Flashcards
4. Lameness in cattle
Cards in this deck (28)
- 1How should digit amputation be viewed?Treatment failure
- 2What are the indications for digit amputation?• Deep digital sepsis
• Toe necrosis
• Non-healing WLD / SU
• Trauma, degloving or disarticulation (uncommon) - 3What are the preoperative considerations before performing a digit amputation?- Is culling more appropriate?
- How good is the post-operative care?
- Analgesia and palliative care: Is the cow likely to be less painful in the longer term?
- Environmental conditions.
- Likely prognosis - 4What are the contraindications for digit amputation?- Imperfect contralateral claw.
- Severe, ascending tenosynovitis.
- Lameness affecting another limb - 5What is the surgical approach for digit amputation?• Apply tourniquet and give IVRA
• Hemi-circumferential incision approximately 1cm proximal to the coronary band through the skin, subcutaneous tissues and tendons
• Make a second longitudinal incision in the interdigital space to meet the original incision at both ends
• Place clean embryotomy wire into the incision at the level of P2 and make a transverse cut
• Apply a pressure bandage over stump of the digit - 6What is the post op care for digit amputation?• Change the pressure bandage every 48 hours until a complete, healthy layer of granulation tissue has formed
• Systemic antibiotics for a minimum of 5 days
• Repeat NSAIDs as required if the cow appears painful - 7What are the complications with digit amputation?- Haemorrhage.
- Infection: Dehiscence, osteomyelitis or ascending tenosynovitis.
- Ischaemia and sloughing.
- Premature culling - 8What is the prognosis with digit amputation?Generally guarded. Highly dependent on the quality of post-op care and the indication for amputation, should be viewed as a salvage procedure, should not be expected to calve in again
- 9What is essential when performing a digit amputation?Making sure that the farmers knows that he has to cull at the end of lactation or when calved
- 10What is required to identify the causes of lameness?Multifactorial disease, careful assessment of all aspects of animal husbandry is required to identify underlying risk factors.
- 11What environmental conditions have to be considered?Cow flow, concrete surfaces, cubicle comfort (lying and rising), cow tracks, cow behaviour in standing areas
- 12What factors associated with the stockman have to be considered?Nutrition, trimming skills, foot bathing, time budgets, cattle handling, policies
- 13What factors associated with the cattle have to be considered?Mobility scores, parlour lesion scoring, health record review
- 14What can affect the cow flow?1. Building design – blind ends (bullying), bottle necks, narrow doorways (crowding and pushing), tight corners, sharp protrusions, passageway width
2. Stocking density
3. Resources - location of feed / water troughs, comfortable positioning to feed. Sufficient resources to prevent queuing– trough space (feed and water), brushes - 15What space is required at the feed space?0.7m/ cow
- 16What space is required at the water space?0.2m/ cow
- 17What features of the underfoot surfaces can have an effect?1. Flooring type - slipperiness / grooving, rough concrete, rubber matting of key areas
2. Farm tracks - 18What are features of cow comfort, standing and lying times?1. Cubicles - number / stocking density – are all cubicles accessible? Grouping to prevent bullying e.g. separate heifers
2. Lying surface – test with “kneedrop test”, look at “comfort quotient”, hock lesions
3. Cubicle hardware / design – watch cows stand / lie down, positioning in cubicles
4. Length of milking – standing time and surface in parlour and collecting yard - 19How many cubicles should there be?5% extra to number of cows
- 20How can you affect the underfoot hygiene?1. Scraping frequency (min. 2x daily)
2. Areas of slurry build up / pooling
- Widening passageways will spread the slurry further and reduce the height
3. Use of automatic scrapers - 21What are features of footbathing that can affect lameness?1. Frequency – ideally every milking?
2. Product – what are the aims? Hardening feet v cleaning? Formalin, copper sulphate, parlour washing / hypochlorite circulation wash
- Which cows? Are heifers / dry cows included
- Use of prewash / cleanliness of feet before entry
3. Footbath design- each foot should enter twice, and product should reach coronary band - 22What is the ideal foot bath?Long and deep
- 23What are features of the foot trimming. "foot check" that can affect lameness?1. Adequately trained herds person or use of lay foot trimmer
2. Frequency - All cows at drying off and post calving v whole herd trimmed annually / in batches / selecting overgrown feet - 24How can nutrition be used to affect lameness?- Trace elements – adequate zinc, sulpur in diet for good quality horn
- Biotin (20mg/day) has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of WLD (by 50%).
- Avoid acidosis -> laminitis
- Body condition score – thin cows go lame, BCS <2 associated with increased lameness - 25What other stockman factors can be used to influence lameness?- Policies on stocking rates, cattle handling, patience whilst walking/moving cattle, use of dogs, time budgets, foot bathing
- Identification of lame cows
- Nursing care
- Genetic selection – breeding from families with foot problems / lameness, sire selection - 26What is the main reason that heifers need to be managed to prevent lameness?• Lameness can be very high 3-4 months of first lactation
• May be very severe -> Culling
• Changes occurring at the start of first lactation can predispose to lameness for life - 27What are the possible issues in the 1st lactation with heifers?• Bullying/social changes
• Cubicles - time standing
• Incomplete digital cushion development
• Udder development
• Concrete – Reared on straw or grass
• ?nutrition – now considered much less important - 28What can be done to prevent lameness in heifers?• Cubicle training
• Transition diets
• Introduce concentrates slowly (~4 weeks)
• Calve in summer (Cubicles and building to themselves)
• Separate group for first lactation – Straw yards. Especially high yielding herds.
• Focus on first 60 days in milk
• Trimming before 1st calving?
Information
- Description
- 4. Musculoskeletal (Bovine lameness - Sarah Wood) Flashcards on 4. Lameness in cattle, created by Rachael Jones on 16/12/2018.
- Created by
- Rachael Jones
- Views
- 0
- Rating
More on Lameness and foot diseases in cattle