Table 2.

Least squares means (upper and lower 95% confidence interval) of outcome variables by treatment for calves undergoing hot-iron branding and receiving meloxicam at 1 mg/kg orally (MEL; n = 35) or placebo (CON; n = 35)

Variable	MEL	CON	TRT	TIME	TRT∗TIME
Mean serum cortisol, ng/mL	14.27	14.37	0.73	<0.01	0.86
CI	11.67 to 16.88	11.77 to 16.97
Mean hair cortisol, pg/mL	214.91	209.96	0.78	<0.01	0.25
CI	182.19 to 247.62	175.58 to 244.35
Mean PGEM, pg/mL	24.73	34.54	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
CI	18.61 to 30.84	28.42 to 40.67
Mean max IRT hip difference, °C	2.28a	3.15b	<0.01	<0.01	0.39
CI	1.70 to 2.85	2.58 to 3.73
Mean max IRT left hip, °C	34.86	34.96	0.53	<0.01	0.71
CI	34.56 to 35.15	34.66 to 35.26
Mean max ocular IRT, °C	36.61	36.53	0.60	<0.01	0.57
CI	36.33 to 36.89	36.25 to 36.81
Mean brand site MNT, kg F	0.66	0.65	0.92	<0.01	0.63
CI	0.62 to 0.69	0.62 to 0.69
Mean control site MNT, kg F	1.13	1.21	0.16	<0.01	0.32
CI	1.03 to 1.24	1.11 to 1.31
Mean motion index	5,259	5,161	0.80	<0.01	0.96
CI	4,557 to 5,962	4,469 to 5,852
Mean lying time (proportion)	0.30	0.30	0.83	<0.01	0.42
CI	0.29 to 0.31	0.29 to 0.31
Mean step count	1,097	1,074	0.77	<0.01	0.94
CI	951 to 1,243	930 to 1,217
Mean lying bouts	5.27	5.63	0.42	0.37	0.03
CI	4.46 to 6.07	4.84 to 6.42
Mean VAS (1–100 mm)	8.60	8.51	0.75	<0.01	0.29
CI	8.10 to 9.09	8.00 to 9.01
Mean ADG, kg/d	0.91	0.86	0.61
CI	0.74 to 1.07	1.02 to 0.88

PGEM, prostaglandin E₂ metabolite concentration; IRT, infrared thermography; MNT, mechanical nociceptive threshold; VAS, visual analog scale; ADG, average daily gain.

Different superscripts indicate significant differences between treatment groups (P ≤ 0.05).