Pain Management in Cattle

Abstract

Crises are often encountered in ruminant veterinary practice and may include abomasal volvulus, intestinal accidents, cesarean section, fracture, extreme distortion of acid-base balance, and hydration as encountered in cattle that have severe enteritis. These diseases often cause pain or distress. Pain and the biologic responses to it are part of a highly integrated multidimensional system that causes all animals to react, respond (fight, flight, freeze), and protect themselves from their environment. Whether or not animals ‘‘feel’’ (perceive) pain the same as humans is immaterial because most of the neural elements and biologic consequences (physiologic, neuroendocrine, behavioral) of pain are the same among all mammalian species. One clinically useful definition of animal pain states that ‘‘pain is an aversive feeling or sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage and resulting in physiologic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral changes that indicate a ‘stress’ response’’ [1]. The importance of the sensation of pain in maintaining and protecting the normal physiologic condition of the body has led some to consider pain as a homeostatic emotion that initiates feeling and motivation [2,3]. The latter consideration is why pain perception (nociception) is not considered to fully represent the pain experience and helps to explain the relationship between painful experiences and pain behaviors in animals. In this context, pain can be broadly categorized as adaptive or maladaptive [4]. Adaptive pain increases the potential for survival by protecting the animal from injury and promoting healing. Maladaptive pain, by contrast, is a disease created by pathologic processes that result in the persistence of pain long after the initiating causes have been removed. The pain system includes sensors,