Dr. Bruss Horn, DVM, and owner at Verden Veterinary Clinic in Verden, Oklahoma, discussed the topic of pain management in cattle at the recent Chisholm Trail Beef Improvement Conference in Fairview, Oklahoma.
Horn says consumers are verbalizing more and more criteria of what they expect when it comes to their food and cattle that have been administered some form of pain management are becoming more popular.
“Consumers are looking for animals that are organic and haven’t had any growth implants, but they are also looking for products they know were treated humanely and have had pain control,” he explained. “They buy on emotion. You’re going to see people looking for humanely treated cattle more and more down the road.”
Fortunately, this is not just another annoying hoop for cattlemen to jump through because administering pain treatment is actually beneficial to livestock.
“We have data that shows if you control the pain, it increases the performance,” Horn said.
What does the doctor prescribe?
Some of the animals that could benefit from pain management include calves that needed assistance in calving and animals experiencing stress factors such as weaning, transportation, weather and processing, which includes vaccinations, deworming, castrations, dehorning and branding.
Horn says there are several drugs commonly used for pain management and they all have pros and cons. One of the most common is Dexamethasone, an injectable anti-inflammatory drug. Cortisone, is also commonly used, however, Horn warns it is an immunosuppressant, so cattle are more likely to contract infections when being treated with it. Additionally, he says it should not be given to adult cows that are bred, because it will make them abort their calf. Another pain reliever is lidocaine, however it is a short-acting medication that will not deliver pain management over a very long period of time. Aspirin is another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that can be administered for minor pain.
Banamine and Meloxicam are two common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. Banamine offers oral, injectable and transdermal options. Horn says transdermal Banamine has been very popular since it came out about five or six years ago and works well to eliminate pain. Producers pour the Banamine solution on the calf’s back and it provides 48 hours of pain relief at $0.84 per 100 pounds of body weight. The injectable version of Banamine must be used intravenously in cattle.
Meloxicam comes in pill or injectable form at about $0.04 per 100 pounds of body weight. Horn says cattlemen must be diligent in disinfecting balling guns between calves because tonsil tissues carry salmonella and can transmit to other calves. Additionally, Meloxicam can be ground up and put in feed for adult animals.
Prevent the pain, bring on the gain
Horn says calves that require assistance at birth do not always have a good transfer of antibodies and administering NSAIDs, such as Meloxicam or Banamine, can promote eating and just make the calf feel better in general. Horn says studies have shown that calves that got an NSAID treatment at birth weighed more after 10 days of life than those that did not.
“I know that it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but that first 10 days is very important,” he said.
Administering pain management to stocker cattle has been shown to prevent disease and reduce antibiotic use. Horn says research through Kansas State University indicates pain treatment reduces the risk of bovine respiratory disease in stocker cattle, which is the most prevalent and costly ailment plaguing that sector of the cattle industry.
Horn agrees not everyone wants to spend the time and money to treat cattle for their pain, so he suggests taking measures to prevent it. One of the first ways to avoid pain is to select for polled cattle so cattle do not have to be subjected to dehorning.
“Dehorning is much harder on cattle than castrating and it sets them back a lot,” Horn said. “Additionally, we can dehorn at day one of age, making the process much easier for them.”
Horn’s advice is to clip the horn buds and apply some dehorning paste and cover that up with some duct tape all at day one of age. He says if producers wait until 10 to 14 days of age, to put the paste on, calves tend to scratch at their horns, creating discomfort.
Secondly, Horn says to castrate at a young age because the longer calves stay bulls, the more pain they experience at castration.
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“I can show you a lot of data that says calves cut at an early age do just as good as calves cut at six months,” he said.
Horn also says he recommends surgical castrations as opposed to banding because calves recover from the cutting procedure much faster and return to their normal activities sooner. Finally, he says if producers have the time and patience, freeze branding is less painful for calves to endure.
“You’re probably wondering why a person would do this,” Horn questioned aloud. “Because someday using pain management will be dictated to us. They will say we want your cattle treated humanely and we want to know that you administered pain management before we sell them.”
Lacey Newlin can be reached at 580-748-1892 or [email protected].
