Mijares S, Edwards-Callaway L, Roman-Muniz I N, Coetzee J F, Applegate T J, Cramer M C
Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2023 Feb 23;4:1076100. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2023.1076100. eCollection 2023.
Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in preweaned dairy calves. Early detection and therefore treatment are essential to minimize animal welfare concerns, particularly given that recent research also demonstrates that BRD is painful. Veterinarians are essential to ensuring calves with BRD receive appropriate treatment, but little to no research exists regarding veterinarians' perspectives about BRD detection and treatment in dairy calves. This is a critical step to determine education and outreach needs that can target BRD treatment to improve calf welfare. Thus, the objectives of the current study were to describe US veterinarians' current detection methods and treatment practices for BRD in preweaned dairy calves, understand veterinarians' rationale for treatment decisions, and identify gaps in knowledge regarding treatment and management of calf BRD.
An online survey was sent to two veterinarian-focused list-serves and newsletter. Final responses ( = 47) were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative analyses.
On-farm necropsy was the diagnostic tool most considered "extremely important" (26, 55.3%). All veterinarians indicated that BRD was at least mildly painful. However, only 53% of veterinarians ( = 25) assess pain in preweaned calves with BRD in order to make treatment decisions. Furthermore, of the veterinarians that assessed pain, 40% ( = 10) reported that their knowledge of pain assessment and treatment was adequate, but most ( = 24) considered a calf's pain-level at least "moderately important" to make BRD treatment decisions. The most important ancillary therapy for antimicrobials were NSAIDs (21, 44.7%). The ancillary therapy most often considered "extremely important" for treating BRD was NSAIDs. Qualitative analysis identified the following as factors that influenced veterinarians' willingness to provide analgesia: the farm's willingness to administer drugs, clinical signs, perceived severity of pain, the need for anti-inflammatories, and the presence of fever and comorbidities.
This study included a small sample size and an extremely low response rate; results should therefore be interpreted with caution. Despite this limitation, important gaps in knowledge were identified, including pain assessment and consideration when making treatment decisions, and diagnostic tools. Addressing these needs in future research and outreach efforts could help ensure appropriate and timely treatment of calf BRD, including pain mitigation.
牛呼吸道疾病（BRD）是断奶前奶牛犊发病和死亡的主要原因。早期检测并因此进行治疗对于将动物福利问题降至最低至关重要，特别是鉴于最近的研究还表明BRD是痛苦的。兽医对于确保患有BRD的犊牛获得适当治疗至关重要，但关于兽医对奶牛犊BRD检测和治疗的观点的研究几乎不存在。这是确定教育和推广需求的关键一步，这些需求可以针对BRD治疗以改善犊牛福利。因此，本研究的目的是描述美国兽医目前对断奶前奶牛犊BRD的检测方法和治疗实践，了解兽医治疗决策的基本原理，并确定犊牛BRD治疗和管理方面的知识差距。
向两个以兽医为重点的邮件列表和时事通讯发送了在线调查问卷。使用定性和定量分析对最终回复（n = 47）进行了分析。
农场尸检是最被认为“极其重要”的诊断工具（26人，55.3%）。所有兽医都表示BRD至少有轻度疼痛。然而，只有53%的兽医（n = 25）在对患有BRD的断奶前犊牛进行治疗决策时评估疼痛。此外，在评估疼痛的兽医中，40%（n = 10）报告说他们对疼痛评估和治疗的知识足够，但大多数（n = 24）认为犊牛的疼痛程度对于做出BRD治疗决策至少“中等重要”。抗菌药物最重要的辅助治疗是非甾体抗炎药（21人，44.7%）。治疗BRD最常被认为“极其重要”的辅助治疗是非甾体抗炎药。定性分析确定了以下因素会影响兽医提供镇痛的意愿：农场给药的意愿、临床症状、感知的疼痛严重程度、对抗炎药的需求以及发热和合并症的存在。
本研究样本量小且回复率极低；因此，对结果的解释应谨慎。尽管存在这一局限性，但仍发现了重要的知识差距，包括治疗决策时的疼痛评估和考虑以及诊断工具。在未来的研究和推广工作中满足这些需求有助于确保犊牛BRD得到适当及时的治疗，包括减轻疼痛。
