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What are some common problems caused by nutrition?
- agroceriosis
- salt toxicity
- iron deficiency
- heifer nutrition
- lactic acidosis
- enterotoxemia
- polioencephalomalacia
- selenium deficiency
- ketosis
- grass tetany
- milk fever
- fescue issues
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Which species are affected by agroceriosis?
all species are suceptible
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Which disease account for the largest loss of neonates?
agroceriosis
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What are the contributing factors to agroceriosis?
- poor mothering ability
- no milk/colostrum
- weak neonate due to dystocia
- environment
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What is agalactia?
no milk/colostrum
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What are the many problems associated with the lack of groceries?
- lack of energy source (hypoglycemia)
- failure of passive transfer (FPT)
- hypothermia
- labor intensive
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Why is failure of passive transfer primarily a problem in large animal?
due to poor transplacental transfer of immunoglobulins so large animal neonates have to get it all from the colostrum
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When do we test neonates to make sure they are getting proper colostrum and why? What tests can we use?
- test at 12 hours to allow adequate time for oral administration of colostrum
- total protein with refractometer (>5.5g/dl) or commercial ELISA test
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What species does salt toxicity primarily affect?
swine
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How does salt toxicity often occur?
due to water deprivation - as short a period as 6 hours can be problematic
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Why is salt toxicity a problem in swine?
due to high sodium levels in feed or water
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When do clinical signs occur in pigs with salt toxicity?
due to increased sodium levels or after water replenishment
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How does salt toxicity happen?
- sodium builds up in plasma then enters cells and affects cellular metabolism
- upon reintroduction to water, plasma osmotic pressure falls and water enters cells rapidly causing cellular edema and swelling
- most concerning in CNS tissue which is encased in body structures
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What are the clinical signs of salt toxicity?
CNS signs: blindness, weakness, ataxia, tremors, coma, death
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What is the treatment for salt toxicity?
- GRADUAL reintroduction to water
- mannitol, steroids, DMSO to decrease cerebral edema
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Who does iron deficiency mainly affect?
neonatal swine
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Why do baby swine get iron deficiencies?
piglets are born with low levels of iron due to poor transplacental transmission of iron and sows milk is iron deficient
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Are the clinical signs for iron deficiency acute or chronic?
can be either
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Iron deficiency causes a ____ anemia due to lack of _____ production.
- nonregenerative
- hemaglobin
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What is the treatment for an iron deficiency?
- parenteral is best
- 150mg iron dextram IM by day 3 and may be repeated on day 7 - 10
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Why are confined piglets predisposed to an iron deficiency?
outdoor pigs lick a lot of dirt which has iron in it...pigs that are confined inside are not about to root and lick the dirt to get the necessary iron
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For body condition score, the lower the number the _____ the animal.
thinner
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What is the body condition score scale for beef cattle?
1 - 9 or 1 - 10
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What is the body condition score scale for dairy cattle?
1 - 5
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What is the goal for a body condition score for a beef cattle at calving?
BCS 6
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What is the goal for a body condition score for a dairy cattle at calving?
3.5 at calving
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What are key factors in an animal returning to estrus?
body condition and nutrition
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What is the most nutritionally demanding life stage?
lactation
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What are the goals for heifer nutrition?
- calve at 24 months of age
- BCS is more important than weight but on average, beef heifers 950 - 1050 lbs and dairy heifers 1200 - 1250 lbs at calving
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Which species is enterotoxemia a primary concern in?
juvenile sheep, can also affect cattle and goats
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What is enterotoxemia caused by?
toxins produced by Clostridium perfringes type D (type C can also cause GI problems in sheep)
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What is another name for enterotoxemia?
- overeating disease
- pulpy kidney disease
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How does enterotoxemia occur?
- animals normally ingest low levels of clostridium bacteria but the normal gut flora and rumen environment keep numbers of these organisms low
- overeating of concentrate upsets this delicate balance from overproduction of acid leading to overgrowth of clostridial organisma
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What are the clinical signs of enterotoxemia?
- sudden death
- CNS signs: ataxia, blindness, head pressing, tremors, convulsions, opisthotonus, coma
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What is the treatment for enterotoxemia?
antitoxin and sulfa or penicillin antibiotics
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How can we prevent enterotoxemia?
vaccinate at 3 - 4 weeks, boost at weaning
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What is polioencephalomalacia?
thiamine deficiency
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Who is affected by polioencephalomalacia?
young (several months - 2 years) sheep are most often affected, may occur in other ruminants
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What causes polioencephalomalacia?
- caused by low roughage, high concentrate diet
- may also be caused by ingestion of certain thiaminase plants (horsetail, bracken fern)
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What are the clinical signs for polioencephalomalacia?
CNS signs
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What is the treatment for polioencephalomalacia?
- thiamine HCL - can use B complex as well
- steroids or mannitol in severe cases
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What is the prognosis for polioencephalomalacia?
good if caught early
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How do we prevent polioencephalomalacia?
increase roughage or add thiamine to feed
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What is the etiology for ketosis?
energy output exceeding energy intake (a negative energy balance)
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What can cause energy output to exceed energy intake?
- lactational
- underfeeding
- anorexia
- pregnancy toxemia
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How does ketosis happen?
negative energy balance induces the mobilization of fat to be used as an energy source leading to the formation of excessive ketone bodies
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What can happen if ketosis is severe?
animal may show CNS signs
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If ketosis is not severe, what can it cause?
- decreased production
- weight loss
- depression and ill-thrift which may compound the problem
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How do we diagnose ketosis?
- PE, history, ketone odor to breath
- measure ketones in blood, milk, urine
- PE and U/A are most popular with large animals
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What is the treatment for ketosis?
- glucose IV initially (500ml 50% glucose in cattle)
- propylene glycol PO (1 pint in cattle) - rumen bugs can process this into energy
- glucocorticoids which stimulates the gluconeogenesis pathways
- insulin in severe cases
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How do we prevent ketosis?
- adequate nutrition
- balanced rations for stage of pregnancy, lactation, etc.
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Who does vitamin E/selenium deficiency mainly affect?
most notable in ruminants, but most species can be affected
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Where in the US is vitamin E/selenium deficiency mainly a problem?
eastern and northwestern because these areas are soil deficient
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What are the factors that limit availability in soil that could cause vitamin E/selenium deficiency?
- acidic pH
- high % legumes
- heavy mositure
- heavy fertilization
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What can vitamin E/selenium deficiency cause?
- white muscle disease in everyone
- mulberry heart disease in pigs
- been linked to many problems - reproduction, immune, CNS disorders
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How do we diagnose vitamin E/selenium deficiency?
- history/PE
- pale muscle tissue on necropsy
- blood selenium concentrations
- liver selenium concentrations
- response to therapy
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How do we treat vitamin E/selenium deficiency?
injectable vitamin E/selenium
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How do we prevent vitamin E/selenium deficiencies?
- feed additives - either vit E or Se
- prophylactic injections in neonates
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What is another name for hypomagnesemia?
- grass tetany/grass staggers
- winter tetany
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Which animal is hypomagnesemia a problem in?
beef cattle
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What are the two scenarios that can cause hypomagnesemia?
- 1. lactating beef cows on lush spring grass pastures (low in Mg)
- 2. late gestation/early lactation beef cow in the winter on poor quality forage (with spring calvers)
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What are the risk factors for hypomagnesemia?
- thin/fat
- older
- black
- beef cows
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What are the clinical signs of hypomagnesemia?
- belligerence
- ataxia
- tremors
- recumbency but usually still alert
- death
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How do we diagnose hypomagnesemia?
- history
- PE
- serum Mg levels
- response to treatmetn
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What are the causes of downer cow syndrome?
- hypomagnesemia
- milk fever (hypocalcemia)
- botulism
- trauma
- mad cow disease
- calving paralysis
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What is the treatment for hypomagnesemia?
- oral Mg replacement - pink pills (MgOH), gells (MgCL), Epsom salt (MgSO4)
- Mg containing IV solution
- IV followd by oral is best as relapses are common
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How do we prevent hypomagnesemia?
- feed additives
- high Mg mineral salt - leave out all year
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What are some other names for hypocalcemia?
- milk fever
- parturient paresis
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What animal is hypocalcemia the biggest problem in?
dairy cows
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What is hypocalcemia associated with?
parturient endocrine status of the animal
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_____ of cases of hypocalcemia occur within 24 hours of calving.
75%
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Which dairy cows are most at risk for hypocalcemia?
older jerseys
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What are the clinical signs of hypocalcemia?
- early signs of excitement and tetany are often missed
- recumbency
- depression
- head in flank
- hypothermia
- coma and death can result
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How do we diagnose hypocalcemia?
- history
- PE
- serum Ca levels
- response to treatment
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What is the treatment for hypocalcemia?
- oral Ca replacement (CaCl gels)
- Ca containing IV solutions given SLOWLY - monitor HR closely
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How do we prevent hypocalcemia?
- small % of cases are expected
- Ca supplements at calving if incidence is greater than 10%
- nutritional management in the dry period
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What is fescue?
cool season perennial
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What does fescue have that could cause problems?
- endophyte fungus
- it is a toxin that can cause problems
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What kind of problems can fescue cause in cattle?
- fescue foot
- bovine fat necrosis
- fescue toxicity which manifests itself as production losses - decreased wt. gain, milk production, feed intake, rough haircoat, increased body temperature, reproductive inefficiency
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How do we help with fescue in cattle?
dilute the fescue out by planting other types of grasses as well
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What types of horses are we concerned about fescue in?
only in broodmares
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What can fescue cause in broodmares?
- abortions
- prolonged gestation
- dystocia
- thickened or retained placenta
- dead foals
- agalactia
- dead mares
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When should we stop feeding fescue to pregnant mares?
zero tolerance of fescue in the last 60 - 90 days of gestation
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