The effect of chronic clinical pain on thermal and mechanical thresholds in sheep.

Threshold responses were measured to a thermal skin test and a mechanical pressure test in two groups of conscious unrestrained sheep. The first group of sheep were healthy adult females and formed a control sample, the second group were also adult females, but were all suffering from a condition known as footrot. Footrot is a chronic infective lesion affecting usually one foot which appears to cause severe pain in its worst manifestation.