Lasting pain in dairy calves
department or school: Land and Food Systems, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Yoo, Seonpil
issued: 2025-11-26T20:15:50Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Pain during and immediately after routine husbandry procedures has been widely studied, and mitigation strategies have been developed. However, pain experienced during the healing period—lasting pain—remains poorly understood and under-assessed. The aim of this thesis was to develop methods for assessing lasting pain and, using these methods, evaluate strategies to mitigate it. Chapter 1 reviewed existing pain assessment techniques and evaluated their potential for detecting lasting pain. It also explored factors that may influence pain during the healing period. Chapter 2 investigated a memory test paradigm as a tool for assessing lasting pain following hot-iron disbudding. No differences in memory performance were found between disbudded and control calves, suggesting that this method may not reflect lasting pain. Chapter 3 explored behavioural indicators—short-term lying bouts and half-lying bouts—and memory improvement as potential markers of lasting pain following castration. Short-term lying bouts were more sensitive to acute pain than general lying behaviour, but no reliable indicators of lasting pain were identified. Chapter 4 shifted focus to pain mitigation strategies that do not rely on pain assessment. Specifically, it examined how hot-iron application time and tip size affect wound characteristics and healing. Larger tips produced larger wounds with longer healing times, while longer application times resulted in deeper and larger wounds but did not affect healing duration. I conclude that the memory test did not prove effective for assessing lasting pain, but that refining procedural factors—such as iron tip size and application time—can reduce healing time and potentially mitigate any resulting pain. This thesis highlights the need for more sensitive and reliable indicators of lasting pain and suggests that procedural refinement may offer a practical path forward.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/93030
note: LASTING PAIN IN DAIRY CALVES by Seonpil Yoo B.Sc., Seoul National University, 2015 M.Sc., Seoul National University, 2019 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Applied Animal Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) November 2025 © Seonpil Yoo, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Lasting pain in dairy calves submitted by Seonpil Yoo in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Animal Biology Examining Committee: Dr. Daniel M. Weary, Professor, Applied Animal Biology, UBC Supervisor Dr. Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk, Professor, Applied Animal Biology, UBC Supervisor Committee Member Dr. Robert Tremblay, Bovine Specialist, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Kenneth D. Craig, Professor Emeritus, Psychology, UBC University Examiner Dr. Alexandra Protopopova, Associated Professor, Applied Animal Biology, UBC University Examiner Dr. George Stilwell, Associated Professor, Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon External Examiner iii Abstract Pain during and immediately after routine husbandry procedures has been widely studied, and mitigation strategies have been developed. However, pain experienced during the healing period—lasting pain—remains poorly understood and under-assessed. The aim of this thesis was to develop methods for assessing lasting pain and, using these methods, evaluate strategies to mitigate it. Chapter 1 reviewed existing pain assessment techniques and evaluated their potential for detecting lasting pain. It also explored factors that may influence pain during the healing period. Chapter 2 investigated a memory test paradigm as a tool for assessing lasting pain following hot-iron disbudding. No differences in m…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2026-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0450868
language: eng
degree discipline: Applied Animal Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Weary, Daniel M.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/93030