Management and Control of Milk Fever in Dairy Cattle in Field Condition
Suvendu Kumar Behera*
Dept. of Veterinary Medicine, CVSC and AH, CAU, Selesih, Aizawl, Mizoram (796 015), India
Manoranjan Rout
Project Directorate on Foot and Mouth Disease, Arugul, Jatni, Bhubaneswar, Khorda, Odisha (752 050), India
Ranjan Kumar Mohanta
KVK Cuttack, Santhapur, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha (753 006), India
DOI: NIL
Keywords: Dietary cation-anion difference, Milk fever, Paresis, Vitamin D3
Abstract
Milk fever is an acute to peracute, afebrile, flaccid paralysis of mature dairy cows that occurs most commonly at or soon after parturition. It is manifested by changes in mentation, generalized paresis, and circulatory collapse. Clinical milk fever is more commonly seen in older animals as they have reduced ability to mobilize calcium from bone. Recommended treatment is IV injection of a calcium gluconate salt. Approximately 75% of cows stand within 2 hr of treatment. Animals not responding by 4-8 hr should be reevaluated. The best way to prevent parturient paresis is by use of the dietary cation-anion difference to decreases the blood pH of cows during the late prepartum and early postpartum period. Administration of vitamin D3 also effectively prevents parturient paresis. The prognosis is generally good. However, some cows can relapse. Without treatment, between 60% and 80% of cows usually die, although death rates as high as 90% have been recorded.
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Reference
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