Discussion

Grint, N.J., Murray, J.K., Whay, H.R.
Aims: Donkeys are often treated as 'small horses' by vets, which for analgesia provision, may be inappropriate. The study aim was to survey veterinary surgeons' use of analgesics in donkeys. Methods: Vets responded to questions about their demographics, practice type, clinical experience with donkeys, and analgesic use. Vets specified their analgesic choice for mild and severe colic, limb and dental pain. Chi-squared analysis was used to investigate the influence of factors on a multi- or uni- modal approach to analgesia and drug dose rate selection. After Bonferroni correction, significance was considered P<0.0125. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 143 vets.
Phenylbutazone was the most popular analgesic for mild and severe limb pain (82.5% and 68.5% of respondents, respectively) and for mild and severe dental pain (69.2% and 51% of respondents, respectively). Overseas respondents were 16 times less likely than UK respondents to use a multi-modal approach (P = 0.009). Vets who had some or lots of experience with donkeys (OR 3.72, P =0.003) and Bristol, Cambridge or London Schools graduates (OR5.67, P<0.001) were more likely to use phenylbutazone not at the horse dose, compared with vets with no or little experience with donkeys and from other UK and overseas vet schools. Conclusions and practical significance: Drugs from several classes are being used to provide analgesia in the donkey. Many veterinarians are administering these at horse doses, which may be inappropriate in donkeys. Acknowledgements: The Donkey Breed Society, BEVA and Boehringer Ingelheim kindly assisted with questionnaire distribution.