Lameness: Non-infectious Causes Flashcards
What are the three main causes of non-infectious lameness?
- Sole haemorrhages
- Sole ulcers
- White line lesions
Most lameness cause is foot lesions
What is sole haemorrhages/bruising?
- Contusion of the corium
- Pressure from the pedal bone
- External pressure (stones) especially when the soles are thin
What is the issue with this digit?
Double sole formation
Disruption from foot lesion
- What is the more severe manifestation of sole brusing?
- How is it worse?
- Sole ulcers
- Disrupted sole horn production, exposure of the corium
What is the pathogenesis of CHDL
= Haem, ulcers, white line lesions
CHDL = claw horn disruption lesions
Excessive movement of the 3rd phalanx within the claw capsule is the primary cause of sole ulcers and white line disease
Digital cushion and corium above the sole
What influences:
1. Excessive movement of 3rd phalanx
2. Dimensions and composition of digital cushion
3. Horn overgrowth
3 factors above cause CHDL
- Hormonal changes around parturition
Management and facilities- lying/standing time, concrete floors, stall surface, feed bunk space, over stocking, milking, access to stalls, distance from milking parlour - BCS, stage of lactation, milk production, age
- Confinement, concrete floors, wet floors
Relaxin and oestrogen increase laxity of third phalanx- parturition?
What are the treatment options for sole haemorrhage and ulcers?
- Functional trimming (5 step method)
- Block unaffected claw
- NSAIDs
Loves a Q on it
- What are different forms of white line lesions?
- What exacerbates it?
- What is it associated with?
- White line disease/abscess
- Separation, stones/manure
- Associated with shearing forces on feet, claw overload, contusions of the corium- abscess formation
Where the sole meets hoof wall
How is white line disease treated?
- Functional trimming
- Remove detached horn
- Block unaffected claw
- NSAIDs
- ABs?- mostly don’t need it
- What is the objective of corrective trimming?
- What are the techniques?
- Change the microenvironment from anaerobic to aerobic
- Remove all loose, undermined and necrotic horn
Avoid damage to peripheral corium tissues
Adjust weight bearing- lower horn over lesion, apply foot block to elevate injured claw
- What should corrective trimming include for adjustment of weight bearing?
- What are the objectives of block use?
- Lower area of lesion, balance weight bearing surfaces over both claws in a ‘reverse L’
- Reduce pain by elevating injured claw, prevent repeated trauma, promote uninterupted healing
What are the benefits of bandages/wraps?
There are several studies that suggest no therapeutic benefit from the use of bandages- can be detrimental
- Become quickly heavily contaminates
- often too tight
- Rarely if ever removed
What topical treatments are used?
Are they any good?
Tetracycline or copper sulfate:
* Granulation tissue- more likely to be observed
* Re-epithelisation more likely in untreated
Sulfanilamide
* Delayed healing was observed in cows
What are the risk factors of lameness?
- Cow ‘comfort’
- Stocking density
- Feed barrier space
- Milking frequency
- Floor surface
- Handling
- Foot shape/claw overgrowth
- Overtrimming
- Calving
- BCS
- Age
- Nutrition
- Genetics
What different measurements need to be considered when designing cubicles?
- Cow comfort is extremely important in modern diary farms
- Lying/standing on concrete can be a game changer
What is the best bedding choice?
What else is good?
Deep sand bedding is the best choice
Mats/matresses are ok
Why is stocking density important?
How much space should be provided?
- Overcrowding will lead to increased standing times, more aggressive interactions
- In straw yards provide at least 10m per cow
- Cubicles- less than 100%
How much feed barrier space should be given?
76cm yokes, one per cow
At least 70cm per cow if not in yokes- upto a 1m would be nice
How can milking frequency/duration affect lameness?
- 3 times milking increases standing/walking time
- Long waiting combined with overcrowding in the yard
- Bad cow flow/sharp corners
What floor surface is ideal?
Rubber flooring- good for high traffic areas- collecting yards
Not in passageways/sheds
Concrete is a necessary evil- worse when covered with slurry
Tracks better when dry, with lack of stones
Is early lactation claw trimming useful?
Yes- reduced mean prevalance
Doesn’t affect 1st AI rate
Doesn’t affect first AI rate
Doesn’t affect first AI rate
30-60 days probably best time- No difference in first AI rate
What sole thickness is aimed for?
What is the problem with thin soles?
Trim for 5-8mm thickness
Thin soles predisposes to lesions
Why is calving a risk factor for lameness?
- Weakening of the connective tissue of the claw suspensory apparatus
- Increases susceptibility to SU and SU and WLD
- Rigidity decreases with age
- Laxity increases
How can BCS affect lameness?
- Lame cows get thin
- BCS loss or low BCS is a risk factor
What is the role of the digital cushion?
- Absorption of impact
- Thinner cushions showed to cause lameness in early lactation
- Thin cushions causes higher internal claw temperature- inflammation
- A thicker digital cushion may also cause CHDL
What affects the digital cushion of cows?
- Weak assocition with BCS
- Thinner in first lactation animals
- Thinning post calving
- Calving effect
How can nutrition affect lameness?
- Acidosis, SARA links with laminitis
- Deficiencies
- Biotin
- Protein content of the diet
- Role of lipids in the diet
- BCS
- Acute acidosis is associated with lameness
Why is transition cow managment in regards to lameness?
- Can be more susceptible to lameness
- Reduced DMI, fat mobilization
- Calving effects
- Diet changes
- Inflammation
How should transition cows be managed?
- 10-15 square meters lying space per cow
- 75-100cm per cow feed space
- Well designes very comfortable cubicles 80% ideal
- Manamge DMI/condition score losses- 3 at calving, never less than 2.5
What is the role of inflamation of these lesions?
- Systemic inflammation can have an effect of the suspensory system
- Once the corium is insulted it leads to permanent damage- mainly on the pedal bone
- NSAIDs can decrease the chance of future lameness
How can genetics affect lameness?
Foot angle
Rear legs rear view
Fore udder attachment
How can genetics affect lameness?
Foot angle
Rear legs rear view
Fore udder attachment
Phenotypes show high incidence for all lesions, with significant genomic heritabilitities
Milk yield and protein yield effects sole ulcers incidence
How is CHDL controlled?
- Identify risk factors and improve conditions
- Early treatment of clinical cases
- Routine functional foot trimming
- Transition cow managment/manage inflammation
- Genetic selection
- Monitor progress
What other measures should be considered for lameness managment?
- Group first lactation animals separately
- Decrease standing times before milking
- Group lame cows separately
- Rubber matting
- Heat stress managment
- Nutrition
- Genetics
- Heat stress increases standing times in cool areas- lameness
- What may cause interdigital hyperplasia?
- How is it treated?
- Could be due to chronic skin irritation- hereditary
- Surgical removal under regional anaesthesia when painful
- What is toe ulcer/necrosis associated with?
- How is it treated?
- Associated with over wear/over trimming of toe sole- can get infected osteomyelitis/fracture
- Trim/block unaffected claw
Patrial or full digital amputation
- What is a vertical wall crack?
- How is it treated?
- Sandcrack- exposed corium, granulation tissue
- Trimming, block unaffected claw, stabilise hoof wall
How is an axial wall crak treated?
Remove detached horn/granulation tissue
Block healthy claw
What causes deep digital sepsis?
- Untreated foul in the foot
- Complicated sole ulcers
- Untreated white line abscess
- Puncture wounds
- Extremely painful- amputation, euthanasia
What does this image show?
Corkscrew claw
Dorsal edge of claw deviated from a straight line
- What is a retroarticular abscess?
- How is it treated?
- Abscess above the heel bulb- one claw, extensive painful swelling of the heel region
- Surgery- digital amputation
