Dr. Kristabel Lewis, BSc BVMS(Hons), technical services veterinarian, Troy Animal Healthcare asks have you discussed pain management plans for marking this year with your clients? 

Why is pain relief essential?

Animals that are healthier and experience less pain tend to grow faster and more efficiently.

Australian consumers now expect animal welfare to be a priority, and as Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) states, ‘providing pain relief during routine husbandry is now an expectation’.

Using pain relief or preventative treatments during procedures such as castration or tail docking allows animals to resume normal behaviours—like grazing and bonding with offspring—sooner than untreated animals. Unmanaged pain can lead to stress, suppress the immune system, and, in severe cases, result in death.

Research conducted by CSIRO on Butec demonstrated a sevenfold reduction in pain-related behaviours in Merino lambs within the first 8 hours after marking procedures.

Butec offers systemic, long-lasting relief from pain and inflammation across multiple procedures—with a single, needle-free dose.

What are the current trends for pain management in Australia?

The Sheep Sustainability Framework 2024 National Producer Survey shows the number of sheep producers using appropriate pain management is increasing.

While uptake of pain management options is improving, it is provided in only 20 per cent of sheep that are castrated. There is still a lot of potential for improving the welfare of many lambs at marking, particularly for producers using rings.

The guidelines for appropriate pain management are:

• For mulesing, using products containing meloxicam such as Butec and/or spray on local anaesthetic.
• For castration and/or tail docking using:
• The knife method, the use of Tri-Solfen and/or a registered product containing meloxicam, such as Butec, is considered appropriate.
• The ring method, the use of NumOcaine and/or a registered product containing meloxicam, such as Butec, is considered appropriate.

There are a few options available OTC now, which one should I recommend?

Broadly, there are now two groups of products available over the counter in Australia: systemically acting products containing meloxicam such as Butec, and locally acting products such as NumOcaine and Tri-Solfen.

The locally acting products work rapidly at the site of the procedure, for a short period of time, to minimise pain as the knife or ring is applied.

Systemically acting products work by entering the bloodstream and impact the pain and inflammatory pathways in the body. 

This means with one dose you can be treating pain at multiple sites, such as castration and tail docking wounds. They take a little longer to begin working, but will remain effective for a sustained period of time.

Ideally, using multimodal pain management, a combination of local and systemic products, will provide maximal pain relief. 

However, if you only sell one product, make it Butec, because:

• Use of a single product can address the pain relief needs of multiple wounds or procedure sites.
• No needles – safer for administrator and no carcass damage.
• Custom designed applicator to apply the blue gel between the cheek teeth and cheek pouch.
• Long lasting pain relief, that starts working within 15 minutes.
• Can be used for every marking procedure (surgical or rubber rings).
• Developed and made in Australia in conjunction with
• Plastic bottle – no risk of glass breakage.
• Use for up to six months after opening.

What are you doing to spread the word?

At Troy Animal Healthcare, we love to see rural stores working creatively to make sure producers know what is available to them.

Some things we have seen that work well are:

• In store displays, featuring all marking gear in one area, to make things easier for the customer in store – rings, ear tags, Butec and other pain relief options.
• Producer days – invite people along for an information session in store, or organise an on-property demonstration so they can see Butec in use and try it themselves.
• Encouraging people that are not so sure to give it a try. The new Butec 200ml pack size is ideal for this.
• Conversation! When a producer comes in to buy a pack of rings, chat with them about pain relief options - 57per cent of those using rings are using Tri-Solfen, (which can only be used on open wounds), for pain management. This is not an effective pain management option when using rings, but producers might not be aware until they are told.

Our Key Account Managers are passionate about improving welfare outcomes for animals and would be very happy to work with you.