Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are drugs that reduce pain and decrease inflammation by blocking out the production of chemicals in the body that release the pain signals going to the brain and cause tissue swelling.
Common NSAIDs include ketoprofen and meloxicam, with a number of other forms available to use in cows and can be hugely beneficial when cows experience pain and inflammation.
NSAIDs have varying withdrawal periods with meloxicam having a five day withdrawal period for milk and a 15-day withdrawal period for meat while ketoprofen has no milk withdrawal period.
Even though there are great benefits from using NSAIDs on lame cows, not many farmers are currently using the drug as a Teagasc survey of over 1,000 farmers showed that only 8% of farmers use the treatment for severely lame cows.
Even though NSAIDs are classified as ‘prescription only’ medicines, farmers can still administer the drug themselves to cows in line with the prescription obtained.
Lameness
Lameness can be painful and severely distressing for cows which can hinder their productivity, health and welfare.
It becomes particularly obvious when lame cows walk and it is so painful that they cannot bear their own bodyweight on the same leg, causing them to limp.
This impacts their behaviour in a number of ways and has a direct knock-on effect on their productivity, which can be be costly for farmers.
Cows may eat less as it is too painful to be on their feet for long periods of time to graze and can leading to reduced milk production. This reduction in milk can begin as early as three months before the lameness is detected.
Lame cows will show less oestrus behaviour for the same reason, which will mean that it will be difficult to detect their heat and subsequently get them back in calf.
NSAIDs
There are a number of treatment measures that can be taken to treat the lame cow, which should include paring the horn of the affected hoof – to identify the lesion causing lameness.
Resting the cow needs to be a priority and often, placing a shoe or a block on the non-affected claw is necessary to take the pressure of the sore claw, according to Animal Health Ireland (AHI).
In the case of digital dermatitis, a topical spray and a bandage might be needed. Most lameness is non-infectious so will not require an antibiotic but occasionally for the likes of foul-in-the-foot, it may be required.
On the other hand, NSAIDs have benefits for all cases of lameness, as they will reduce pain and inflammation in the affected limb.
This will result in an improved appetite and a better ability to perform and will have a better chance of returning to her normal behaviour.
The drug will allow for an easier and quicker recovery from lameness which will reduce costs of treatment and allow for a rapid return to production.
A study done in the UK found that if lame cows were treated with a three-day course of NSAIDs, in addition to a trim and a block on the affected claw, they were more likely to have recovered from lameness five weeks later, as 56% of the cows recovered.
The cows who got a trim and no NSAIDs resulted in only 36% of the cows recovering, as reducing the time to recovery will have direct improvements in terms of milk production and fertility.
All lame cows will certainly benefit from NSAIDs as part of their treatment as it will reduce their pain, speed up their recovery and return them to normal milk production and fertility as soon as possible.
Treating cows with NSAIDs is only a small element of lameness control and preventative measures should continue to be the priority.