? for Vickie

[Anonymous]

I have a question about cattle puking. We have two or three around most of the time. we have 6,000 head on feed so the percentage is small. My main concern is aspiration pnumonia. I wondered if you have ever come across this situation and what your diagnosis and recomendations have been? Acidosis is not involved. Thanks for your past and hopefully present help!

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, technically cattle can't "puke" as we know it--projectile vomiting etc. So are you asking me about cattle which have sudden dropping of the cud that they've regurgitated? Could be a cap tooth, foreign body in roof of mouth or tongue paralysis, etc. Is there a volume of liquid which drips out of the mouth? Look at esophageal dysfunction, especially the sphincter. Could be listeriosis, parasite (warble migration) or something my pea brain can't think of right now. If it's actual projectile vomiting, please videotape it and send to nearest veterinary teaching hospital--maybe they'll figure it out! Clarify and I may have more differentials for you! V

 

[Anonymous]

> While I agree with Vickie that we have been told technically that cattle can't vomit, I have personally seen it several times. Sometimes feed toxins can be implicated, be they aflatoxins or other contaminants. In a large yard in South Africa I continually see vomiting (although a very low percentage) and we have determined that it is a learned response by individual animals. It appears that extremely high levels of intake due to energy levels of the diet being lower than what we are accustomed to in the states results in engorgement. Most often as the individuals are laying and ruminating (chewing cud) they will forcefully expell all or parts of the feed bolus. They do not appear to have any problem with this and continue as though nothing has happened. We have been unable to correlate this to gastro death loss. At the current time we are mostly ingnoring it but do continue to see it almost daily. Keep in mind that this is an 85,000 head yard and the percentage of animals that show this is very, very low. Jim Simpson, Simpson Nutrition Services, Canyon, TX

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Jeff! Your one of the first to verify what I have seen here. The cattle go ahead and finish fine but it is a nuicance scooping puke piles from bunk daily! Like I said before my concern was aspiration pneu. It has not happened yet but I guess there is nothing I can do to curb it. We feed 63 mg cal ,and a no roughage diet (Purina Impact). I have tried feeding hay to these individuals but with no sucess. Guess I"ll not worry about it for now. Thank you.

 

[Anonymous]

> Keith,

If you are on an all concentrate diet then what you are probably seeing is an attempt by the cattle to form a feed bolus but with no fiber to form one then it it like pancake batter and may run out of their mouth as such. How long have you been on this program and have you seen vomit all the time?

[email protected]

 

[Anonymous]

We have been on this ration for about six years. The cattle that vomit are very sporadic. It is not a common condition. They do not just expel through their mouth,at times it also comes out the nose hence my concern about the pneu. We probably have about three head a year.