A comparison of welfare outcomes for weaner and mature Bos indicus bulls surgically or tension band castrated with or without analgesia: 2. Responses related to stress, health and productivity

Abstract

a b s t r a c tTension banding castration of cattle is gaining favour because it is relatively simple to perform and is promoted by retailers of the banders as a humane castration method. Two experiments were conducted, under tropical conditions using Bos indicus bulls comparing tension banding (Band) and surgical (Surgical) castration of weaner (7-10 months old) and mature (22-25 months old) bulls with and without pain management (NSAID (ketoprofen) or saline injected intramuscularly immediately prior to castration). Welfare outcomes were assessed using a range of measures; this paper reports on some physiological, morbidity and productivity-related responses to augment the behavioural responses reported in an accompanying paper. Blood samples were taken on the day of castration (day 0) at the time of restraint (0 min) and 30 min (weaners) or 40 min (mature bulls), 2 h, and 7 h; and days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-castration. Plasmas from day 0 were assayed for cortisol, creatine kinase, total protein and packed cell volume. Plasmas from the other samples were assayed for cortisol and haptoglobin (plus the 0 min sample). Liveweights were recorded approximately weekly to 6 weeks and at 2 and 3 months post-castration. Castration sites were checked at these same times to 2 months post-castration to score the extent of healing and presence of sepsis. Cortisol concentrations (mean ± s.e. nmol/L) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the Band (67 ± 4.5) compared with Surgical weaners (42 ± 4.5) at 2 h post-castration, but at 24 h post-castration were greater in the Surgical (43 ± 3.2) compared with the Band weaners (30 ± 3.2). The main effect of ketoprofen was on the cortisol concentrations of the mature Surgical bulls; concentrations were significantly reduced at 40 min (47 ± 7.2 vs. 71 ± 7.2 nmol/L for saline) and 2 h post-castration (24 ± 7.2, vs. 87 ± 7.2 nmol/L for saline). Ketoprofen, however, had no effect on the Band mature bulls, with their cortisol concentrations averaging 54 ± 5.1 nmol/L at 40 min and 92 ± 5.1 nmol/L at 2 h. Cortisol concentrations were also significantly elevated in the Band (83 ± 3.0 nmol/L) compared with Surgical mature bulls (57 ± 3.0 nmol/L) at weeks 2-4 post-castration. The timing of this * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 (0)7 4936 0331; fax: +61 (0)7 4936 elevation coincided with significantly elevated haptoglobin concentrations (mg/mL) in the Band bulls (2.97 ± 0.102 for mature bulls and 1.71 ± 0.025 for weaners, vs. 2.10 ± 0.102 and 1.45 ± 0.025 respectively for the Surgical treatment) and evidence of slow wound healing and sepsis in both the weaner (0.81 ± 0.089 not healed at week 4 for Band, 0.13 ± 0.078 for Surgical) and mature bulls (0.81 ± 0.090 at week 4 for Band, 0.38 ± 0.104 for Surgical). Overall, liveweight gains of both age groups were not affected by castration method. The findings of acute pain, chronic inflammation and possibly chronic pain in the mature bulls at least, together with poor wound healing in the Band bulls support behavioural findings reported in...

Refining a ‘toolkit’ for objective assessment of pain and stress in ruminants

“…In a cattle castration study conducted by Petherick et al (2014aPetherick et al ( , 2014b, it was found that castration using tension banding caused a delayed response in Hp compared with surgical castration and the responses were also correlated with the progression of wound healing. Review of the literature reveals that IL-1 and IL-6 stimulates the release of APP from the liver to restore the normal body functions following tissue injury.…”

“…Shutt et al (1988a) and Paull et al (2009) evaluated the cortisol response and the presence of pain-related behaviour in animals which was marked within hours up to 1-2 days of post-treatment. However, studies in cattle castration comparing surgical and tension banding techniques had found that surgical castration caused acute pain, whereas banding caused delay in the pain response, which may be detected weeks after castration (Moya et al, 2014;Petherick et al, 2014b). Gregory (2004) described the application of tourniquet on appendages such as castration and tailing by rubber rings causes an immediate pain sensation following the application, and progresses into an inflammatory pain, which is also described as ischaemic pain.…”

“…Reports have shown that COX inhibitors reduce pain-associated behaviours in rats Eisenach, 2003a, 2003b). The use of NSAIDs in castration has also been studied in cattle (Ting et al, 2003;Petherick et al, 2014b) and sheep (Price and Nolan, 2001;Paull et al, 2012).…”

“…In an experimental surgery in sheep, Hp increased rapidly within 24 h post-surgery and returned to pre-surgical concentrations within 7 days (Abu-Serriah et al, 2007). Changes in Hp was also measured to monitor the inflammatory response in castration (Paull et al, 2009) or tail docking in lambs (Price and Nolan, 2001) and castration in cattle (Ballou et al, 2013;Petherick et al, 2014b). Inflammatory states are important in generating pain, hence it has been suggested that the elevation of APP can be used as an indirect indicator of pain (Prunier et al, 2013).…”

“…The integration of such physiological responses is often called the 'surgical stress response' and is thought to be proportional to the degree of the injury (Desborough, 2000). Surgical castration in ruminants is often associated with significant increases in the stress hormone cortisol (Melches et al, 2007;Bonelli et al, 2008;Paull et al, 2009), and haptoglobin (Hp) as the major acute phase protein in ruminants (Paull et al, 2009;Petherick et al, 2014b). However despite robust cortisol and Hp responses to surgical trauma, significant changes in these biomarkers can also be associated with psychological stressors, such as weaning (Kim et al, 2011), isolation (Rivalland et al, 2007) and transportation (Qiu et al, 2007;Kostro et al, 2009;Giannetto et al, 2011).…”