Calf MOD Flashcards

1
Q

What is navel ill?

A

Infection via navel or oro-respiratory route
May involve umbilical arteries, veins, urachus
Swollen navel
May result in peritonitis, septicaemia, polyarthritis (joint-ill)

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2
Q

What are some risk factors for navel ill?

A
Pathogen load (hygiene at calving)
Was iodine used on navel?
Immune status of calf (colostrum intake)
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3
Q

How do you diagnose navel ill?

A

Swollen and hard navel
Abdominal palpation to see if umbilical vessels are abcessed
Probe
Ultrasound (follow umbilical artery to bladder towards aorta, and vein to liver)

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4
Q

How do you treat navel ill?

A

Antibiotics
Drainage
Surgery (remove infected umbilical arteries and urachus. If veins affected- poor prognosis)

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5
Q

What is joint ill?

A
Septic arthritis 
Usually a sequel to navel I'll 
Risk factors: hygiene at calving,  FPT (failure of passive transfer)
Single or multiple joints 
Poor prognosis
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6
Q

How do you treat joint ill?

A

Long course of antibiotics
Joint lavage (hard to do as needles plug up with fibrin)
Arthrotomy (opening a joint) and flush joint
Antibiotic impregnated beads after flushing or arthrotomy (amoxicillin, clindamycin)

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7
Q

What is the difference between bacteraemia and septicaemia?

A

Bacteraemia= bacteria in blood, secondary to mucosal damage eg rumen acidosis, mastitis

Septicaemia= bacteria multiplying in blood. Concurrent endotoxaemia, fatal

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8
Q

What is the primary cause of septicaemia in calves?

A

Lack of colostral antibody

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9
Q

When do calves usually get septicaemia?

A

From 0-5 days old (failure of passive transfer)

Few cases at days 5-14 (decline in IgM, allows bacteria to spread from navel to blood circulation)

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10
Q

What are the main antibodies in colostrum?

A

IgG and IgM

Decline in IgM after 5 days

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11
Q

What are the clinical signs of septicaemia?

A

Collapsed
Shock (endotoxaemia)
Very congested conjunctiva (petechiae, DIC)
CNS signs sometimes

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12
Q

What are the risk factors for septicaemia?

A
Pathogen load (hygiene at calving and in calf-rearing area)
Immune status (colostrum intake)
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13
Q

How do you perform a cerebro-spinal fluid tap?

What would you see in an abnormal sample?

A

Put calf in sitting dog position
Lumbosacral junction, at level of ilium (‘thumb notch’)
2” 19G needle

Abnormal= high protein, ‘froth’, due to ‘shot’ blood-brain barrier

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14
Q

How do you treat septicaemia?

A
Very rarely successful
Antibiotics
NSAIDS (flunixin)
Corticosteroid 1mg/kg
Fluid therapy 
Supportive nursing, warmth, feeding etc
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15
Q

Describe calf diphtheria including treatment

A

Fusiformis necrophorum
Oral lesions (sore mouth, salivation and foul smell, ulcerative lesions)
Caused by poor hygiene eg dirty buckets
Tx= penicillin

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16
Q

Give the cause of abdominal swelling in each case:
Left-sided swelling
Right-sided swelling

A

Left-sided swelling: bloat, free gas in rumen

Right-sided swelling: ‘abdominal catastrophe’ eg volvulus, torsion, laparotomy indicated, very serious

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17
Q

What is atresi coli?

A

Gradual distension of colon over first few days of life, due to part of bowel being blocked off from rectum, unable to defecate
Euthanasia

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18
Q

How do you treat calf bloat?

A

Relieve distension with tube/trocar (‘red devil’ trocar used to release gases)
Correct underlying risk factors

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19
Q

What is ETEC diarrhoea caused by?

When do calves get it?

A

E. coli

Less than 5 days old

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20
Q

If a calf has diarrhoea and is over 6 days old, what are the most likely causes?

A

Rotavirus, coronavirus, crypto

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21
Q

Give the causes of metabolic acidosis

A

Loss of bicarbonate
Addition of acid and neutralisation of bicarbonate
Dilution of bicarbonate (inappropriate fluid therapy)

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22
Q

Why must there be sufficient surfactant in the lungs at birth?

A

So the lungs can inflate to take the calfs first breath

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23
Q

What is the stimulus for breathing at birth?

A

Change from placental to lung oxygenation

Stimulus for breathing is build up of CO2 (respiratory acidosis)

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24
Q

Give two causes of foetal hypoxia

A

Compression of umbilical cord

Premature placental separation

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25
Q

How does dystocia lead to acidaemia and hypoxaemia?

A

Dystocia -> hypoxia (compression of umbilical cord or premature placental separation) -> lactic acid production -> metabolic acidosis -> severe respiratory acidosis -> acidaemia and hypoxaemia

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26
Q

How long should it take for a newborn calf to get into sternal recumbency?

A

Less than 5 minutes

Over 9= increased risk of death

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27
Q

What is in colostrum?

A

High energy, protein, fats, vitamins
IgG, IgA, IgM are main immunoglobulins
Growth factors eg insulin, IGF-1, IGF-2, GH
Large number of inflammatory cells

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28
Q

When do colostral antibodies run out once inside the calf?

A

5-10 days old

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29
Q

What percentage of calves do not get enough colostrum?

A

30-50%

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30
Q

Why might a calf not get enough colostral antibodies?

A

Failure to suck eg poor teat conformation (too big)
Mothering ability of cow
High genetic merit dairy cows have poor quality colostrum
Weak (acidotic) calves don’t suck enough and don’t absorb antibodies from colostrum
Should have colostrum within 6 hours of birth

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31
Q

Give some factors that affect quality and quantity of colostrum

A
When colostrum is collected (decreased in antibodies over time)
Breed of cow (dairy vs beef)
Parity?
Pre-partum nutrition 
Length of dry period (
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32
Q

Explain the ‘Teflon effect’

A

Antibodies from colostrum (IgA and IgG1)are absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream, then are re-secreted into the gut for 5 days

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33
Q

How can you assess passive transfer of maternal antibodies?

A

Measure serum immunoglobulins

  • Refractometer: TP should be >55g/l
  • ZST (zinc sulphate turbidity): over 20 units
  • SST (serum separated tube): over 20g/l
  • ‘Nasal stick test’ measures IgG
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34
Q

How much colostrum should a dairy calf be fed in the first few days of its life?

A

3.5 litres within first 6 hours
3 litres again within 12 hours
Feed 1 litre daily for 3-5 days

35
Q

When should a dairy calf be removed from its mother?

A

Within 2 hours of birth

36
Q

What temperature should colostrum be stored at?

A

4 degrees

37
Q

How long should colostrum be pasteurised for?

A

60 minutes at 65 degrees C

38
Q

When do calves with salmonella get diarrhoea?

A

Less than 5 days old

39
Q

What are the sources of bacterial agents for calves with diarrhoea?

A

Adult cows- low dose ‘seeding’
Other calves- pathogen multipliers (healthy older calves, diarrhoeic recovered calves)
Environment (esp crypto; oocysts very resistant, low infective dose)

40
Q

Why are calves born later more likely to have diarrhoea?

A

Environemnt is contaminated by older calves shedding bacteria

41
Q

What should you be careful of when pulling colostrum from cows?

A

Make sure they are low-risk cows (eg for Johnes)

42
Q

Describe dam vaccination in preventing diarrhoea in calves

A

Vaccinate dam 30 days before calving
Protects against/dam produces antibodies for ETEC E. coli, rotavirus, coronavirus
Works via colostrum and milk; boosts milk IgG and IgA for 21 days

43
Q

When housed together, what should the age difference between calves be?

A

7-10 day age spread

44
Q

From what age can you mix calves?

A

4 weeks old

45
Q

Briefly describe the Sandhills calving system

A

Cows are put in pasture 1 as soon as first calves are born
After 2 weeks, any cows that have not calved are moved to pasture 2
After a week in pasture 2, any cows that have not calved are moved to pasture 3, and so forth.
The result is cow-calf pairs distributed over multiple pastures, each containing calves within one week of age of each other
Cow-calf pairs Dan be commingled after the youngest calf is 4 weeks old

46
Q

Describe coccidiosis

A
Usually in older calves (>21 days)
Poor hygiene-especially near feeding troughs 
Dark scour +/- blood
Tenesmus 
Calf remains bright 
Treatment: sulfonamides, vecoxan
Diagnosis: faecal oocyst count
47
Q

Describe necrotic enteritis

A
Affects 2-6 month old suckler calves 
Sporadic cases
Usually fatal
Aetiology unknown 
Leucopenia, thrombocytopenia
Pyrexia, pale mm
Looks like BVD 
Necrotic lesions of gut and resp tract
48
Q

Describe peri-weaning scour syndrome

A

Pasty scour, poor growth, bloat, pot-belly

Dietary origin? Ruminal development pre-weaning (SARS- severe acute respiratory syndrome)

49
Q

Describe diarrhoea

A

Failure of net intestinal uptake of water and sodium such that the colon is overwhelmed

50
Q

Describe the two types of diarrhoea

A

Hypersecretory:
Hypersecretion of water into intestines, exceeding the resorptive capacity of the mucosa
Calves less than 6 days old

Malabsorptive:
Villous atrophy -> impaired capacity of mucosa to absorb fluid and nutrients -> failure of digestion -> partially divested foodstuffs in colon -> fermentation products eg lactic acid -> decreased pH -> water drawn into colon
Calves older than 6 days old

51
Q

Describe the pathophysiology of diarrhoea

A

Dehydration/ hypovolaemia -> pre-renal failure and shock (raised urea and creatinine)
Metabolic acidosis: loss of bicarbonate into gut, lactic acid from tissues, D-lactic acid (produced by bacteria) from colonic fermentation
Hyperkalaemia secondary to acidosis (intracellular uptake of H+ in exchange for K+). Fatal
Hypoglycaemia: starvation

52
Q

How can you diagnose acid base disturbances in the blood?

A

Blood gas machine- pH, pCO2, TCO2

53
Q

Which calves tend to be more acidotic, younger or older?

A

Older (over 6 days old)

54
Q

How do you treat diarrhoea?

A

Correct fluid and electrolyte deficits

55
Q

Give the basics of how fluid therapy work

A

Balanced fluid -> improves plasma volume -> improves renal function -> corrects plasma Na -> also improves metabolic acidosis -> corrects plasma K

56
Q

Give the fluid recipe for volume replacing fluid

A

34g NaCl
15g NaHCO3
5 litres water

57
Q

If a calf is in severe acidosis, what needs to be added to its fluids?

A

Bicarbonate

58
Q

If a calf is recumbent with diarrhoea but does not have sunken eyes, what is the most likely cause?
What kind of fluids should you give?

A

Very severe acidosis

Administer BIC rich fluids

59
Q

Give the fluid recipe for additional BIC fluids

A

NaHCO3 ‘spike’
Beef suckler calf: 35g BIC
Dairy calf: 17g BIC
400ml water

Add to 5l isotonic fluid

60
Q

What kind of fluids should be given for low blood sodium?

A

Hypertonic 3% saline (water flows out of cells into gut)

61
Q

What happens to a calf’s skin when it is dehydrated?

A

Becomes very thick and leathery

62
Q

Give some risks of IV fluid therapy

A
Thrombo-phlebitis and infection at site
Overshoot alkalosis
Paradoxical acidification of CSF 
Hypocalcaemia 
Paradoxical alkalinisation of CSF in endotoxic calf
63
Q

What are the 4 generations of oral fluids?

A

1st generation: (WHO like)- corrects dehydration
2nd gen: (additional BIC)- also corrects acidosis
3rd gen: (high glucose)- addresses nutritional demands
4th gen: (glutamine)- promotes villus repair and regeneration

64
Q

What is the optimum concentration (mmol/l) of bicarbonate (BIC) in oral rehydration fluids when correcting acidosis?

A

80-120 mmol/l

65
Q
When should you administer oral fluids?
What is the best route?
How much?
How often?
Should you feed milk alongside?
A
As soon as scour starts 
Teat and bucket 
4-8 litres daily 
Little and often 
Yes
66
Q

Why should you feed milk alongside oral fluids when treating diarrhoea?

A

Maintains body condition
Provides energy for immune response
Feeds the gut mucosa (assists in repair)
Ensures intake of Ca, Mg, vitamins etc

67
Q

What are some possible disadvantages of feeding milk alongside oral rehydration fluids when treating diarrhoea?

A

May worsen diarrhoea via colonic overload with partially digested foodstuffs
May worsen acidosis via colonic fermentation (lactic acid, increased H+)
May discourage farmer compliance if treatment appears not to work

68
Q

Why do antibiotics not always work when treating calf diarrhoea?

A

Most pathogens are viral or protozoal (eg crypto)

69
Q

What does the umbilical vein become?

A

Round ligament of liver (in Falciform ligament)

70
Q

What does the umbilical artery become?

A

Round ligament of bladder

71
Q

What does the urachus become?

A

Scar on bladder

72
Q
What is the diagnosis of an umbilical swelling is:
Reducible into abdomen 
Partially reducible
Irreducible 
Pitting oedema
A

Reducible into abdomen: simple hernia
Partially reducible: hernia and abscess
Irreducible: abscess, or hernia complicated by incarceration, strangulation or adhesions
Pitting oedema: urolithiasis and urethral rupture

73
Q

Fibrinogen is an indicator of what?

A

Chronic infection

74
Q

How big must a simple umbilical hernia be before you surgically remove it?

A

Larger diameter than 1 finger

75
Q

Describe the surgical approach to amending an umbilical hernia

A

Elliptical incision with straight incisions either side to retain sufficient skin
Dissect down edges of hernial ring using Metzenbaum dissection scissors to free peritoneum
Hernial sac falls back into abdomen allowing edges of ring to be drawn together using ‘vest over pants’ technique
Can alternatively use a mesh to repair large deficit

76
Q

Which bacteria are the cause of infection umbilicus/abscess outside the body wall?

A

A. Pyogenes or E.coli

77
Q

How do you treat infection umbilicus/abscess outside the body wall?

A

Antibiotics
+/- Open abscess cavity and flush with saline/disinfectants twice daily
Need several weeks treatment or will recur

78
Q

How do you treat a patent/infected urachus?

A

Flush and give antibiotics if infected
May require surgery to remove urachus and infected umbilical arteries all the way up to bladder
1 or 2 stage process (cut urachus off at bladder, or cut off at bladder and navel)

79
Q

How do you treat an infected umbilical vein?

A

If doesn’t extend to liver -> same as for urachus (flush and antibiotics)
If extends to liver -> surgery (if no systemic signs present)
Partial hepatectomy
Poor prognosis

80
Q

What are the complications of umbilical surgery?

A

Seroma (collection of fluid under the skin at the site of incision)
Re-herniation
Infection

81
Q

How should a calf be managed after umbilical surgery?

A

Keep on own for a 1 month
Add to group of smaller animals to prevent bullying
Keep inside for 3 months

82
Q

How can you diagnose disease in the neonate?

A
Demeanour 
Suck reflex 
Faeces 
Hydration status 
TP
Ultrasound 
Abdominal distension/sounds
83
Q

Under which 3 conditions would you give a calf fluid therapy?

A

Hypovolaemia
Metabolic acidosis
Hypoglycaemia