Assessment of potential neuropathic changes in cattle after cautery disbudding.

Disbudding of calves is a standard husbandry procedure to reduce the risk of injuries to other cattle and to workers. Whereas acute pain resulting from disbudding has been studied extensively, little is known about chronic pain as a potential long-term consequence. The goal of the present study was to investigate possible morphological changes in the cornual nerve as a function of disbudding. Samples were collected from 17 randomly selected bulls and from 21 calves from a prospective clinical study. Among the calves, 13 were disbudded and 8 were sham-disbudded. Out of the disbudded calves, 4 showed signs of chronic pain. In all the animals, the infraorbital nerve was used as a methodological check. Morphological analysis included measuring minimal diameters of the axons present in both the cornual and infraorbital nerves. Sympathetic fibers were identified as based on the presence of Tyroxine hydroxylase (TH). TH-negative fibers were considered afferents. Trigeminal ganglia from the calves were immunostained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3). R. cornualis and N. infraorbitalis differed in terms of axon diameters and proportion of TH-positive fibers. Weak evidence (p > .091) of a difference in axon diameters between control and disbudded calves was found in R. cornualis, but the proportion of TH-positive fibers was alike in both groups. Average glial envelope and the percentages of ATF3-positive neurons revealed no difference between calves with and without signs of pain. Thus, available evidence is insufficient to support neuropathic changes as a result of disbudding in calves.

The use of race winnings, ratings and a performance index to assess the effect of thermocautery of the soft palate for treatment of horses with suspected intermittent dorsal displacement. A case-control study in 110 racing Thoroughbreds.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING THE STUDY: There have been no reports of the efficacy of thermocautery of the soft palate (TSP) assessed objectively as a treatment of intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP). OBJECTIVE: To compare: racing performance of horses that underwent thermocautery of the soft palate with matched controls; and 'Racing Post ratings' (RPR) with prize money won (RE) and a performance index (PI) for each of the horses in the study. HYPOTHESIS: Thermocautery of the soft palate has no beneficial effect on racing performance and the 3 measures of performance are significantly related. METHODS: The inclusion criteria were fulfilled by 110 horses and each was matched with 2 controls. Changes in performance were compared statistically. RPR, RE and PI were analysed using a regression model. RESULTS: The percentage of horses that improved in performance following the procedure was 28-51% for the 3 measures of performance, compared to 21-53% for the matched controls. There was no significant effect of the procedure on the changes in RPR or RE. There was a significant effect of the procedure on the change in PI (P=0.015) with more treated horses achieving an improved PI and fewer acquiring a worse PI than matched control horses. The measures of performance showed significant correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Thermocautery of the soft palate alone may not be the most efficacious treatment of DDSP. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Production of a reliable measure of racehorse performance may be possible.