Recognition and assessment of pain in cattle: Review

Abstract

Pain, in addition to being an unpleasant experience, is an important mechanism for protecting the organism and maintaining life, and an understanding of its physiology, its main causes, its recognition and evaluation in cattle is necessary to guide the ideal treatment, which promotes animal welfare by minimizing losses in the production chain. The assessment of pain in cattle represents a challenge and its treatment is often considered inadequate, due to the lack of knowledge about behaviors related to pain and the belief that due to its rusticity and resistance they feel less pain than small animals, or even don't have pain. Studies regarding behavioral assessment have received increasing attention, and generally, pain behaviors in cattle described in the literature are those frequently associated with diseases such as mastitis, metritis, pododermatitis, septic arthritis, peritonitis, external myiasis, or handling such as castration, branding and dehorning. Some tools, such as pain assessment scales, are being produced and used to assess pain in cattle, and society's perception of the importance of recognizing and treating pain is not only notable in cattle, but in all animals. production, aiming mainly at animal welfare.