the down cow Flashcards
What is down cow syndrome?
the inability of a cow to rise and stand for a period of at least 12-24h for undetermined reasons
also called bovine secondary recumbancy
What are the general causes of down cows?
- Metabolic
- Traumatic
- Neurological
- Toxic
What are the metabolic causes of down cow syndrome?
- Unresolved hypocalcaemia
- Check phosphorus levels too – creeper cows
- Hypomagnesaemia
- Generally a cause of becoming a down cow, rather than a chronic situation, slide coming up
- Ketosis
- Beware the angry nervous ketosis cow
- Is the ketosis primary or secondary?
- Hypokalaemia
- Often give potassium as part of treatment
- Look out for muscular fasciculations
- Fatty Liver Disease
- If fatty liver alone has resulted in a down cow, the prognosis is poor
- Fog Fever
.
What is fog fever?
- Autumn time most likely (foggy mornings…)
- Movement from sparse to lush pasture
- L-Tryptophan in the pasture converted by the rumen to 3-Methylindole (can train rumen to cope with this by gradual introduction)
- This is toxic to lungs
- Causes Acute Bovine Pulmonary (O)edema and Emphysema (ABPEE)
When is Grass staggers/hypomagnasaemia seen?
- Seen in the spring with a new flush of grass
- Seen in the autumn with stale grass
- Situation made worse by high potassium and high ammonium fertiliser
- Situation improved by more broad leaf, slower growing plants in the sward (clover, chicory)
- Cows and sheep do not store Magnesium
- Require daily dose to top them up
- Lots of Magnesium goes into milk.
Do you think Staggers is a true emergency?
Would you treat it with IV Magnesium like Calcium for Milk Fever?
How would you prevent it in other cows/sheep?
- yes, emergency
- no if you do it IV then will have a heart attack, need to treat with Subcutaneous magnesium
- supplement other animals - in feed, licks, water troughs
What are some examples of traumatic, neurological and toxic causes of downer cow?
- Traumatic – for example
- Sacroiliac luxation*
- Coxo-femoral luxation often a sequel to* struggling to stand
- Gastrocnemius rupture*
- Pelvic fracture
- Profound anaemia as a result of haemorrhage
- Profound foot lameness
- Neurological
- Obturator paralysis
- Bilateral peroneal paralysis - often due to them going down
- Rarely – lymphosarcoma infiltration into spine
- Toxic
- Septic metritis
- Acute toxic mastitis, usually with a coliform
* often sequel to struggling to stand
What are the causes of primary recumbancy in cattle?
When does this occur?
- dystocia - 46%
- milk fever - 38%
- other - 16%
50% of recumbences occur within 24hrs of parturition
What happens when a cow becomes recumbent?
- Weight on muscles
- Compartment syndrome - Especially in hindlimbs
- May remain bright and alert
- This can be a good sign in prognosis
- If eating, nursing becomes easier to achieve
What history would you take with a down cow?
- has she calved recently?
- did she stand after calving
- how long has she been down for?
- what was the calving like? (was intervention needed, what degree of traction was used?)
- has the cow been crawling around?
- has she eaten/drunk/been drenched?
- has she been treated already
- have you had anyother like this?
What are the parts of a clinical exam of a downer cow?
- assess demeanor (eye, nose moisture, ears, responding)
- assess udder for mastitis
- assess for diarrhoea
- temperature
- measure ketones
- Take blood for later analysis - AST, creatinine kinase, calcium, phosphate, pottassium
What are the general treatments for a down cow?
- Oral fluids +/- additives
- IV treatments – Ca, P, K, fluids?
- SC treatemtns - Mg
- NSAIDS
- Injectable vitamin supplements – B12
- Antibiotics
What is the prognosis of a downer cow?
It depends on the presentation:
Damage to muscle and nerves - due to conditon and time down will affect
Nursing is essential - clean area, fluids, food, need to milk if in lactation
What condition is this cow suffeing from?
S-shaped neck flexion - HypoCa
What condition is this cow that is dog sitting suffering from?
likely damaged sciatic nerve
What condition is this cow suffering from?
likely obturator paralysis
What factors affect the likelyhood of a downer cow getting back up?
- Season – greatest risk = Spring > Winter > Autumn > Summer (relatively small changes in relative risk)
- Days recumbent – straight line graph over time
- Heart rate – bradycardia and tachycardia = bad
- Respiratory rate – tachypnoea (>36bpm) = bad
- Temperature – hypothermic and hyperthermic equally bad
What parametres from blood testing are indications that a downer cow is unlikey to get up?
- PCV – anaemia = bad
- Leucocytes – leucopenia and neutrophilia = bad
- AST - increased = bad
- CK - increased = bad
