surgery in cattle anatomy of cattle foot laminitis lamness in cattle causes of lamness treatment of lamness post operative care in lamness

1. LAMNESS IN
CATTLE
College Of Veterinary Science And Animal Husbandry, AAU,
Anand.
Dr. Dhaval F. Chaudhary
(B.V.Sc. & A.H.)

2. LAMENESS
“It is a term used to refer to any number of
the conditions where the animal fails to travel in a regular
and sound manner on all four feet..”

3. ANAToMy of ThE bovINE
fooT
Three Basic structures of foot
1. Hoof : the hard outer
covering of the foot
2. Corium : supporting structure
containing nerves and blood
vessels and carrying nutrients
for hoof formation.
3. Pedal bone, navicular bone &
their associated structures.

4. STruCTurE of ThE fooT up To
fETLoCk

5. hINd fooT vIEwEd froM ThE
boTToM
5

6. wEIghT bEArINg STruCTurES of bovINE
fooT
1. Wall
2. Heel
3. White line

7. ThE LAMINITIS SyNdroME
LAMINITIS :
 Laminitis simply means inflammation of the laminae.
 Although in effect all the areas of the corium may be
congested & inflammed.
 The term laminitis is often used to describe generalised
inflammation of the corium.
 Also known as coritis or coriosis.
 Laminitis in cattle is a systemic disease with local manifestation
in the claws

9. hIp dISLoCATIoN
 It is a common condition in young cows (2-5
years) in which the head of the femur escapes
from the acetabulum and moves in the cranial &
dorsal direction.
 It is also known as coxo-femoral luxation.

10. ETIoLogy
 Severe trauma ( e.g. fall, knock ).
 Slipping from the wet and slippery floor.
 Secondary to obturator paralysis post-partum.
 Hypo-calcemia
 Falling when attempting to ride another cow.
 Downer cow can dislocate their hip when they struggle to rise.

11. Directions of the hip Dislocation
1. Cranio-dorsal ( frequent).
2. Cranio-ventral.
3. Caudo-ventral into obturator foramen (palpable).

12. clinical signs
 Over 75% of the hip dislocations occur in an upward/dorsal directions.
 As the head of the femur comes to rest on the wing of the ilium, the hock
will be markedly turned inwards.
 Severe lameness.
 Limb appears shortened (in dorsal dislocations).
 The affected leg is usually rotated outwards.
 The hip will seem to be larger and higher and the point of the hock will be
higher than on the opposite limb.

13. An animal with an upwardly dislocated hip
invariably has a swelling above the hip on the affected side

14.  Hip dislocation also occur in
downward direction, but it is less
common.
 The head of the femur will rest in
the obturator foramen.
 Inward rotation of the hock is seen.
 The affected limb will be dragged
behind the sound limb.
downward dislocation
of the hip showing
inward rotation of the
whole limb.

15. Diagnosis
 Diagnosis is based on the manipulations of the leg externally as well as
rectally.
 Place the cow in lateral recumbency, flex and extend the leg, and rotate it
using the stifle and the hock and detect any crepitating sound over
trocanter.
 Rectally, the impression of a hard bony mass moving in and out of the
obturator foramen with abduction and adduction of the leg is diagnostic
for the caudo-ventral luxation.
 Radiographs are necessary with the cow in dorsal recumbency to confirm
the diagnosis.

16. treatment
 The success rate for correcting the luxations of more than 48 hours of
duration is poor.
 The animal should be deeply sedated to the level of recumbency.
 A rope should be looped around the groin of the affected limb, which
should be upper most.
 The free ends of the rope should be tied around the immovable fixed
point.
 A second rope is then tied around the lower metatarsus and a
considerable amount of the manual traction applied by block and pulley.

18.  The force should be applied slightly backward in a manner that will draw
the head of the femur over the ramus of the ilium.
 During the next phase of the pull, the point of the hock should be grasped
and strongly rotated upward until the head of the femur slips back into the
acetabulum.
 If damage to hip joint is too extensive, replacement will not be successful
and false joint (pseudo-arthrosis) will develop, causing the animal to be
crippled for remaining of its life.
 Up to 25% of the hips that are successfully replaced will re-luxate.
Hobbling the feet together for 10-14 days after replacement may reduce
the incidence of this occurring.

19. UpwarD fixation of
patella
 It is a intermittent fixation of the
patella on the upper part of the
femoral trochlea results in the
characteristics jerky action of
one or both the hind limbs.
 The condition is commonly seen
in young animals up to 2 years of
age.

20. etiology
 Forced traction during the birth of a calf presented hind feet
first (breech) is a common cause of the patellar dislocation.
 May be congenital in nature
 May be due to the damage to the femoral nerve.

21. CliniCal signs & diagnosis
 Changes in the hind limb gait are quite
variable but are generally
characterized by jerkiness.
 Stiffness, later jerky action with leg
extended caudally for longer than
normal, followed by a forward jerk
( temporary fixation ).
 Action sometimes intermittent and
limb may become fixed in rigid
extension, dragging claws.(permanent
fixation ).

22.  The limb can remain hyperextended for a longer period than normal and
may even be dragged for few steps before clicking forward to a normal
posture.
 Many patients will show wasting of muscles,if the femoral nerve is
damaged.
 There will be progressive wasting and dysfunction of the quadriceps
muscle.
 Careful palpation of the patella may detect a displacement of the bone, this
may be confirmed from a cranio-caudal radiograph of a stifle joint.

23. Bilateral patellar luxation in a calf.

24. TreaTmenT
 Treatment consists of the surgical correction by medial patellar
desmotomy, which provide immediate and long lasting relief.
 The medial area over the stifle is surgically prepared and local anaesthetic
is infiltrated into the skin.
 A 2-3 inch vertical incision is made over the medial patellar ligament and
blunt dissection is continued toward its point of insertion to the proximal
tibia.
 Using a sharp curved bistoury introduced medially to the medial patellar
ligament, it is rotated and the ligament is then sectioned using short
strokes.

25.  Sutures are used to close the skin incision.
 Systemic antibiotics should be given for 3 days.
 The gait should be completely normal following the surgical
procedure.
Now a days stab/close method is more preferable
because there are either little or no haemorrage with a small
hole from the exterior, no need of suturing, rapid healing with
less post operative complications.

26. downer Cow syndrome
 Downer cow : any cow unable
to rise for no obvious reason.
 Creeper : downer cow that are
alert and make frequent efforts
to stand and have a reasonable
possibilities of the spontaneous
recovery.

27. eTiology
 It occurs most commonly in dairy cows which have had milk fever but are
unable to stand following treatment with calcium.
 Hypomagenesemia, hypokalemia, hypophosphatemia and fatty liver
syndrome.
 Slipping and splaying on wet and slippery concrete which occur more
commonly before or following calving, which may lead to hip dislocation,
rupture of the round ligament and fracture of the femur.
 Dystocia due to an oversized calf, which may result in sciatic nerve
paralysis.

28. CliniCal signs & diagnosis
 The back legs may assume abnormal
positions such as a frog leg attitude in
which both hind legs are partially
flexed and displaced caudally.
 In cases, where there is bilateral
dislocation of the hip or rupture of the
round ligament, the hind limbs may be
extended on each side of the cow and
reach up to the elbows. In such
condition prognosis is very poor.

29.  With unilateral hip dislocation or
rupture of the adductor muscle, the
leg may be placed more laterally
than the normal.
 Pain, swelling, abnormal posture
and crepitation on manipulating the
limb provide conclusive evidence of
a long bone fracture.

30.  The diagnosis of ischemic muscle necrosis is based on the history,
physical examination and laboratory findings.
 The values for CK and AST are usually markedly elevated by 18-24
hours after the onset of recumbency.
 The animal should be placed in lateral recumbency with both hind legs
flexed and extended as well as rotated in order to determine the
presence of the crepitation especially over the hip joint.
 The degree of voluntary movement following stimulation of the limb
with needle pricks or hemostat should be evaluated.

31.  In some cases animal will not
bear weight while in the sling
but will do so when placed in
a water tank.
 Abnormalities of limb
placement such as knuckling
with weight bearing on the
dorsum of the leg can be
readily evaluated with the
animal in the water tank.

32. treatment
Medication
 If an apparently hypocalcemic cow fails to respond to the calcium
therapy, not only calcium but phosphorus, magnesium and potassium
should be given as a second treatment.
Animal care
 If the patient has become recumbent on the concrete surface, the
footing must be immediately improved.
 The animal must be kept in sternal recumbency all the time.
 The cow must be moved from one side to other every 2 hours.
 If the animal is confined in a small box, it must be removed to a well
bedded open space.

33. Nursing
 Provide fresh clean water and
change it every at 2-3 hours.
 If the animal fails to drink, she must
be given fluid either by drench or
parentrally.
 Never offer too much feed, remove
feed if it is refused for 30 min & try
again.
 Sweet hay is the most accepatable
feed for sick cow.

34. Lifting the cow
 On every day of the
recumbency, an attempt should
be made to bring the cow to her
feet.
 If the cow does attempt to rise,
helpers should be ready on
either side of the animal to
stabilize her.
 The proper use of the hip
clamps require experience, skill
and a very delicate touch.

35. Inflatable balloons provIde
a new, non-traumatIc method
for lIftIng a downer cow

36. carpal hygroma
 A carpal hygroma is a painless swelling on the dorsal
surface of the carpus.
 Some of the lesions may be quite firm to touch, while
in others fluid may be detected.
 It is also known as “carpal bursitis”.

37. etIology
 Chronic trauma occuring over months is the direct
cause of this condition.
 Commonly seen in housed cattle on hard floors with
little bedding.
 The hygroma may involve the carpal bursa or may
result from an extension of the scar tissue.
 Brucella abortus may be isolated from it.

38. clInIcal sIgns & dIagnosIs
 Usually no lameness, no pain and
presents purely as cosmetic blemish.
 Sometimes skin contusion, break in
integument with seropurulent
discharge and invasion by
Arcanobacterium pyogenes.
 Distension of the joint capsule, heat,
pain and lameness indicate further
localised spread.

39. treatment
 Transfer the animal to soft bedding.
 Broad spectrum antibiotics in cases involving lameness and clinical signs.
 Do not open cavity or inject corticosteroids (risk of gross contamination).
 If the animal with hygroma is milking and eating well, it is probably best to
avoid surgical treatment.
 If it decided to attempt surgery it is essential that all of the lining of a fluid
sac, if present, must be excised, if any of the sac is left fluid will reform.
 The surgery is often a bloody procedure and wound healing after surgery
may be prolonged.
 Breakdown of the wound from further trauma is common as is
subsequent infection.

40. Being Vet..!