Assessment of visceral pain associated with metritis in dairy cows

Metritis is a common disease in dairy cattle, but to our knowledge, no work has assessed pain associated with this disease. Tissue Palpation is commonly used to assess pain in human and veterinary medicine. The objective of this study was to evaluate visceral pain responses during rectal palpation, with and without uterine palpation, in healthy cows and in cows diagnosed with metritis. Back arch and heart rate variability before examination and during palpation were recorded using video and heart rate monitors. The results indicate that the inflammation associated with metritis is painful and that the pain response can be detected during rectal palpation with and without uterine palpation. Rectal palpation with uterine palpation appears to be more aversive than rectal palpation without uterine palpation, suggesting that the former should be avoided when possible. To read more click HERE.

J Dairy Sci August 2015

Vol. 98, No. 8, pp. 5352-5361

1. Stojkov*, M. Von Keyserlingk, J. Marchant-Forde, D. Weary