Timing and Frequency of Antibiotic and NSAID Administration Does Not Affect Wound Healing in Recently Weaned Beef Calves after Band Castration

The aim of this study was to evaluate if the timing and frequency of administration of an antibiotic (Oxytetracycline, 1mg/10 Kg of BW) and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID; Meloxicam, 0.5 mg/Kg of BW) improved wound healing in band castrated calves. Drugs were administered as a combination. Twenty-four recently weaned Angus crossbred bull calves (292 ± 19.1 Kg of BW) were randomly assigned to one application of antibiotic and NSAID at the time of banding (CTR); two applications: at banding and when the band broke through the skin (SKB); two applications: at banding and when the scrotum sloughed-off (SSO); or three applications: at banding, when the band broke through the skin, and when the scrotum sloughed-off (SKSO). Wound healing was assessed in all calves over a 69d period after band placement. Indicators of wound healing included maximum scrotal area temperature (MST; °C) assessed via infrared thermography, scrotal circumference (SC; cm), visual evaluation of swelling (SW, 6 point-scale being 0: no swelling, and 5: increased degree of swelling with presence of pus) and healing of the wound site (HW, 5-point scale: being 1: incision open without scabbing, and 5: incision completely healed), and pain sensitivity (g) using a Von Frey anesthesiometer. In addition, BW (kg), ADG and rectal temperature (RT; °C) were recorded. Data was collected the day prior to castration, immediately before castration, 8h post-castration and on d 1, 3, 6, 13, 20, 27, and weekly thereafter until the end of the study. Data was analyzed using a mixed-effects model were application of antibiotic and NSAID, time and their interactions were used as fixed effects, and animal within pen was used as a random effect. On d 41 post castration 100% of the scrotums had sloughed-off. However, no differences among treatments were observed for when sloughing occurred. No differences in wound healing (P = 0.72) or swelling (P = 0.13) were observed among treatments. In addition, no treatment differences were observed for pain sensitivity (P = 0.71) after loss of the scrotum (489 g, 389 g, 366 g, and 380 g for CTR, SKB, SSO and SKSO, respectively), growth (P = 0.96) or RT (P = 0.91). Repeated applications of antibiotic and NSAID after band castration did not improve healing, reduce inflammation or pain sensitivity in recently weaned beef calves.