Pain can be acute, chronic, emotional, physical, generalized, localized, adaptive and maladaptive. Since many types of pain can be experienced simultaneously, its presence is easier to identify than its intensity. Pain can be caused by disease as well as standard practices including branding, castration and dehorning.
WHY PAIN CAN BE BENEFICIAL
A certain amount of pain is normal and can even be beneficial, so producers don’t want to totally mitigate it in all circumstances. For example, an animal with a fracture that does not experience any pain is more likely to carry on normally and cause further trauma or damage. In that sense, pain can actually support the recovery process and encourage avoidance behaviours.
Pain, stress, distress, and suffering are terms that are often used interchangeably. As producers attempt to diagnose, grade and treat pain, understanding the differences between each of them is important.
PAIN:
An unpleasant aversive sensory and emotional experience resulting from actual or potential tissue damage that provokes protective movements results in learned avoidance and may modify behaviour. Pain is both physical and emotional and plays an important role in helping to prevent further damage following an injury.
STRESS:
A state in which homeostasis or psychological well-being is threatened by external (environmental) or internal factors. In a stressed state, cattle use a number of coping mechanisms to counter the instability. This includes the secretion of stress hormones and mobilizing the immune system.
DISTRESS:
Often associated with severe pain, sorrow or anguish, distress is an aversive negative state which an animal cannot escape from or is unable to adapt to. It is caused by the stressors, both internal and/or external, that the animal is experiencing. Distress negatively affects well-being and often results in maladaptive behaviours and learned helplessness. The shift from stress to distress can happen very quickly and arises when the animal is no longer able to cope.
SUFFERING:
A very unpleasant emotional state caused by adverse physical, physiological and psychological circumstances. Often mistakenly used interchangeably with the term pain, suffering is very different as it involves a conscious awareness of enduring pain or a negative emotional state caused by persistent pain. It’s the emotional response to the pain that’s central to suffering. The animal actually anticipates and believes the return of pain is imminent and develops anxious responses to factors linked to the initial onset of the pain. Suffering involves a cascade of cognitive-emotional responses that may be even more intolerable than the physical pain itself.
ACUTE vs CHRONIC PAIN
ACUTE PAIN:
A type of pain that’s normal, useful and plays a protective role by warning the body that it has been hurt. It normally comes on very suddenly and is caused by something specific. It doesn’t usually last long (typically less than 3-6 months) and gradually goes away once the underlying cause has been treated and healed.
Acute pain creates a stress response but cattle are generally able to adapt their behaviour and cope with the discomfort. Rarely will it lead to distress since the stress is short-lived. It can also result from inflammation caused by damaged tissue and surgery. An example of acute pain in cattle is the pain caused by broken bones or a paralumbar incision for a C-section.
CHRONIC PAIN:
Pain that becomes progressively worse, reoccurs intermittently and persists after injuries heal for no apparent reason is referred to as chronic. It is ongoing pain and usually lasts longer than 6 months. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain doesn’t provide a protective purpose and more often leads to distress and maladaptive behaviours. Common signs of chronic pain include decreased appetite, reduced activity, weak shallow pulse, irritability, and decreased reproduction. An example of chronic pain in cattle is lameness in the feedlot and in dairies.
