Clinical effects of XXXX on open field behaviour and gait symmetry in healthy and lame weaned piglets.

@entity1707 @entity1273 @entity158 @entity4783
UNASSIGNED: Lameness in @entity1707 decreases animal welfare and economic profit for the farmer. An important reason for impaired welfare in lame animals is @entity158 due to @entity1273 . No direct measurement of @entity158 is possible in animals, and methods to indirectly detect and quantify the amount of @entity158 an animal is experiencing are urgently needed. In this study, two methods to assess @entity158 associated with @entity1273 in @entity1707 were evaluated to determine if they were sensitive enough to detect a @entity1273 as an effect of an experimental analgesic medication. Asymmetry associated with @entity1273 was objectively quantified using pressure mat kinetic parameters: peak vertical force (PVF), load rate (LR), vertical impulse (VI) and peak vertical pressure (PVP). Locomotor activity was assessed in an open field test. A dose of 0.04   mg/kg @entity4783 , a strong analgesic, was used to treat 10 lame @entity1707 , while eight other lame @entity1707 , treated with physiological saline solution, served as controls. @entity4783 decreased @entity1273 -associated asymmetry for pressure mat LR (P   =   0.002), VI (P   =   0.003) and PVP (P   =   0.001) and increased activity of the lame @entity1707 in the open field (P   =   0.023), while saline-treated animals did not show any changes in asymmetry and became less active in the open field (P   <0.001). It was concluded that measurement of gait asymmetry by pressure mat analysis and locomotor activity in an open field test are both sensitive enough to detect the analgesic effects of @entity4783 when used to treat moderate to severe clinical @entity158 in a relatively small group of affected @entity1707 . The methods used in this study may also provide promising additional tools for future research into @entity158 recognition and @entity1273 treatment in @entity1707 .
