Epi. 222 – Sedation, Analgesia and Anesthesia – Practical Tips for Cattle Veterinarians

Have You Herd? AABP PodCasts

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Matt Miesner, Clinical Professor in the Livestock Services Section at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Safe restraint of cattle is important for human and animal safety but is also an important animal welfare consideration.

Restraint is not only about chemical immobilization and the veterinarian should also consider how to handle the patient in a low-stress manner utilizing available facilities, but also other methods of physical restraint. Miesner provides information about the importance of understanding what each drug provides in terms of sedation, analgesia and anesthesia and the differences in each term. In addition, individual patient circumstances should be considered by the veterinarian before administering drugs.

Miesner walks through the most common drugs used in bovine and mixed animal practice that the veterinarian can consider. This includes some common dosages and advantages and disadvantages of each drug, potential side effects and common uses. We also discuss an update on xylazine access and potential legislation. Gingrich suggests that veterinarians support the AVMA efforts in ensuring we can still use xylazine in bovine practice by donating to the AVMA PAC. Veterinarians are advised to develop scientifically validated withdrawal intervals when using these drugs by contacting FARAD.

Miesner also advises us on uses of epidurals and IV regional anesthesia as other practical methods of analgesia and immobilization. We close by discussing the importance of post-procedural pain control to ensure we are providing the best care to our patients and return them to health and productivity.

Links:

Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank - http://www.farad.org/

Bovine Field Restraint: Physical and Chemical Techniques for Balanced Restraint, Proceedings of the 2010 AABP Annual Conference, Matt Miesner, https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20104075

Injectable Anesthesia for Cattle Field Procedures, Proceedings of the 2023 AABP Recent Graduate Conference, Andrea Lear, https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20238737

Donate to the AVMA PAC to support our efforts in maintaining access to xylazine by visiting this link.

AABP Resource Approaching Pain in Cattle https://aabp.org/committees/view_pdf.asp?page=Pain_Brochure_8-15.pdf