Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are used to reduce pain, inflammation and fever. Just like using ibuprofen or aspirin to help you push past a headache, NSAIDs can be beneficial when used to treat cattle experiencing symptoms of bovine respiratory disease (BRD).
How NSAIDs work
Disease-causing pathogens, often in combination with stressors such as weaning, commingling and shipping, trigger prostaglandin production and an inflammatory response within the calf. This inflammatory response leads to the expression of BRD symptoms, with the most common being fever.
When a combination antimicrobial containing an NSAID is administered, the NSAID works to reduce the inflammatory response the calf is experiencing. By interfering with prostaglandin production, the NSAID can reduce fever shortly after administration.
Ketoprofen is a fast-acting NSAID used in BRD treatments and has been demonstrated to reduce fever in as little as one hour. In fact, a multisite study also demonstrated the effectiveness of ketoprofen for the control of fever associated with BRD in beef and nonlactating dairy cattle.
There was a significant proportion of animals with an equal to or greater than 2°F reduction in rectal temperature in the group receiving ketoprofen compared with the negative control group at six hours after treatment.
Numbers aside, treating the fever can help the animal feel better faster. Think about when you have the flu – when your fever breaks, you feel better.
Two active ingredients working toward one goal
Our objective with any BRD treatment is to get animals on the road to recovery as quickly as possible. A combination BRD treatment can help you attain this goal and may reduce the necessity for subsequent treatments – supporting responsible antibiotic use.
When looking for combination treatment options, remember that the inflammatory process is not one and done. We want to find a product with active ingredients capable of providing a long duration of activity against BRD.
Combining the fast-acting NSAID ketoprofen with the demonstrated effective antimicrobial ingredient tulathromycin can help calves feel better and treat the cause of respiratory problems. While ketoprofen manages the fever to help the animal get back to its normal routine, tulathromycin tackles the disease-causing pathogens for up to 14 days. It is important to follow the label directions when using any product. The combination of tulathromycin and ketoprofen requires an 18-day preslaughter withdrawal and is not for use in female dairy cattle 1 year of age or older, beef calves less than 2 months of age, preweaned dairy calves or veal calves.
A recent large-pen study compared the health and productivity impacts of two combination antibiotic treatments when used for initial first-line therapy of naturally occurring BRD in feedlot cattle.
In the study, 978 beef heifers were randomly assigned to two treatment groups as they fell ill with BRD within 45 days of arrival at an Idaho commercial feedyard.
One group was treated with tulathromycin and ketoprofen while the other group received florfenicol and flunixin meglumine. Both groups received identical regimens of subsequent BRD treatments, as needed, until terminal implant administration (average 164 days on trial).
Calves initially treated with the ketoprofen and tulathromycin combination experienced 11% fewer first BRD relapses and 33% fewer second BRD relapses than animals initially treated with the florfenicol and flunixin meglumine combination, resulting in improved weight gain.
The ketoprofen and tulathromycin combination also helped enhance the survival of BRD-afflicted animals, with less BRD mortality (-43%) and overall mortality (28%).
These statistics demonstrate that the use of ketoprofen in combination with tulathromycin provides first-line BRD therapy and a reliable strategy for optimizing the health and profit potential of calves at risk for BRD.
Of course, it’s also important to include strategic BRD prevention practices, treat calves as soon as symptoms surface, and work with a local veterinarian to determine the best treatment protocols and products for your production system. Stressful moments are commonplace in any operation, but these best practices can help ensure your cattle are set up to overcome them.
References available upon request by sending an email to an editor.
