On-Call / Vet

Watch for acorn toxicosis this fall.

This past week I was asked to necropsy a 1-week-old calf found dead. The owner had seen no evidence of sickness and the calf was with its mother all the time. The necropsy revealed an extremely emaciated body with no internal body fat present. The second client was a dairy client who was having trouble with calves dying between 1-2 weeks of age, with minimal clinical diarrhea or respiratory symptoms. While these cases are quite different, they got me to thinking about the reasons I see similar cases every year during this winter season.

Warts are a common condition seen in cattle, which for the most part is a nuisance. But in sever cases warts may cause other problems, like secondary bacterial infections, which may lead to unthriftiness. Many say warts are due to compromised immune systems or poor nutrition, that may be so, but most cases I see are in fat, slick show animals. I see these animals because they cannot be shown or sold if warts are visible. In some of these cases, depending on the severity, we can surgically remove or freeze the warts. This allows the animals to recover from the problem at a faster rate, allowing a quicker return to the show or sale ring.

Spring is the traditional time of year for breeding on most horse ranches. Horses are long-day breeders meaning that natural reproductive activity peaks during the longer days of the year. Generally, from mid-spring through the summer mares regularly cycle every 21 days.

While dealing with the ice and cold weather I have noticed our nutrition gurus are looking more and moiré into balancing rations of essential amino acids instead of protein. I ask the question “Is their requirement of protein for animals in their diet?” Actually “NO.” Animals must have the 10 essential amino acids and cats require 11 amino acids.

Abomasal bloat, or abomasitis, is a condition seen in calves less than three weeks old. We have recently seen several cases at our clinic, and unfortunately, most cases are fatal without very rapid intervention. The good news is that good management and preventive measures can all but eliminate this disease.