Evaluating the efficacy of maternal bovine appeasing substance on pain outcomes in calves after cautery disbudding and surgical castration

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ID: 315027
2026
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Abstract
Castration and disbudding are routine procedures that cause pain and distress in cattle. Maternal Bovine Appeasing Substance (MBAS) is naturally secreted and thought to alleviate stress in cattle. This randomized blinded controlled trial aimed to determine if a single topical synthetic MBAS analog dose (FerAppease®, FERA Diagnostics & Biologicals, College Station, TX), alone, or in combination with local anesthesia, with or without systemic analgesia would provide extended pain and stress relief to calves after disbudding and surgical castration. Forty-nine unprocessed Holstein bull calves weighing 46.6 ± 7.2 kg were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment groups: lidocaine local anesthesia (LIDO; n = 9), lidocaine and meloxicam (LIDO-MEL; n = 10), lidocaine and MBAS (LIDO-MBAS; n = 10), lidocaine meloxicam and MBAS (COMBO; n = 9), sham procedures (SHAM; n = 6); and no analgesia (CONTROL; n = 5). The calves' substance P, plasma cortisol, mechanical nociception threshold (MNT), infrared thermography, performance, lie and stand activity, and gait were evaluated at multiple timepoints. Linear mixed models were employed to identify potential associations between outcomes and treatment, post-procedural timing, and their interactions. No significant differences in infrared thermography, performance, and lie and stand activity outcomes were observed between treatments (P > 0.05). Substance P presented a treatment × time interaction, with the CONTROL group exhibiting lower SP concentrations compared to the COMBO group at several post-procedure timepoints (≤192 vs. ≥298 pg/mL, respectively; SE = 31.9; P < 0.01). A treatment effect was found for plasma cortisol, with the CONTROL group presenting elevated cortisol concentrations (P < 0.01). A treatment × time interaction was observed for horn bud MNT, with the SHAM group requiring greater exerted pressure to withdraw from the algometer at 72 h compared to all other treatment groups (0.33 vs. ≤ -0.39 KgF, respectively; SE = 0.23, P < 0.01). There was a significant treatment × time interaction on multiple gait outcomes (P < 0.05). Differences in gait were noted only in CONTROL calves; local and systemic analgesics and MBAS did not differ. These results suggest that administering MBAS in addition to lidocaine, with or without meloxicam, is neither more or less effective at pain mitigation than lidocaine alone in Holstein calves undergoing surgical castration and cautery disbudding.
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Authors Jacob J. Schumacher, Eduarda M. Bortoluzzi, M. Mancke, Rebecca A. Bigelow, Luis Felipe Barbosa Braga Feitoza, Michael D. Kleinhenz, Payton Dahmer, Johann F. Coetzee
Journal italian journal of animal science
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jas/skag168
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skag168
Keywords Keywords not found

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