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- Title
An Evaluation of a Parenteral Antibiotic Treatment of Cattle with Non-Healing Claw Horn Lesions.
- Authors
Holzhauer, Menno; Boersma, Siert-Jan; Boon, Dorien; de Leeuw, Han
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Lameness in dairy cattle is mainly caused by affection of the under feet. This affection can be caused by an infection of the skin (e.g., digital dermatitis or interdigital phlegmon) or by non-infectious claw horn lesions (e.g., sole ulcers, white line lesions, or toe necrosis). The latter of these are sometimes infected secondarily by environmental bacteria like Spirochetes, and those lesions were for many years considered to be non-healing and responsible for the premature culling of dairy cows. In a clinical pilot study with a one-group post-test-only design, dairy cows with such infected claw horn lesions were claw trimmed, topically treated, and additionally injected with tilmycosin parenterally. A follow-up after 3 months showed not only a better cure, but also an almost normal locomotion and better production, even in comparison with non-affected herd mates. Non-healing claw horn disorders are a serious problem in dairy herds because of the long duration of the disorder and the chronic pain derived from it, seriously affecting animal welfare and causing decreased production and premature culling from the herd. In a clinical trial, 40 cows in 13 herds (12 dairy herds and 1 herd with cow–calf operations) with toe necrosis (TN, 27x) or a non-healing white line disorder (NHWLD, 13x) were treated topically with an unguent-containing zinc sulphate and acetyl acid in combination with a parenteral injection of tilmycosin. An evaluation was conducted 3 months after treatment using locomotion scoring (LS), a clinical observation of the lesion, and the lactation value (the lactation value is the Net Profit of the individual animal divided by the average Net Profit of the entire herd. The mean is 100, so >100 is related to better production (combination of kg milk, %fat, and protein)) (LV) before and after treatment. The mean LS improved significantly from 4.0 (SD: 0.2) before treatment to 1.2 (SD: 0.4) 3 months after treatment (p < 0.001). The clinical presentation showed that all of the cows were cured from horn shoe infection (both TN and NHWLD). The LVs of the treated cows increased significantly from 111.2 (SD: 12.2) to 116.8 (SD: 15.1; p = 0.003).
- Subjects
TOES; ANIMAL herds; CLAWS; LAMENESS in cattle; COW-calf system; DAIRY cattle; MASTITIS; HEALING
- Publication
Animals (2076-2615), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 10, p1396
- ISSN
2076-2615
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ani14101396