Metabolic conditions of the GI tract of Cattle Flashcards
What are the 3 metabolic disorders in cattle?
- ruminal tymphany
- rumenal acidosis
- abomasal displacements
What is ruminal tympany?
- ruminal bloat
- loss of gas prevented, distension of rumen
- free gas bloat
What causes free gas bloat?
- oesophageal obstruction
- failure of eructation
- hypocalcaemia
- nerve dysfunction
- carb overload
- recumbency
How does frothy bloat occur?
- legume feeding
- higher viscosity
- foam on top of liquid
- no free gas
- prevention of eructation
What are the clinical signs of bloat?
- abdominal distension (10-4 o’clock)
- rumenal hypomotility/ atony
- pain, discomfort and vocalisation
- recumbency and death
What is the normal pH of rumen?
- 6.5-7
What happens if the pH drops below 6?
- prohibits cellulose digestion
- has effect on dynamic of bacteria
- early lactating cows on high starch diets
- higher CHO, High VFAs + lower saliva, lower pH
- inhibition of lactic acid utilising bacteria
- increased lactic acid producing bacteria
- low pH
- early lactating cows on high starch diets
Difference between acute rumenal acidosis and subacute rumenal acidosis?
- acute - more common in small animals
- e.g. grain overload
- highly quantity of CHO in a short timeframe
- subacute
- chronic exposure ro high starch levels
- lack of physicall effective NDF
- herd level problem
What are clinical signs of rumenal acidosis?
- acute
- rumenal tympany
- diarrhoea
- osmotic
- reduced gut transit time
- tachypnoea
- recumbency and death
- sub acute
- lower milk production
- lower butterfat content
- lower BCS
- lower rumination and dropped cuds
- diarrohoea, undigested grains, faecal soiling
- poor fertility rates
Risk factors for rumenal acidosis?
- size of conc feeds
- feeding frequency
- overall starch levels
- forage access
- ration sorting
- transition
- cow comfort
How do you diagnose SARA?
- on farm observations
- changed faecal consistency and incomplete digestion
- poor cow cleanliness
- tail swishing
- lower DMI and increased sorting
- decreased rumination and increased dropped cuds
- ration assessment
- lower herd performance
- lower yields and bulk milk butterfat levels
- poor repro performance
- increased lameness
- increased environmental mastitis
- further investigations
- rumenocentesis
- rumenal pH monioring boluses
What are the common abomasal conditions of dairy cattle?
- left displaced abomasum
- right displaced abomasum
- abomasal volvulus
When are abomasal disorders most common?
- 1-2 weeks post calving
- peak lactation
What is the most common abomasal condition?
- left shift
- 95% of cases
- gas distended abomasum displaced btw left abdominal wall and rumen
- duodenum compressed
Clinical signs of left displaced abomasum?
- selective anorexia
- lower milk production
- lower rumen fill and motility
- extension of caudal part of ribcage
- ping on percussion
How does left abomasal shift occur?
- around calving the abomasum starts to shift - more on LHS
- duodenum pulled short
- as the abomasum pulls round it pulls the attachments tight
- stop the gas from being able to escape
- normally requires surgery
What is the main difference between left and right displacement?
- with left wont get significant compromise to the blood supply so dont get shock associated with it
How does right displaced abomasum occur?
- abomasum floats up on RHS
- rotating over 90-180 degrees
- volvulus/ torsion (anticlockwise)
- obstruction of blood supply
- sequestration of fluid and ions within the lumen -> hypovolaemia and a hypochloraemic, hypokalaemic metabolic alkalosis
- necrosis of the abomasal mucosa and translocation of bacteria -> septicaemia/ endotoxaemia
- circulatory failure
- shock
- death
What are the clinical signs of right displaced abomasum/ volvulus?
- anorexia
- lower milk production
- lower rumen fill and faecal output
- extension of caudal part of ribcafe
- ping on percussion
- signs of shock
