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Animals
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Developments in Therapeutic Drugs for Pain Management in Animals
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Developments in Therapeutic Drugs for Pain Management in Animals

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 June 2025) | Viewed by 4046

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dominique Van der Saag

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Interests: animal welfare; animal pain; pain management in livestock; pain measurement; pharmacology of pain management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sabrina Lomax

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Interests: animal welfare; animal pain; pain management in livestock; pain measurement; pharmacology of pain management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pain is characterised as a negative affect within the Five Domains model of animal welfare. Effectively treating pain continues to be a challenge we face in ensuring positive welfare for animals under our care. We are challenged by the practical constraints of administering animal treatments, species variability in response to therapeutic treatment, safety considerations and limitations to therapeutic efficacy, including duration of the drug effect.

We are pleased to invite you to submit to this Special Issue on the developments in therapeutic drugs for pain management in animals. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: novel therapeutics for the treatment of pain in animals; novel applications for existing therapeutics for the treatment of pain in animals; new species-specific information on the pharmacology, efficacy and safety of novel and existing therapeutics for the treatment of pain in animals; and novel drug delivery systems.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Dominique Van der Saag
Dr. Sabrina Lomax
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • analgesia
  • animal welfare
  • drug delivery
  • pharmacology
  • pain management
  • pain therapeutics

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 218 KiB  
Article
Effect of Medetomidine and Dexmedetomidine at Different Dosages on Cat Semen Quality Using Urethral Catheterization After Pharmacological Induction (UrCaPI)
by Marco Cunto, Giulia Ballotta, Alberto Contri, Alessia Gloria and Daniele Zambelli
Animals 2025, 15(4), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15040504 - 11 Feb 2025
Viewed by 660
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different anesthetic protocols for semen collection from healthy tomcats using Urethral Catheterization after Pharmacological Induction (UrCaPI). Twenty sexually mature tomcats (Felis catus) were included in the study, in which high and low [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different anesthetic protocols for semen collection from healthy tomcats using Urethral Catheterization after Pharmacological Induction (UrCaPI). Twenty sexually mature tomcats (Felis catus) were included in the study, in which high and low dosages of medetomidine or dexmedetomidine were administrated to collect semen. Ten healthy mature tomcats (Group A) received high dosages of the drugs, and, in particular, five of them were i.m. injected with 120 μg/kg of medetomidine (HMED) on day 1 and with 60 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine (HDEX) after 24 h (day 2). The remaining five tomcats of this group were i.m. injected with 60 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine on day 1 and with 120 μg/kg of medetomidine on day 2. The other ten healthy mature tomcats (Group B) received a low dosage of the same drugs; the first five tomcats were i.m. injected with 50 μg/kg of medetomidine (LMED) on day 1 and with 25 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine (LDEX) on day 2; the others were i.m. injected with 25 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine on day 1 and with 50 μg/kg of medetomidine after 24 h. In both groups, semen collection was performed as soon as the pharmacological effect of the drug was reached. All protocols permitted sperm collection, even if with different results in quality for volume, concentration, total number of spermatozoa, and movement score. Results suggest that both a high dosage of medetomidine and a high dosage of dexmedetomidine could be used for the collection of good-quality semen. Semen volume μL: HMED = 32 μL (25.75–37.5), HDEX = 23 μL (15.25–28). Concentration HMED = 670 × 106/mL (576–990.5), HDEX = 670.5 × 106/mL (536–790). Total number of spermatozoa = 23.24 × 106 (18.37–32.05). Total number of spermatozoa = 13.121 × 106 (10.116–16.83). However, the protocol with dexmedetomidine could not always guarantee an adequate sedation for urethral catheterization, so using a high dosage of medetomidine is still the better way to collect high quality semen with the UrCaPI technique. The outcome of the LMED and LDEX protocols was generally unsatisfactory regarding both level of sedation and semen collection in terms of volume (LMED = 3 μL (4–7.5); LDEX = 6 μL (4–7)), concentration (LMED = 215 × 106/mL (157–248); LDEX = 27.05 × 106/mL (0.040–110), total number of spermatozoa (LMED = 0.88 × 106 (0.581–1.38); LDEX = 0.16 × 106 (0.0001–0.80), and movement score (LMED = 3 (2–3); LDEX = 2 (0–2.75)). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments in Therapeutic Drugs for Pain Management in Animals)
26 pages, 3395 KiB  
Article
Self-Administration of Meloxicam via Medicated Molasses Lick Blocks May Improve Welfare of Castrated Calves
by Samantha Rudd, Sabrina Lomax, Peter J. White and Dominique Van der Saag
Animals 2025, 15(3), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15030442 - 5 Feb 2025
Viewed by 845
Abstract
The self-administration of meloxicam via medicated feed is a novel concept that could enable non-invasive, pre-emptive and long-term analgesia. Forty Bos taurus male calves were randomly allocated to four treatment groups: no castration (PC), surgical castration (NC), surgical castration with subcutaneous meloxicam (M), [...] Read more.
The self-administration of meloxicam via medicated feed is a novel concept that could enable non-invasive, pre-emptive and long-term analgesia. Forty Bos taurus male calves were randomly allocated to four treatment groups: no castration (PC), surgical castration (NC), surgical castration with subcutaneous meloxicam (M), and surgical castration with medicated lick blocks (ML). Data collection occurred at various timepoints over 13 days following treatment. Plasma concentration of meloxicam was greater in ML compared to M calves at all timepoints except day 1 (p < 0.001); however, variation between ML individuals was high (standard deviation = 1.68). There was no effect of treatment on scrotal diameter or scrotal temperature. Wound morphology scores were improved in ML compared to NC calves. Eating observations were greater in ML calves immediately post-castration, followed by M calves at 3 h post-castration (p < 0.001). ML calves were observed locomoting more (p = 0.0032) and lying less (p < 0.001) than PC calves. These findings indicate that meloxicam-medicated lick blocks may provide a practical option for a longer duration of pain mitigation for surgically castrated calves. Conclusions are limited by the complexities of assessing pain in cattle, and further research into the toxicity effects of continued administration of meloxicam is recommended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments in Therapeutic Drugs for Pain Management in Animals)
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17 pages, 986 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Lidocaine Splash Block Followed by Suspensory Ligament Massage in Female Dogs Undergoing Ovariohysterectomy: A Prospective Study
by Eugenia Flouraki, Epameinondas Loukopoulos, Dimitrios Gougoulis, Ioannis Savvas, Chrysoula Margeti, Konstantina Karagianni and Vassiliki Tsioli
Animals 2024, 14(23), 3522; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14233522 - 5 Dec 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1698
Abstract
The administration of lidocaine as part of multimodal analgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomies demonstrates variable analgesic efficacy. The aim of this prospective, double–blinded clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lidocaine 2% irrigation on the ovarian suspensory ligament, followed by localised massage, [...] Read more.
The administration of lidocaine as part of multimodal analgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomies demonstrates variable analgesic efficacy. The aim of this prospective, double–blinded clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lidocaine 2% irrigation on the ovarian suspensory ligament, followed by localised massage, in achieving sufficient intraoperative analgesia. Thirty-eight female dogs were randomly divided to two groups and received either a splash block of 0.5 ml lidocaine 2% on each ovarian suspensory ligament (GL) or an equal volume of saline (GNS). All dogs were premedicated with dexmedetomidine (5 μg·kg−1) and buprenorphine (20 μg·kg−1) intramuscularly and meloxicam (0.2 mg·kg−1) subcutaneously. Anaesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with isoflurane. The surgical procedure was initiated after an adequate depth of anaesthesia was achieved. Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (fR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were continuously monitored. Fentanyl (2 μg·kg−1) was administered as rescue analgesia in case of a 30% increase in HR, fR, or MAP, compared to their values before manipulation of the ovaries. Data were analysed using a mixed model for repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson’s Chi-Square test. The need for rescue analgesia differed significantly between the two groups (p < 0.0005). In GNS, 89.47% (17/19) of the dogs required rescue analgesia, compared to 10.53% (2/19) of the dogs in GL. The relative risk of rescue for the GNS compared to the GL was approximately 8.5. In conclusion, intraoperative analgesia during ovariohysterectomies in dogs can be enhanced using a lidocaine 2% splash block combined with massage of the ovarian suspensory ligament. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments in Therapeutic Drugs for Pain Management in Animals)
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