Welfare Effects of the Use of a Combination of Local Anesthesia and NSAID for Disbudding Analgesia in Dairy Calves—Reviewed Across Different Welfare Concerns

Abstract

Across the international dairy industry, the vast majority of dairy herds have dehorned cows. Farmers choose to dehorn calves for different reasons such as easier handling of non-horned cattle and reduced risk of injuries in animals and staff. This review focuses on disbudding by use of hot-iron cautery as is practiced by dairy farmers in calves <3 months of age. We examine welfare effects of the use of NSAIDs in combination with a local anesthetic including indicators relevant for the three major welfare concerns—affective states, basic health, and functioning as well as the possibility to behave naturally. Across indicators of animal welfare, the majority of available evidence suggest that the use of NSAIDs in combination with a local anesthetic is advantageous in terms of animal welfare, and no studies suggest that NSAIDs are a disadvantage to animal welfare. However, irrespective of the welfare concern, use of NSAIDs combined with a local anesthetic does not fully eliminate the welfare challenges from disbudding. Further research is needed in order to fully understand the effects of this medication protocol on calf welfare, including knowledge about the duration of healing and the presence of long-term pain. At present, this lack of knowledge challenges the precise formulation of adequate pain management—in terms of medication protocol, duration, dosage, and type of administration.

Conditioned place preference reveals ongoing pain in calves 3 weeks after disbudding

“…An effective medication protocol will require an understanding of the progression of symptoms through healing. For example, it is possible that pruritus (e.g., itch) develops at some point in the weeks after disbudding 3 . Pruritus is a common and distressing complication after burns in humans, and can have a profound impact on quality of life 42 .…”

“…This procedure is unequivocally painful; the post-operative period is associated with wound-directed behaviors such as ear flicks, head shakes, and head rubbing, as well as physiological changes including increased plasma cortisol and heart rate. These responses are dampened by administration of local anesthetics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 2,3 .…”

Pessimistic dairy calves are more vulnerable to pain-induced anhedonia

“…Whether hot-iron disbudding induces long-lasting pain has received little attention [42]. Most studies using wound-directed behaviors and cortisol plasma levels did not explore evidence of pain beyond 24 h [14,42].…”

Organic Dairy Cattle: Do European Union Regulations Promote Animal Welfare?

“…There is a growing body of evidence indicating that the intra-operative pain can be controlled by using general anesthesia, local anesthesia or a combination of both [ 30 , 31 ]. However, effects of these drugs are limited to approximately 2 hours and, therefore, fail to mitigate the post-operative pain [ 28 , 31 , 32 ]. Evidence of post-operative pain begins when the effects of the drugs wane as shown by behavioral and physiological changes [ 31 ].…”