Kristabel Lewis*
As your clients prepare for marking, have you had a conversation with them about what they are using for pain management this year?
Healthier, happier animals grow bigger, faster.
The Australian public expects animals to be raised with welfare as a priority– as MLA stated: ‘The provision of pain relief with routine husbandry practice is now an expectation’.
Animals treated with pain management/preventatives during routine husbandry procedures express normal behaviours, such as mothering up and grazing, more quickly than their untreated counterparts.
Ongoing pain causes stress, reduces immune system function and can ultimately lead to death in severe circumstances.
CSIRO has conducted numerous studies using Butec, with one study showing a seven-fold reduction in pain-related behaviours in Merino sheep in the first eight hours post castration and tail docking.
Butec works systemically, targeting all points of pain and inflammation in the body, from multiple procedures, with a single, needle free dose, for sustained relief.
What are the current trends for pain management in Australia?
The Sheep Sustainability Framework 2024 National Producer Survey shows the majority of sheep producers use pain management when mulesing.
Since the previous report in 2023, the percentage of producers who used appropriate pain management for:
•Castration of male lambs (using the ring method) increased to 22 percent for Merinos and 15 per cent for non-Merinos.
•Tail docking using the hot knife method, held steady at 78 per cent for Merinos and declined to 39 per cent for non-Merinos.
•Tail docking using the ring method increased from the last report for both Merinos (to 11 per cent) and non-Merinos (to 10 per cent).
This shows us that while uptake of pain management options is improving, there is still a lot of potential for improving the welfare of many lambs at tail docking and castration, 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 is and/or a registered product containing meloxicam, such as Butec, is considered appropriate.
The Australian Beef Sustainability 2024 Annual Update tells us that in 2023, the percentage of producers using appropriate pain relief for invasive husbandry practices (dehorning, disbudding, castration, and spaying) increased to 31 per cent – up from 21per cent in 2020 and less than 5 per cent in 2018.
The industry aspires to 100 per cent use of effective and appropriate pain mitigation for these procedures by 2030.
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 that 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 can 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 carcase 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 CSIRO, MLA and AWI.
• Plastic bottle – no risk of glass breakage.
• Use for up to six months after opening.
It’s worth talking about...
Are you or your team feeling a bit awkward about discussing making pain relief with producers?
Here are some things to bear in mind when you are having these conversations:
It’s easy enough to ask ‘do you have your pain management sorted?’ which leads to a yes or no answer.
Instead, ask ‘what is your pain management plan for this year?’ and start a conversation.
They don’t believe animals feel pain? Go for the slow approach – get them to purchase A bottle and A gun and try it on some of their lambs.
Allow them to see the difference –seeing is believing.
The new Butec 200ml pack size is ideal for this
Check which technique they use –knife or rings? An example of why this is important: 57 per cent of those using rings are using Tri-Solfen, (which can only be used on open wounds), for pain management.
We already use local products – isn’t that enough? It’s a lot better than using nothing, but there is more that can be done.
Make sure they are aware that they can add Butec to their plan, or transition to it.
This is a big area, and it’s an important area.
If your team is not con dent to have these conversations, please contact us at Troy Animal Healthcare to discuss a Butec training session to improve their confidence.
*Dr Kristabel Lewis has a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Medical and Veterinary Science (Honours) and works as a technical services veterinarian with Troy Animal Healthcare.
