The shelf life of Tri-Solfen, Australia’s market-leading pain relief and wound care solution for lambs, calves, piglets and horses, has been extended to 18 months.
Tri-Solfen is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by global veterinary pharmaceutical manufacturer, Dechra, which also distributes the Numnuts ring application and targeted pain relief system for sheep.
Dechra business unit head – farm animal products, Ben Austin, says the longer shelf-life will help to maintain Tri-Solfen’s position as the leading pain relief and wound care solution in the extensive livestock industries.
“This improvement is about improving animal welfare,” Ben says.
“A longer shelf life ensures that resellers and producers, particularly those in remote locations, can purchase and store Tri-Solfen with confidence, knowing they have product on hand when it’s needed,” he says.
“The livestock industry is under increasing pressure to demonstrate high standards of animal welfare, and this extension will help producers to meet those expectations.”
Ben says the extension demonstrates Dechra’s commitment to local innovation.
“Working with overseas colleagues and local manufacturing partners, our manufacturing team at Somersby successfully executed all of the necessary steps to achieve this shelf-life extension,” he says.
“This process involved a review of the existing formulation, the development of a revised formulation, conducting small-scale trial batches and then refining the commercial manufacturing processes to ensure quality and consistency were maintained.”
Dechra is now undertaking additional stability studies which it hopes will support a 24-month shelf life.
Ben, who brings more than 20 years’ experience in sales, marketing and category management within the animal health sector to his new role with Dechra, says Australian livestock producers have embraced pain relief over the past 15 years.
“In round numbers, about 90 per cent of dairy farmers routinely provide pain relief during disbudding, about 85 per cent of sheep and wool producers routinely provide pain relief during mulesing and about 35 per cent of beef producers routinely provide pain relief during disbudding or dehorning,” he says.
“These figures are a tremendous achievement for the sheep, wool, dairy and beef industries and demonstrate their collective commitment to meeting and exceeding the expectations of our customers in regard to animal welfare,” Ben explains.
“Providing pain relief is a better choice, not only for animals, but for producers and the industry as a whole,” he says.
“That said and done, the provision of pain relief during docking and castration in sheep and castration in cattle is much lower.
“As the leading supplier of pain relief solutions, Dechra is now focussed on closing those gaps and making sure Tri-Solfen remains the first choice for acute pain relief.
“At the same time, we have ambitious growth plans for Numnuts in the ring docking and castration segment.
“We are also very focussed on increasing adoption of best practice for pain relief.
“Best practice is not about using Tri-Solfen or Numnuts for acute pain relief or meloxicam for chronic pain relief – it’s about using both modes of action.”
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Tri-Solfen has been the most trusted pain relief solution for Australian livestock producers for almost 20 years.
This unique, four-way formulation provides immediate and lasting pain relief, reduces bleeding, protects against infection and facilitates wound healing.
It contains lignocaine and bupivacaine, two local anaesthetics that provide immediate and lasting pain relief; adrenaline, which reduces bleeding and slows the ‘inflammatory cascade’; and cetrimide, an antiseptic/surfactant that helps to protect against infection and start the healing process.
The gel formulation further assists wound healing by sealing and protecting the wound.
Numnuts was developed specifically to address the acute pain experienced by lambs following tail docking or castration using rubber rings.
It applies a standard Elastrator ring and then safely injects a calibrated dose of lignocaine, a rapid-acting local anaesthetic that numbs the site within 60 seconds and blocks acute pain for at least 60 minutes.
The system has been extensively tested in Australia by the CSIRO with AWI and MLA funding.
Tri-Solfen and Numnuts can be purchased over the counter without a veterinary prescription.
Dechra is a proud partner of Better Choices, an independently audited program enables livestock producers to certify they implement best-practice animal welfare standards.
