Pain Therapy For Piglets

A study performed by Torunn Krangnes Fosse determined that “piglets of different age groups have a unique ability to break down and excrete painkillers.” According to the article in Science Daily, Fosse based her thesis on piglets and castration, which “is proven to be painful for these animals, not just during the course of the surgery itself, but also for several hours or days afterward.” Seeking to alleviate the piglets’ pain, Fosse studied two painkillers, meloxicam and ketoprofen, and gave different dosages to piglets of varying ages. As a result of the study, Fosse concluded that “the piglets had a better ability to excrete ketoprofen when they were six days old that when they were three weeks old.” Meloxicam had poor results with the piglets and was weak as a painkiller, while ketoprofen’s painkilling ability lasted up to 24 hours.

The importance of this study is that veterinarians and pig owners will now know how much of a certain painkiller to give their animals, and when they should use it. I found this article very interesting, since I have worked with swine on the Rutgers farm as a part of their Animal Science program. Our male piglets are castrated at around four days old, and all piglets undergo procedures such as ear notching, clipping the needle teeth, and giving shots to prevent diseases. Pain is associated with these procedures, particularly castration, so it is great to have painkillers for piglets available. The picture linked with this post is one I took at the Rutgers farm of our piglets.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101011090147.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piglet_(animal)#Pig_farming_terminology