PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL RESTRAINT AND PAINLESS INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION IN CATTLE

In Veterinary Practice giving injection is our routine and many  times we find it difficult in giving a less pain shot to the patients who were already compromised with pain .Of all the three methods of restraints, Behavioral restraint is the most evolved , the most rewarding, the most challenging compared to physical and  chemical restraint. Equal co-operation is needed from both handler and the clinician to make an effective painless injection. 

When an animal is presented to a vet , it is already in a tensed state and in case of injuries the mental state of the animal will be totally critical. Above this a rough handling  can lead to severe response from the patients like biting, violent head tilt, kicking  and in some cases  serious injuries to the Vet/ animal handler or collapse of the animal because of violent physical restraint methods. Small manipulations can be effectively done using an effective behavioral restraints. I am sure you all will find this blog useful. Feel free to interacts with comments and suggestion as I believe I too am in an evolving stage.

Many literature are available on physical and chemical restraint of cattle , but hardly we get needed info on behavioral restraint. In this section I will try to cover some facts and findings that I gathered in my practice and effectively got excellent results  in many cases .

Principle of Olfaction :

Cattle can distinguish smell, they can detect pheromones, volatile chemicals that are important in reproduction and feed selection .Olfactory senses in cows are much more developed than in man. So they sense threat and danger by smelling the pheromones of the handler / other animals. Offering your hand in front of the cow gives the animal his/ her own freedom to sniff and this is a mutual introduction which is really rewarding.  By allowing the natural response  you are giving freedom to exhibit natural behavior  , which is in line with the principles of animal welfare.

Principle of Head restraint

By head restraint, we are trying to make the animal control by willful restraint from its side.  Gentle touching the fore head and then holding of the chin with gentle support of horn can be tried in docile animals. Please make it sure that the nose rope pulling doesn’t work in real sense . It evinces breath taking pain and kills the endorphin (The well being hormones which has even adverse effect on milk production in cows  as well ) Looking at the eyes and mutual glancing . I believe that the animals can sense your status  better. (Many wild life attacks are documented to happened because of faulty eye contacts ) Covering the eye lid gently and touching the fore head initiates submissive response in cattle

Principles of Vision. 

Eyes are the mirrors of our soul. So is with the animals too. The angle of vision is different in different species which makes our job so difficult and unique compared to the human doctor. With their eyes positioned on the side of the head, cattle have panoramic vision of 330° and binocular vision of 25°–50°, which allows for good predator awareness . Despite the wide set of their eyes, however, they do have a blind spot directly behind them 

The ears of cattle are very sensitive. Cattle can be calmed by playing soothing music, or stressed by loud noises such as yelling . Dairy breeds are more sensitive to sound and touch than beef breeds, high-pitched sounds, such as the whistle used to control most farm dogs, will increase the animals’ heart rates . Hearing in cattle is important in inter- and intra-species communication .

Cattle flight zones can vary greatly. Feedlot cattle may move away from people, especially strangers,entering their flight zone of 1.5m, whereas less handled range cattle have a flight zone of 30m  Cutaneous sensitivity can be used to calm cattle by scratching under the neck and behind the ears, areas they find difficult to access

Speak to the animal till before you touch and looking at the eyes you can see if the animal is tensed or in an attack mode . Aquaintance with the animal needs keen observation especially understanding his / her own field of vision and perceptions. Once this is clear we can  run our hand across the body and neck .

These steps are pre requesites before yo examine an animal. Once diagnosed and treatment fixed you have to treat with suitable injections

INTRA MUSCULAR INJECTIONS 

IM injections denotes INTRA MUSCULAR (within muscle mass)  and not INTERMUSCULAR(Between the bellies).If you give intermuscular shot it will act as a depot and not easily absorbed in the system and depending on the content of injection it can lead to abscess formation.

 Always  ensure that the needle is perpendicular to muscle mass. This helps in less injury and less neuralgia.There are different sites for giving I/M. but the best painless site is at the gluteus medius muscle ensuring no inury to the iliac vessels. Always ensure that the hub is tightly fixed on the syringe this prevents content spillage and embarrassment in front of the owner.

Depending on the content you can either give thorough post injection massage or not.

And always try to be as gentle and Firm rather than  rough and tough as even we would not tolerate a hard needle prick however beautiful the nurse who pricks.

YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO ON PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL RESTRAINT AND PAINLESS INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION IN CATTLE.

THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG. YOU CAN COMMENT OR PUT YOUR QUERIES TO MY MAIL. I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP YOU TO HELP AN ANIMAL.

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