Effects of meloxicam (Metacam®) on post-farrowing sow behaviour and piglet performance

Abstract

Farrowing is an intrinsically risky process for both the sow and the piglets that can cause welfare and economic problems. The effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam on post-farrowing behaviour of sows, and the performance of piglets were investigated. A total of 48 sows were randomly allocated at the day of farrowing (day 0) into two homogeneous groups regarding parity, and treated with either meloxicam or saline solution as placebo. For each sow, number of position changes, total time lying and standing or sitting, feed intake and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded during 3 days after farrowing. Piglets were individually weighed at farrowing and at weaning. The number of position changes did not show significant differences between treatments (P 5 0.79). Sows spent significantly less time lying during day 13 after farrowing in the meloxicam group than in the placebo group (P 5 0.04). Feed intake and RT showed a parity effect (P , 0.001 in both cases); however, no treatment effect was observed (P 5 0.67 and P 5 0.47, respectively). Pre-weaning mortality rate in piglets was not affected by treatment. In litters from multiparous sows, piglets of low birth weight (defined as percentile 15: BW ,1180 g) had an average daily gain significantly higher in the meloxicam group than in the placebo group (196.6 6 7.2 v. 166.6 6 9.1 g/day; P 5 0.03). Although the administration of meloxicam 90 min after farrowing showed a positive effect on the total time lying of the sows, additional investigations are required to better qualify relevant indicators of pain following farrowing in sows and to specify the analgesic effects of meloxicam on piglet performance.

A Review of Pain Assessment in Pigs

“…The frequencies of posture changes and durations of postural behavior have been used in assessing pain in sows arising from farrowing (95–97, 99–101), the presence of shoulder ulcers (73), and lameness (82, 90, 98). Naloxone (an opioid antagonist) administration increased standing, lying ventrally, and postural changes in periparturient sows, indicating that endogenous opioids may have a role in reducing pain at farrowing, which is manifest by frequent posture changes (101).…”

“…In contrast, Lawrence et al (102) recorded decreased frequency and duration of standing in naloxone-treated sows. Posture and the number of posture changes have been used to evaluate the use of post-farrowing analgesics (95–97, 100). Haussmann et al (100) demonstrated that sows administered butophanol for 3 days post-parturition adopted fewer body position changes between 48 and 72 h afterward.…”

“…Haussmann et al (100) demonstrated that sows administered butophanol for 3 days post-parturition adopted fewer body position changes between 48 and 72 h afterward. Sows administered meloxicam for three consecutive days spent less time lying on the third day post-partum compared with placebo-treated animals (97). No difference in the amount of standing or duration of standing bouts was detected between sows given a single injection of meloxicam or placebo post-farrowing (95).…”

“…A significant reduction in feed intake and drinking behavior is associated with castration in 7- and 8-week-old pigs (92, 103). Feed intake for sows given meloxicam or a saline placebo post-farrowing was not statistically different (97), but feed refusal during lactation was delayed in sows given ketoprofen post-farrowing (107). Feed intake was used to assess the benefit of ketoprofen compared with flunixin or untreated grower pigs experimentally infected with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (108), and altered feed intake (using a 4-point scale in which 1 indicated no change and 4 inappetance) was used as part of a clinical index score to assess the efficacy of meloxicam in the treatment of sows with mastitis–metritis–agalactia (MMA) (109).…”

Analysis of the Course of Birth and the Early Postpartal Period in Pigs After Hormonal Partus Induction with Special Consideration of Complication Rate

“…On the one hand, data were not documented during parturition itself according to criteria defined beforehand, but data were collected retrospectively from several farms with different management methods of parturition by means of a questionnaire [11,5]. On the other hand, dystocia rates were related to the number of manually developed piglets, or duration of parturition was selected as a criterium for dystocia [31,14,32].…”