13th June 2025

Recent research has revealed that vets and farmers may be under-using pain relief in dairy cows and there is a disconnect between what vets think farmers would be willing to pay and what they would actually pay, with farmers keen to provide pain relief for their animals and cost not necessarily being an issue.

This is despite a variation in the perception of pain among the on-farm mobility team, which includes vets, vet technicians, hoof trimmers and farmers, with farmers consistently scoring pain lower than vets and usually lower than foot trimmers and veterinary technicians. Moreover, only 50% of farmers are using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for conditions like active digital dermatitis¹, a painful condition that is one of the most frequently recorded diseases associated with lameness in dairy cows², in spite of foot care and lameness management being included in herd health plans to meet the Red Tractor Dairy Standards and the standards of their milk buyer.

These are some of the findings discussed at Ceva Animal Health’s second ‘Break the Pain Conference and Round Table’ vet meeting which took place at the Lancaster House Hotel in Lancaster on Wednesday 7 May 2025. The findings highlighted that more could be done to increase collaboration among the whole on-farm mobility team to assess pain and make choices on NSAIDs consistent to improve the identification and treatment of lameness in dairy cows.

NSAIDs have an extensive role in providing pain relief and anti-inflammatory action. It was suggested that vets could revise the terminology used when speaking to farmers about pain relief and use either ‘NSAIDs’ or ‘anti-inflammatories’ to provide an analogy with human medicine, where they are widely used to relieve pain and reduce fever and inflammation. It was also advised to keep communication practical and non-judgemental when talking to farmers about NSAIDs and adapt any conversations to suit their communication style.

“NSAIDs are an essential part of a treatment protocol when it comes to the management of pain, fever and inflammation in cattle for a plethora of painful conditions and cost isn’t an issue among farmers, with productivity gains proven to be larger than the cost of treatment,” comments Katherine Timms, ruminant veterinary advisor at Ceva. “Vets should be leading discussions and questioning the benefits to individual animals and whether it’s the the ‘right thing to do’ with the goal of providing gold standard care for the long-term health and welfare of the national herd.”

Ceva’s ‘Break the Pain’ Conference and Round Table’ meeting was aimed at farm vets wishing to learn more about the most current thinking on NSAID use in the dairy cow and to challenge the barriers on pain management. It featured presentations on the extensive role of NSAIDs in dairy cow management from esteemed speakers including: Nicola Gladden BVM&S Dip ECBHM PhD FHEA MRCVS, farm animal clinical assistant professor at the University of Nottingham; James Wilson BSc PhD, foot health consultant at Herd Health Consultancy; Bethany Griffiths BVSc MRes PhD MRCVS, veterinary surgeon at Farm Gate Vets in Cumbria; Emily Craven MA VetMB PGCertVPS MRCVS, PhD student at Nottingham University, and veterinary epidemiologist at Vet Partners, Natalie Robinson BScVetPath BVetMed PhD MRCVS. Nick Bell MA VetMB PhD PGCertVetEd FHEA DipECAWBM(AWSEL) MRCVS, director of Herd Health Consultancy, facilitated the round table discussion.

Paul Doran, veterinary surgeon at Friars Moor Livestock Health, adds: “I really appreciated having the opportunity to attend Ceva’s second Break the Pain Conference. It was interesting to hear from the great panel of speakers about recent research into the benefits of NSAID use and to explore current thinking on the subject a little more deeply. I enjoyed engaging with the roundtable discussion led by Nick Bell and found it really thought provoking to discuss the barriers and challenges we face to promoting NSAID use in our role as vets.”