Objective Determination of Claw Pain and Its Relationship to Limb Locomotion Score in Dairy Cattle

Abstract

We hypothesized that claw and foot pain could be objectively determined and have a strong effect on limb locomotion. Claw pain was measured using hoof testers equipped with a pressure gauge. Soft tissue pain was evaluated with an algometer. Pain was determined as the maximum pressure recorded at the time the limb was withdrawn following claw or soft tissue compression with the hoof tester or algometer. Locomotion scores and claw and soft tissue pain were determined on 263 Holstein cows from 2 commercial dairy farms. The frequency and the magnitude of pain had an effect on locomotion score in the ipsilateral limb for lateral, but not medial, claws. The magnitude of the lateral claw pain index for limbs with locomotion scores 1 to 5 was 0.95 +/- 0.01, 0.90 +/- 0.02, 0.67 +/- 0.04, 0.65 +/- 0.05, and 0.45 +/- 0.11, respectively. The magnitude of the medial claw pain index for limbs with locomotion scores 1 to 5 was 1.0 +/- 0.00, 0.99 +/- 0.01, 0.98 +/- 0.01, 1.0 +/- 0.00, and 1.0 +/- 0.00, respectively. The frequency of painful claws (n = 208) in limbs with locomotion scores 1, 2, and > or =3 was 0.529, 0.173, and 0.298, respectively. The frequency of painless claws (n = 318) in limbs with locomotion scores 1, 2, or > or =3 was 0.792, 0.088, and 0.120, respectively. The frequency of pain (27.1%) and total lesions (85.6%) was greater in lateral claws (n = 524) than that of pain (2.1%) and total lesions (14.4%) in medial claws (n = 524). Yet the magnitude of the pain index in sore claws was similar for medial (0.73 +/- 0.09) and lateral claws (0.64 +/- 0.02). The magnitude and frequency of claw pain in one hind limb was inconsistently and weakly affected by locomotion score or claw pain in the contralateral limb. The prevalence of unilateral (32.8%) and bilateral (23.3%) pain was similar and lower than the occurrence of bilaterally nonpainful claws (43.9%) in the study group. Painful claws (n = 78) occurred on sound limbs (n = 332) with a pain index (0.72 +/- 0.02) indicative of less pain than the pain index (0.61 +/- 0.02) of painful claws (n = 130) on lame limbs (n = 192). The results showed that lateral claw pain was related to ipsilateral limb locomotion score and subclinical pain was a relatively common occurrence. Objective measures of pain may provide a more reliable, continuous measure of clinical events used in modeling lameness.

Gait assessment in dairy cattle

“…For example, Dyer et al (2007) used hoof pressure testers as a way to measure pain. They found that cows that were sensitive to this pain assessment also had higher locomotion scores.…”

Evaluation of mechanical and thermal nociception as objective tools to measure painful and nonpainful lameness phases in multiparous sows

“…There have been several studies using mechanical nociception tests to quantify painful and non-painful states using This is a manuscript of an article is from Journal of Animal Science 92 (2014): 3073, doi:10.2527/jas.2013-7521. lameness as a model in sheep (Ley et al, 1989), dairy cattle (Dyer et al, 2007) and most recently in lame sows (Nalon et al, 2013; Tapper et al, 2013). These studies concluded that the mechanical nociceptive tests were able to quantify decreased mechanical thresholds when animals were in painful lameness states.…”

“…The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA;2007) reported that lameness was the third most common reason producers cull gilts and sows from the breeding herd (15.2%), compared to age (36.6%) and reproductive failure (26.3%). It is unclear which types of lameness result in acute or chronic pain, but it is recognized that the duration and intensity of pain is an individual experience.…”

“…Pain assessment is subjective in nature and pain recognition in animals is further complicated by the inability of animals to directly self-report their pain using a common language (Molony andKent, 1997Anil et al, 2002). For non-human animals previous work has used nociceptive threshold tests (Dyer et al, 2007;Tapper et al, 2013) to determine pain sensitivity caused by lameness. Tapper and colleagues (2013) used mechanical and thermal nociception threshold tests and found that the mechanical threshold test identified changes in pain sensitivity when applied to a transient lameness model in sows, but differences in responses to the thermal nociception test prior to lameness induction affected the utility of this tool.…”

Longevity as an Animal Welfare Issue Applied to the Case of Foot Disorders in Dairy Cattle

“…As a result, cows suffering from clinical foot disorders have a higher probability of being culled (Machado et al 2010). Even though the majority of foot disorders occur subclinically without causing lameness (Dyer et al 2007), this ''does not imply that an animal is not suffering'' (Somers 2004).…”