Ae Waterman-Pearson

Current British veterinary attitudes to perioperative analgesia for cats and small mammals

In March 1996, a questionnaire was sent to 2000 veterinary surgeons primarily involved in small animal practice to assess their attitudes to perioperative analgesic therapy in dogs, cats and other small mammals. This paper is concerned only with the data relevant to cats, analgesic monitoring, continuing education and, to a limited extent, small mammals. The veterinary surgeons considered that pain was a consequence of all the surgical procedures specified. Analgesics were administered by 94 per cent of them to cats undergoing orthopaedic surgery, by 72 per cent for the repair of a ruptured diaphragm, by 56 per cent for laparotomy, by 26 per cent for ovariohysterectomy, by 16 per cent for castration and by 39 per cent for dental work. Women and more recent graduates assigned higher pain scores to the procedures, and there was a significant correlation between the pain score and the number of veterinary surgeons who routinely gave analgesic, resulting in women and more recent graduates being more likely to treat the pain with analgesics. The majority of the veterinarians performed surgery on small mammals, but on average only 22 per cent gave perioperative analgesics, and the number giving analgesics varied with the species of small mammal. The perioperative monitoring of animals was largely delegated to nursing staff

CURRENT BRITISH VETERINARY ATTITUDES TO PERIOPERATIVE ANALGESIA FOR DOGS

In March 1996, a questionnaire was sent to 2000 veterinary surgeons, primarily involved in small animal practice, to assess their attitudes to perioperative analgesic therapy in dogs, cats and other small mammals. This paper is concerned only with the data relating to dogs. The veterinary surgeons considered that pain was a consequence of all the surgical procedures specified, but there were differences in their treatment of pain. Some veterinarians considered that a degree of pain was necessary postoperatively to prevent excessive activity. In general, women and more recent graduates assigned higher pain scores to the procedures and were more likely to treat the pain with analgesics. A significant number of veterinarians consider the use of opiates or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs before surgical procedures, but relatively few appear to use combinations of different classes of analgesics either before or after operations.

COMPARISON OF PETHIDINE, BUPRENORPHINE AND KETOPROFEN FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA AFTER OVARIOHYSTERECTOMY IN THE CAT

Sixty cats which underwent an ovariohysterectomy were randomly allocated into four treatment groups. One group (controls) received no analgesics postoperatively, and the others received either a single dose of buprenorphine (0.006mg/kg) intramuscularly, or pethidine (5 mg/kg) intramuscularly, or ketoprofen (2 mg/kg) subcutaneously. The analgesia obtained after each treatment was assessed by three measures. There were significant differences between the groups both for the requirement for intervention analgesia (P=0.0008) and for the overall clinical assessment (P=0.0003) with ketoprofen requiring least intervention analgesia and having the best overall clinical assessment, followed by buprenorphine then pethidine. The control group required the most intervention analgesia and had the worst overall clinical assessment. Visual analogue scale scoring for pain produced significant differences between the groups from one hour after the operation, with the cats which were given ketoprofen tending to have lower pain scores than the other groups.

EFFECT OF CARPROFEN ON LAMENESS IN BROILER CHICKENS

Lameness is prevalent among broiler chickens and there is concern that it is chronically painful. The administration of an analgesic has been frequently used to identify pain in lame farm animals. Therefore, in this study the ability of lame and normal broiler chickens to traverse an obstacle course was tested after treatment with the analgesic, carprofen, a placebo saline injection or a control handling procedure. Sound birds traversed the course in approximately 11 seconds, irrespective of treatment. Lame birds took approximately 34 seconds to traverse the course, unless they received carprofen, which reduced their completion time to 18 seconds. Thus, carprofen substantially increased the speed of lame birds, providing evidence that birds with moderate lameness suffer pain when they walk.

Role of ketoprofen in the modulation of hyperalgesia associated with lameness in dairy cattle

Forty lame dairy cows were randomly assigned to receive a course of either the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen, or sterile saline, together with conventional treatment for lameness. The effect of the ketoprofen was measured by using locomotion scoring and by testing the cows’ nociceptive threshold over a period of 28 days. The locomotion score of all the cows improved but ketoprofen had no significant effect on this change. However, in the cows that received ketoprofen the hyperalgesia associated with lameness, recorded using a nociceptive threshold test, was significantly modulated on days 3, 8 and 28 after their initial examination, drug administration and treatment of lesions.

Analgesic effects in dogs of carprofen and pethidine together compared with the effects of either drug alone

Thirty bitches undergoing routine neutering were used in an assessor-blinded trial of the postoperative analgesic effects of pethidine and carprofen administered either together or singly. The level of analgesia was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for pain and sedation and by nociceptive mechanical threshold testing. The two drugs administered together, and carprofen alone, provided good postoperative analgesia as assessed by vAs scoring. Pethidine alone did not provide postoperative analgesia of sufficient duration.

Potential contamination of beef carcases with brain tissue at slaughter.

EXPERIMENTAL strain typing of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (VCJD) has shown that the transmissible agent responsible for this disorder is identical to that in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), providing further evidence to support the hypothesis that exposure to the BSE agent, presumably through the diet, is the cause of VCJD (Ironside 1998). Most cattle are stunned with a captive bolt gun (CBG) before slaughter and because of the suggested link between BSE and VCJD, the possibility that the use of CBGS may contaminate the carcase with brain tissue has raised concern for public health. Garland and others (1996) previously reported the finding, at necropsy, ofbrain tissue in the lungs of cattle slaughtered in the USA after being stunned with a pneumatically activated, penetrating CBG that introduced air intracranially. However, the validity and relevance of the Garland report was questioned (Taylor 1996) and similar studies carried out on 210 cattle in UK abattoirs failed to confirm this observation (Munro 1997). The UK Meat and Livestock Commission issued

Postoperative pain after ovariohysterectomy in the cat: a comparison of two anaesthetic regimens

The lack of antemortem diagnostic techniques has limited previous investigation of the epidemiology and prevalence of PPE, the effectiveness of methods of treatment, and economic impact of the disease. The PCR technique appears to be the most sensitive and specific method currently available for detecting the presence of L intracellularis in pigs with natural infection (Jones and others 1993b, McOrist and others 1994, Chang and others 1997). There

Lame broiler chickens respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with objective changes in gait function: A controlled clinical trial

Leg health of intensively reared broiler chickens is a significant problem, yet little is known regarding the nature of lameness-associated pain. Kinematic changes in gait have been reported in naturally lame broilers following subcutaneous non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) administration, compared to a placebo group. In the current study, an extensive range of gait parameters were defined using a commercial motion-capturing system to record three-dimensional temporospatial information from walking broilers pre- and post-treatment. Data analysis, performed using multi-level models, revealed gait modifications in broilers receiving NSAID, but not in those receiving saline. The effect of walking velocity was accounted for retrospectively. An increase in velocity following NSAID treatment (carprofen: P<0.001; meloxicam: P=0.044) indicated improved walking ability. For several measures, the polarity of the treatment effect depended upon walking speed. At slow speeds certain parameters become more like those of non-lame broilers, which may have been indicative of improved stability: stride length and duration (both NSAIDs), transverse back displacement (meloxicam), and vertical leg displacement (carprofen). However, these same parameters also revealed that NSAID treatment caused imbalance at faster speeds, which may have signified an excessive dosage. Although doses employed were not conclusively effective, evidence was provided that factors besides body conformation influenced mobility in the test cohort. The study showed that the model would be useful in future studies to increase our understanding of pain associated with specific lameness types in broiler chickens.

Kinematic Analysis Quantifies Gait Abnormalities Associated with Lameness in Broiler Chickens and Identifies Evolutionary Gait Differences

This is the first time that gait characteristics of broiler (meat) chickens have been compared with their progenitor, jungle fowl, and the first kinematic study to report a link between broiler gait parameters and defined lameness scores. A commercial motion-capturing system recorded three-dimensional temporospatial information during walking. The hypothesis was that the gait characteristics of non-lame broilers (n = 10) would be intermediate to those of lame broilers (n = 12) and jungle fowl (n = 10, tested at two ages: immature and adult). Data analysed using multi-level models, to define an extensive range of baseline gait parameters, revealed inter-group similarities and differences. Natural selection is likely to have made jungle fowl walking gait highly efficient. Modern broiler chickens possess an unbalanced body conformation due to intense genetic selection for additional breast muscle (pectoral hypertrophy) and whole body mass. Together with rapid growth, this promotes compensatory gait adaptations to minimise energy expenditure and triggers high lameness prevalence within commercial flocks; lameness creating further disruption to the gait cycle and being an important welfare issue. Clear differences were observed between the two lines (short stance phase, little double-support, low leg lift, and little back displacement in adult jungle fowl; much double-support, high leg lift, and substantial vertical back movement in sound broilers) presumably related to mass and body conformation. Similarities included stride length and duration. Additional modifications were also identified in lame broilers (short stride length and duration, substantial lateral back movement, reduced velocity) presumably linked to musculo-skeletal abnormalities. Reduced walking velocity suggests an attempt to minimise skeletal stress and/or discomfort, while a shorter stride length and time, together with longer stance and double-support phases, are associated with instability. We envisage a key future role for this highly quantitative methodology in pain assessment (associated with broiler lameness) including experimental examination of therapeutic agent efficacy.