Milk Fever

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 852, 21 December 1929, Page 37

Milk Fever

Methods of Treatment

ONDExI the so-called remedies of little more than a geueratiou af'O the death-rate among cows affected by milkfever was in the vicinity of 80 per cent. Better methods of treatment have resulted in the ratio of loss being cut down to nearer 3 per cent.

The first noticeable symptom of 3iift fever is sudden cessation of ieediaS and rumination, and the cow either exhibits great restlessness or lapses into a state of insensibility, fljere is a dull expression in the ,es, a constant shifting of the feet, accompanied by rapid breathing and a gradual loss of control of the muscles of the body. Later the animal falls to the ground, and after a period of excitement, characterised by throwing about the head and mak,jg violent efforts to regain the use p( i‘s legs, It passes into a semiconscious condition. The milk secretion ceases,, and the excretory organs become paralysed. If left In thi3 itste the cow assumes a posture with Her neck flexed laterally and her nose touching her shoulder; all the organs tail and death supervenes. It will be realised that in ari cases of mUk fever prompt measures must L taken to give relief. When the animal falls to the ground care must b« taken that it does not roll over on ,0 its side, for impaction of the rumen ana distension will almost certainly follow. The animal should be propped up to make such an eventuality impossible, and so that it tests upon its breast. This can be done by packing the shoulders up with jtraw and a,so by elevating the head by means of trusses of straw. By careful treatment it is possible to give relief and effect a cure before the disease reaches the acute stage. While the exact cause of milk fever is not known, it is thought that some toxic substance is absorbed by the adder, and this theory is supported by tie success which attends treatment through the udder. An important point to remember is that animals should be kept in a condition most nearly resembling the natural.

High condition favours the development of the disease, and heavy winter feeding is sometimes responsible for the trouble. If the cow is very fat she should be reduced in condition and this can be done by diminishing the amount and the richness of the food supplied for a week or so before and after parturition. While the use of purgatives is to be deprecated, they often give good results, and a dose of Epsom salts may prove efficacious at this stage. Cows coming near the calving should be kept on a cooling, laxative and somewhat restricted diet; they should not receive much dry food, such as chaff. One attack predisposes the animal to the disease, and in such cases it is advisable to give the cow Epsom salts and have an injection made in the udder two or three days before she is due to calve. - The most successful treatment of the disease consists of either the injection of drugs or pure air or oxygen into the udder. This is a delicate operation, and when it is improperly performed garget or inflammation of the gland may result. In the hands of a capable veterinary surgeon, the operation is generally successful; indeed, when death supervenes it is almost without exception due to some complication, and not to the disease itself.

he is able to guard against many of the ills which formerly took heavy toll of the farm stock. A veterinary authority states that another reason why less is heard about milk fever is that treatment is, now usually successful and the number of deaths has been reduced to a minimum. It has been observed that a cow on her first calf is seldom afflicted with the disease. One attack predisposes to a second one, and this being the case it is advisable to take special precautions with a cow which is known to be susceptible. It is rather remarkable ’ that the disease frequently follows an easy parturition, and is comparatively rare when delivery has been attended with difficulty. Although milk fever usually makes its appearance within from 12 to 24 hours after parturition, there is no specific time, and individual cases vary considerably.

Like many other diseases which affect stock in countries where the animals are housed and not maintained under the natural conditions that obtain in this country, milk fever is far more prevalent in the United Kingdom than in Australia. Even in England, however, the disease does not appear to be anything like so prevalent as it was years ago. No doubt the falling-off in the number of cases is directly due to the fact that the modern farmer realises the truth of the old adage—prevention is better than cure, and by keeping his stock under conditions as nearly rer sembling those of nature as possible