Abstract
Hoof pathologies in dairy cows have a major effect on both production and animal welfare. Trimming of excess or diseased hoof tissue is essential for the treatment of many of these conditions. Trimming hoof lesions can cause severe pain, resulting in adverse behavioral responses with risk for animal and human safety. Interventions are usually carried out by nonveterinary technicians in the absence of pain management training. Pain control during trimming is not only an ethical obligation but also allows for better manipulation and more meticulous treatment. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of Tri-Solfen (Bayer Australia Ltd., Pymble, NSW, Australia), a combination of local anesthetics in a topical gel form, containing lidocaine, bupivacaine, adrenaline, and cetrimide, for the treatment of pain associated with trimming of hoof lesions. Sixty-two Holstein-Frisian cows were selected for trimming at the drying-off period and were visually scored for lameness before entering the chute. After diagnosis of the hoof lesion but before deep trimming was initiated, each animal was randomly distributed to 2 groups: C, usual trimming with no pain control, and T, trimming with a local anesthetic formulation being applied immediately after live corium was exposed. During curative trimming, behavior observation was conducted by 2 observers blind to treatment. In 27 cows, algometry measurements were performed before and after the procedure to assess animal reaction to pressure. Lameness scoring was again performed as the cow left the chute. Nonparametric tests and ANOVA were performed. Results showed that use of the topical anesthetic formulation significantly reduced reaction to trimming and lameness score after trimming when compared with nontreated animals. Algometry values showed increased pressure threshold after application of topical anesthetics. This study suggests that the use of topical local anesthesia with lidocaine and bupivacaine helps reduce pain associated with corrective trimming of severe hoof lesions, enhancing animal welfare and potentially ensuring safety of trimmers.
Highlights
Lameness is considered to be the single most important welfare problem in dairy cows due to its high prevalence and being a source of prolonged suffering (Whay and Shearer, 2017)
This study suggests that the use of topical local anesthesia with lidocaine and bupivacaine helps reduce pain associated with corrective trimming of severe hoof lesions, enhancing animal welfare and potentially ensuring safety of trimmers
The variables submitted to statistical analysis were lameness score before and after trimming, reaction during trimming, pressure thresholds, and variance across time
Summary
Lameness is considered to be the single most important welfare problem in dairy cows due to its high prevalence and being a source of prolonged suffering (Whay and Shearer, 2017). Acute but especially chronic pain are the main factors accountable for these effects. Even brief intervals of acute pain can induce long-term neuronal remodeling and sensitization, chronic pain, and lasting psychological distress (Anderson and Muir, 2005). Lame cows have reduced nociceptive thresholds consistent with the hyperalgesia that is associated with tissue lesion and concurrent inflammation (Coetzee et al, 2017). In cows with hoof horn lesions, pain at the site and surrounding areas (primary and secondary peripheral hyperalgesia) was shown to be present up to 28 d after treatment (Whay et al, 1998)
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