatory processes, and may be due to modifications of opioid systems in these animals with persistent pain.
Article
Research on the assessment and management of pain in infants and children has increased dramatically, with the consequence that a wide variety of behavioral, physiological, and psychological methods are now available for measuring pediatric pain. Although the criteria for a pain measure for children are identical to those required for any measuring instrument, special problems exist in pediatric pain measurement because the influence of developmental factors, previous pain experience, and parental attitudes on children's perceptions and expressions of pain is not known. This article reviews the recent advances in the measurement of pain in children, with special emphasis on the methods that satisfy the criteria for reliability and validity, the methods that can be used to assess multiple dimensions of pain, and the methods that may be appropriate for assessing all types of acute, recurrent, and chronic pediatric pain.