Pain management for calves

By Dr. Charlotte Winder, DVM, DVSc., Dept. of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

General principles of pain control

Pain can occur for many reasons, including tissue damage and inflammation, which can be a result of both injuries and disease processes. The intensity of pain and how long it may last can depend on the amount of damage, if pain control is used, as well as previous experiences with pain or stress and the calf’s emotional state (Adcock & Tucker, 2018). Using pain control is most effective when given either before a painful procedure or as early as possible in the course of disease (Coetzee, 2017). In general, pain control options for calves are generally quite safe, with wide safety margins.

Disbudding

Disbudding, where either a hot iron or caustic paste is used to destroy the tissue which grows into the horn, is preferred over dehorning, which requires surgical amputation to remove the horn. Dehorning causes more tissue damage and causes longer lasting pain and decreased performance (Stock et al., 2013). 

For both caustic paste and hot iron disbudding, using both a local anesthetic as well as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) helps substantially reduce the pain of the procedure (Winder et al., 2018; Yakan et al., 2018; Reedman et al., 2020). The local anesthetic acts to stop the initial pain within the first few hours, while the NSAID helps control inflammatory pain for days following the procedure. Sedative such as xylazine may also be used to help with handling, however, it is clear that this drug alone does not sufficiently control the pain of the procedure (Stillwell et al., 2010), so must be combined with local anesthetic and NSAID. Results are mixed regarding impact of sedation on the calf (Vasseur et al., 2014; Reedman et al., 2021), therefore, xylazine use is best left up to the discretion of the individual farm and their herd veterinarian.

Castration

Castration may be done by rubber ring, surgical methods, or emasculatome. Performing this procedure earlier in life is preferred, as there is less tissue damage and less indicators of pain and inflammation (Tucker et al., 2015; Marti et al., 2017). For all methods and ages, use of local anesthesia (as an injection to the testes and under the skin in the scrotum) and NSAID analgesia show benefits in reducing indicators of pain (Meléndez et al., 2017; Newcomber, 2022). Preliminary research on the use of lidocaine impregnated bands shows evidence that they can deliver therapeutic concentrations in the tissue for long periods of time (Saville et al., 2020), and some field studies have shown benefit over no pain control (Roche et al., 2024; Ross et al., 2024), but more research is needed to compare to calves given injected lidocaine. While calves castrated with bands show more signs of pain in the weeks following castration compared to surgical methods (Nogues et al., 2021), it is important that the method used be appropriate for the environment and the operator – working with your veterinarian to determine an appropriate method for your farm is key.

Extra teat removal

Although not specifically studied, even small-scale subcutaneous procedures have produced post-operative pain (Frondelius et al., 2018). As a result, a combination of both an NSAID in combination with local anesthetics appears to show benefit in these cases (Frondelius et al., 2018).

Neonatal diarrhea

Regardless of the cause of the diarrhea, appropriate fluid therapy and continued feeding of milk are critical to recovery (Constable, 2009; Smith, 2009), as well as appropriate antibiotic use where needed (Meganck et al., 2014). Providing an NSAID to calves with diarrhea may help because of the pain control and anti-inflammatory actions, as well as their impact on fever (Constable, 2009). Calves with diarrhea treated with an NSAID can show improved appetite (Philipp et al., 2003; Todd et al., 2010), performance (Todd et al., 2010), activity (Welk et al., in press) and recovery (Barnett et al., 2003).

Respiratory disease

Although scientific studies on these specifically for respiratory disease in calves are limited (Francoz et al., 2012), use of NSAIDs can be beneficial when given as part of a treatment protocol. Respiratory disease causes sickness behaviours (Toaff-Rosenstein and Tucker, 2018) and is painful (Martin et al., 2022) and using NSAIDs can reduce fever and improve clinical signs (Apley, 2021), as well as alleviate indicators of pain (Martin et al., 2022).

Navel infections

Umbilical infections are not uncommon, yet may be underrecognized on farm (Renaud et al., 2018), can cause pain (Wieland et al., 2017), and can progress to septicemia leading to joint infections and even meningitis (Blowey & Weaver, 2011). While research specific on pain mitigation for navel infections is limited, adding an NSAID to antimicrobial treatments is likely to benefit calves by reducing inflammation and fever.

References available upon request. First published in the 2024 Healthy Calf Conference Proceedings.