The use of anti-inflammatory and immunotropic preparations in the dehorning of dairy calves

Relevance. Decontamination of calves is a routine practice used on many dairy farms. Cauterization of the horny appendages is a painful procedure. Local anesthetics block the horny nerve, reducing pain at the time of the procedure, but this does not eliminate postoperative pain. The use of anti-inflammatory and immunostimulating drugs can reduce the negative effect of this procedure on the animal body.

Methods. The methodology of the work was to study the effectiveness of the use of the immunotropic drug “Bovistim-K” and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug “Ketoprof” in the decontamination of calves. Three groups of black-and-white calves aged 10–14 days (10 animals each) were selected for scientific research. In the control group, the calves were not injected with drugs and infiltration anesthesia before and after heat treatment of the horny processes. In the 1st experimental group, infiltration anesthesia was performed before decontamination and “Ketoprof” was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 1.5 ml. The calves of the 2nd experimental group were additionally injected with “Bovistim-K” at a dose of 3.0 ml three days before surgery and on the day of surgery.

Results. The thermal method of decoration in the scheme using “Ketoprof” and “Bovistim-K” drugs contributes to the fastest recovery of clinical and physiological parameters of calves, increases the concentration of erythrocytes and hemoglobin in the blood, reduces the level of leukocytes and total protein, which indicates the activation of compensatory mechanisms of the body. The use of the immunotropic agent “Bovistim-K” stimulates tissue regeneration, increases the resistance of affected tissues in the area of thermal burn.

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