Assessment and management of pain and lameness in sheep with acute foot affections

Sheep (n=24) of either sex presented for treatment of single foot lameness noticed insidiously by farmers were included in the study. The animals were not provided any treatment earlier. The right forelimb foot was involved in the majority of the animals. The lesions were common in the interdigital skin, heel, sole, and coronary areas. The severity of pain and lameness were assessed. In addition to the local foot treatment, all the animals were also administered analgesic nimesulide hydrochloride (2.0 mg/kg, IM) and antibiotics for three days. The highest (mean ± S.E) lameness (2.62 ± 0.18) and pain (2.37 ± 0.26) scores were recorded on day 0. Both the scores decreased progressively to 0.25 ± 0.16 on day 3. Tachycardia and hyperpnoea were noticed in these animals on day 0 only. From this study, it is concluded that in sheep the acute foot affections were more prevalent in the fore-than the hind limbs. The associated pain and lameness; moderate in severity were satisfactorily managed with an intramuscular injection of nimesulide hydrochloride (2.0 mg/kg) for three days.