Ellis, Kathryn

Gladden, Nicola

Martin, Jessica

McKeegan, Dorothy

Objectives: Parturition assistance is a common practice however — although it has the potential to be both painful and stressful — few studies have investigated the welfare impact of farmer-assisted parturition. Veterinary surgeons commonly report administering non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) analgesia when providing parturition assistance to cattle, the results of studies are conflicting and few studies employ a factorial design considered optimal for investigating animal pain, thus the potential welfare benefits of postpartum NSAID analgesia are unclear. The objective of the current study was to use a 2 x 2 factorial design to investigate the effects of farmer-assisted parturition and NSAID analgesia on the postpartum welfare of dairy cattle

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Title: Postpartum analgesia improves the welfare of cows irrespective of parturition assistanceAuthors: Nicola Gladden1, Kathryn Ellis1, Jessica Martin2, Dorothy McKeegan3 Affiliations: Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety, University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine, Glasgow.  Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, EdinburghInstitute of Biodiversity Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, GlasgowObjectives: Parturition assistance is a common practice however — although it has the potential to be both painful and stressful — few studies have investigated the welfare impact of farmer-assisted parturition.  Veterinary surgeons commonly report administering non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) analgesia when providing parturition assistance to cattle, the results of studies are conflicting and few studies employ a factorial design considered optimal for investigating animal pain, thus the potential welfare benefits of postpartum NSAID analgesia are unclear.  The objective of the current study was to use a 2 x 2 factorial design to investigate the effects of farmer-assisted parturition and NSAID analgesia on the postpartum welfare of dairy cattle.         Materials and methods:  37 farmer-assisted and 35 unassisted cows were recruited and randomly assigned to receive the NSAID ketoprofen (n = 35) or saline (n = 37) within 3 h of parturition.  Cow behaviour was monitored for 48 h postpartum using continuous video recording and behaviours were analysed using instantaneous focal sampling (sample intervals: every 20 min every other hour).  Behaviours were defined in accordance with an ethogram containing 13 behavioural categories and a 48 h time budget was constructed for each cow.  Multivariate analysis was performed using generalised linear mixed modelling (negative binomial distribution) to compare behavioural time budgets of animals in each treatment and assistance status group, as well as investigate treatment x assistance status interaction effects.Results:  Assisted cows spent a greater proportion of the time budget in lateral recumbency overall (p = 0.008) and with the head rested (p = 0.049) than unassisted cows, irrespective of treatment status.  Irrespective of assistance status, ketoprofen treated cows spent less time in lateral recumbency than saline treated cows, both overall (p = 0.031) and with the head rested (p = 0.008).  Additionally, when in sternal recumbency, ketoprofen treated cows spent more tie with the head rested than saline treated cows (p = 0.009).  Ketoprofen treated assisted cows showed a tendency to spend a greater proportion of the time budget engaged in feeding directed behaviours than cows in the other three treatment x assistance status interaction groups (p = 0.079).         Conclusions: Ketoprofen treated cows engaged in lying postures suggestive of improved comfort, regardless of assistance status — a finding that suggests ketoprofen has the potential to improve the welfare of postpartum cows regardless of assistance status.  As parturition is a necessary event affecting all productive cows, this finding has the potential to contribute to improvements in the welfare of large numbers of cattle and provides an additional tool for farmers and veterinary surgeons seeking to optimise the welfare of cows in the immediate postpartum period.   Keywords: Welfare; Behaviour; Parturition; Analgesia; Cattle.  

Postpartum analgesia improves the welfare of cows irrespective of parturition assistance

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