Determination for the need for analgesics in day old calves following caustic paste disbudding

Abstract

Caustic paste disbudding is practiced on 16.3% of U.S. opera­tions and 32.5% of calves, with a greater percentage usage as­sociated with larger farms. Only 5.6% of operations provide an­algesics/anesthetics for caustic paste disbudding heifers (USDA NAHMS, 2018). One standard operating procedure for caustic paste disbudding advises applying paste before calves are 2 days of age, and immediately after feeding to avoid scratching/ rubbing behavior. The author of one such protocol is adamant that no anesthetics or analgesics are needed with this protocol (Villarroel, 2011). There is increasing scientific evidence of pain experienced when caustic paste is used and supporting multi­modal analgesic protocols in association with this procedure. However, this data was not accumulated on calves < 24 h of age at disbudding. The objective of this study is to examine effects of a multimodal analgesia protocol on nociceptive thresholds, behavior, and physiologic responses when caustic paste is ap­plied to calves < 24 h of age. The following specific objectives were investigated.