Caffeine is commonly used to treat pre-and postnatal injuries, including apnoea in premature infants, as well as neurological impairment caused by hypoxia or asphyxiation often associated with difficult birthing. As an adenosine antagonist, caffeine is metabolised rapidly and transported into many tissues. Caffeine stimulates the brain respiratory centre, improving respiratory […]
Abstracts: Pre-slaughter factors linked to variation in responses to carbon dioxide gas stunning in pig abattoirs
The stunning process is an important component of slaughter with implications for animal welfare due to the potential distress and pain in the case of a sub-effective or lengthy stun. This study examined the factors correlated with variation in responses to carbon dioxide (CO2) stunning of pigs in five Australian […]
Abstracts: Pain management in pigs undergoing experimental surgery; a literature review (2012-4)
Failure to provide effective analgesia to animals in noxious studies contravenes the obligation to refine animal experimentation and, by increasing ‘noise’ in physiological data sets, may decrease the scientific validity of results. Pig models of surgical conditions are becoming increasingly important and used for translational work. This review aimed to […]
Abstracts: Can novel methods be useful for pain assessment of castrated piglets?
Given that surgical castration is a painful practice performed on millions of pigs every year, a need to identify novel reliable pain assessment tools exists in order to test anaesthetic and analgesic protocols that may reduce related pain. Two treatments were considered: handling (H) and surgical castration (C). Physiological (cortisol, […]
Abstracts: Forensic cases of bruises in pigs
Bruises in pigs inflicted by blunt trauma are a significant animal welfare problem, and affected skin and underlying muscle are regularly submitted for forensic investigation.Central to the evaluation is an assessment of the age of the bruises. This paper presents cases of bruises in pigs sent for forensic investigation that […]