Effect of caustic paste disbudding, using local anaesthesia with and without analgesia, on behaviour and cortisol of calves

• Published in: Applied animal behaviour science Vol. 116; no. 1; pp. 35 - 44
• Main Authors: Stilwell, George, de Carvalho, Rita Campos, Lima, Miguel S., Broom, Donald M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15-01-2009; [Amsterdam]: Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Analgesia; anesthesia; animal behavior; animal welfare; Calves; Caustic paste disbudding; Cortisol; dehorning; distress; flunixin; flunixin-meglumine; hormone secretion; lidocaine; local anesthetics; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents; Pain; pain-related behavior; Pain-related behaviour; sodium hydroxide; Welfare; Analgesia; Pain; Caustic paste disbudding; Welfare; Pain-related behaviour; Calves; Cortisol
• ISSN: 0168-1591; 1872-9045
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2008.06.008

We looked at the effects of local anaesthesia with or without a non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory analgesic drug (flunixin-meglumine) on behaviour and plasma cortisol after caustic paste disbudding of 1-month-old calves: at 15
min, 1, 3, 6 and 24
h (Experiment 1;
n
=
32); at 10, 30 and 50
min (Experiment 2;
n
=
35); and after local anaesthesia effect subsided (90–180
min) (Experiment 3;
n
=
16).
In Experiment 1, cortisol was higher at 1
h in paste-disbudded calves than in all other groups. Paste-disbudded and paste-disbudded plus local anaesthesia calves showed higher cortisol at 1
h compared with baseline values. At 15
min paste-disbudded calves showed a higher incidence of pain-related behaviours than all other groups and those with anaesthetic or anaesthetic plus analgesia showed more pain-related behaviours than controls. At 1 and 3
h both paste-disbudded and paste-disbudded plus anaesthetic calves showed more pain behaviours than controls and those with analgesic.
In Experiment 2, paste-disbudded calves showed higher cortisol than all other groups at 30 and 50
min. No difference in cortisol was found between anaesthetic, anaesthetic plus analgesia and sham-disbudded calves. The incidence of pain-related behaviours was greater in paste-disbudded calves than in all other groups at all times. Calves disbudded with anaesthetic or with anaesthetic and analgesic showed more pain-related behaviours than sham-disbudded animals during the first 10
min post-procedure.
In Experiment 3, paste-disbudded only calves had higher cortisol at 90
min and the anaesthetic-only group had higher cortisol at 180
min, when compared with control animals. Paste-disbudded calves showed more pain-related behaviours at 90, 120 and 150
min, and the anaesthetic-only disbudded calves at 180
min, when compared with sham-disbudded calves. In Experiment 1 and Experiment 3, several disbudded animals showed an “inert-lying” posture and this state may have reduced the display of the other more active behaviours.
The evidence indicates that caustic paste disbudding causes distress for at least 3
h and that local anaesthesia is efficient in controlling pain for the first hour but discomfort returns after the nerve blocking subsides. Overall, only local anaesthesia
+
NSAID provided effective reduction in pain as assessed by this method. Inert lying is a sign of distress in young calves after caustic paste disbudding.