The cattle industry has made progress in low-stress handling, better ways to manage cattle, antibiotic stewardship, etc. but one issue that still needs to be addressed is pain management.
David Rethorst, DVM, of Beef Health Solutions, Wamego, KS, says the challenge is finding a point where we can satisfy consumer desires, along with what producers can actually work into their management programs. Cattle producers want to be able to reduce pain, but sometimes this is difficult.
There’s been a great deal of press on this issue in the last six months and discussion among producers and veterinarians about this challenge.
“Beef producers are wondering if they are really going to need to do this in the branding pens,” says Rethorst. He recently served on a task force for the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP).
“We update our dehorning and castration guidelines every five years; these were due to be updated in 2019. We have the draft proposal prepared, but it’s not final. The old AABP guidelines stated that castrations be done by 120 days of age,” he says.
“We looked at AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) guidelines, World Health Organization guidelines, and BQA guidelines. I believe the new AABP guidelines will state that castration should be done prior to three months of age or the first practical time to castrate after three months of age. On most Western ranches, calves are castrated before three months.”
Calves that are branded and vaccinated before they are turned out to summer grass—especially on public rangeland—are usually castrated at branding time.
“I strongly encourage producers to work with their veterinarian regarding pain management, because every situation will be different. They need to determine what works for that rancher,” Rethorst says.
Two years ago, Rethorst did an animal welfare assessment for a large ranching corporation with multiple ranches. “Part of this involved the BQA animal welfare assessment: develop protocols, document everything, etc. One of the first things we did with these ranches was to develop a VCPR (veterinarian-client-patient relationship) agreement that they could take to their veterinarian. We set up a template and asked each ranch and each veterinarian involved to tell us what they would be responsible for, and what they would expect from the other party.”
“We developed a VCPR agreement to document that yes, this veterinarian is working with this ranch on a regular basis. This was part of our handbook when we were done. Then they came up with protocols for castration and protocols for disbudding baby calves at spring branding.”
If producers keep a veterinarian in the loop, they have more credibility with consumers, who are already concerned about what is being done to address the pain of castration and disbudding/dehorning.
Pain medication options
Jessica Laurin, DVM, in a mixed practice at Animal Health Center of Marion County, KS, and Tri-County Veterinary Center in Herington, KS, says things are changing regarding our perception of pain management in food animals.
“In the past we also didn’t have very many options to choose from regarding pain medication. In the last several years we’ve been doing a better job of looking at the things we had, plus bringing some new choices to the table for trying to manage pain,” she says.
Now there’s a pour-on (Banamine Transdermal) that’s absorbed within minutes and gives more than just a one-day effect. Currently, it is only on-label for reducing pain associated with foot rot in cattle and fever associated with bovine respiratory disease.
“Depending on the animal, you may be able to just walk up and pour this on, for pain mitigation, which is less stressful than trying to restrain the animal and give it Banamine by IV,” says Laurin.
She added that there are several options today.
“When Dr. Dee Griffith was with the Great Plains Veterinary Education System, he did a lot of work looking at Meloxicam, and so did Dr. Coetzee at Kansas State University. I think it’s becoming more common now for veterinarians to use Meloxicam, even though it’s not an FDA-approved labeled drug for food animals in the U.S. It is approved in Canada for use in cattle, and veterinarians here can prescribe pain medication, which has helped a lot.”
If you are working with a veterinarian, they can prescribe the medication you might need when castrating or dehorning.
“If the veterinarian understands the size of the calves you are castrating, and what your facilities are, it is easier for them to help you calculate doses and tell you the easiest way to administer the medication,” says Laurin.
Public perception
The other driver for the use of pain medication is to address negative consumer perceptions of painful livestock management practices, according to Dr. Hans Coetzee, at Kansas State University.
“Pain mitigation may become something consumers expect livestock producers to do, to ensure that the wellbeing of the animal is not threatened. In these situations, pain management may become a cost of doing business,” says Coetzee.
“However, this should not be viewed as a threat or imposition by the industry. Livestock producers already do an outstanding job of taking care of their animals. I believe that providing pain management can be a win-win for the animal and the producer.
“When we start administering pain management, the cattle look better after painful procedures. They are typically up eating, and their behavior is similar to what we see before the procedure. In some cases, this may translate into economic benefits for the producer, but even if this is not the case, at least producers can feel assured that they are doing right by the animals that are such an important part of their livelihood,” he says.
Pain management will probably become a routine part of cattle raising, partly because we don’t want public perception to be that our industry is cruel and inhumane, and partly because it’s the right thing to do, Laurin explained.
“Raising animals is a nurturing/nourishing relationship,” she said. Part of the reason people take care of cattle is that it provides a livelihood, and part of it is that the relationship is beneficial on both ends (for the cattle and the caretakers).
“We just need to make some adjustments to make sure it is more of a nourishing relationship and less stressful to the animals,” says Laurin. An animal that is less stressed will perform better, as well.
Rethorst added that we need to be good stewards of these animals that are in our care and pain management can be part of that.
“If we lose a calf at weaning or when he goes into a feedlot, we’ve lost all the resources that have gone into getting that calf from birth to weaning, and we’ve also wasted resources that went into taking care of his mother—for her to get pregnant and to carry that calf through gestation. It’s not just a one-year loss. Taking care of resources is what the beef industry is all about,” says Rethorst.
More education needed
Laurin says that the annual international symposium for beef cattle welfare, started about eight years ago by Dr. Daniel Thomson at Kansas State University, has been very helpful in teaching veterinarians and producers how to manage pain when dehorning cattle.
“Dee Griffith spoke at the fourth annual symposium (July 16-18, 2014, at Iowa State University) discussing dehorning and castration, and ways that veterinarians and producers can work together to address and mitigate pain in cattle when doing these procedures,” Laurin says.
“After that symposium, Dr. Renee Dewell at Iowa State University put together two instructional videos which were first viewed at the spring meeting of the Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC). One shows how to do lidocaine blocks when doing castrations, and the other shows how to do lidocaine blocks when dehorning,” she says.
Coetzee encourages producers to talk with their veterinarians about pain management.
“We recently conducted a survey of producers to assess their knowledge of pain management and pain management drugs and found that there are definitely opportunities for producers to get more information from their veterinarians before adopting some of these strategies,” he says.
“If producers can try some of these methods and see how those treated animals respond, they could get a sense of whether this is something that might work within their own production system. A conversation with their veterinarian could help address some of the concerns that the producer may have.
“I don’t think it’s a case anymore of pain management being too expensive or not worth pursuing, because today most livestock producers want to do the very best they can for the animals in their care. This is just one component of sustainable management of livestock,” he says. This is simply an opportunity to improve on something that we already do very well. — Heather Smith Thomas,WLJ correspondent
