Milk Fever

[angus9259]

On another post I recently discussed have to shoot a downer cow - vet did autopsy and found enlarged heart. More people I speak with keep suggesting the possibility of milk fever. Vet said he only sees it in dairy or dairy cross animals - says it's extremely rare in beef.

Any experience with that in beef out there?

 

[TCRanch]

What about hardware? Did the vet cut open the heart & look for foreign objects? We've had more than our share of hardware & it generally segues into congestive heart failure. You previously mentioned the legs - quite often a cow with hardware will have swollen legs (think little old ladies with their feet bulging out of their shoes).

 

[angus9259]

He cut the heart open. No hardware. Just "huge" irregular (right ventricle) heart. Her legs looked fine. In fact, everything about her looked fine. She didn't "look" like I understand milk fever cows "look". She wasn't cold, was very alert and aware, not heavy breathing or pulse racing. Her legs just plain wouldn't work.

Anyway - don't mean to rehash that thread but just wondering how common milk fever is in beefers. She had calved about 4 days prior to going down. Was on pasture and 3 rd cutting soft all grass hay. Crystalyx mineral tub and salt. Pretty much standard operating procedures for our place.... Can milk fever evolve out of that?

 

[Waterway65]

Its rare. I would wonder how high a level of calcium was being fed Pryor to calving as a high level can cause a high producing cow to have trouble getting calcium from her bones once she calves. Genetics can play a part. Being part jersy or Guernsey would add risk. Feeding straight alfalfa hay would add to the risk.

 

[regolith]

Your description in the other thread sounded pretty typical for milk fever & I was making the presumption that you'd treated with calcium before giving up on her.

I can't comment on how rare or otherwise it is in beef cattle. There's a fair bit of interaction between minerals that can contribute to it, but at it's simplest, milk fever is an imbalance between the calcium the cow needs and what she can obtain through her diet and internal resources (skeletal structure).
At calving, calcium demand is increased markedly due to milk production, loss of calf and fluids (which remove part of her internal calcium pool). Combined with this the stress of physiologically moving from dry to lactation, calving, possible interrupted feed intake while calving and caring for the calf... there are all sorts of reasons why her minerals may be insufficient and her immune system low at that point.
These stresses are all increased when higher milk production/older animal/frailer animal is involved.

Basically, on that diet & mineral I would expect milk fever. I'm running a dairy. Beef farmers can obviously 'get away with it' because other factors - lower milk production & stronger cows - are in their favour. And you wouldn't want to run your beef farm the way we have to run a dairy to prevent/fix milk fever issues, it would increase your workload over calving significantly.

 

[Lucky_P]

I have seen it in a couple of Angus cows... and both cases I saw were cows that were within a week or two of calving - hadn't yet delivered, but 'close'.

 

[angus9259]

Your description in the other thread sounded pretty typical for milk fever & I was making the presumption that you'd treated with calcium before giving up on her.

I didn't - sadly. I didn't know. I spoke with my vet before putting her down and he didn't mention milk fever or trying to treat with calcium - presumably because he wasn't inclined to suspect milk fever in a straight bred beefer 4 days after calving. She was suffering something fierce by that point - or so it seemed to me. Ugh. Perhaps it would have made the difference. You never know. After the autopsy, the vet said that - with this size of her heart - any calcium would have done her in as that, evidently, is a key to heart failure as well.

Still, it would have been worth as shot as she's dead now either way.....

I hate losing one out of my own ignorance. Been at this closing in having raised cattle for 20 years now - you'd think eventually you'd know all the ways a cow can die.....

 

[angus9259]

Its rare. I would wonder how high a level of calcium was being fed Pryor to calving as a high level can cause a high producing cow to have trouble getting calcium from her bones once she calves. Genetics can play a part. Being part jersy or Guernsey would add risk. Feeding straight alfalfa hay would add to the risk.

Good questions. She was a straight Angus. She was on pasture with the rest of the cows getting the same mineral. No alfalfa. Not sure how high a level of calcium is in the mineral they get - just a general all purpose with fly control.

 

[angus9259]

I have seen it in a couple of Angus cows... and both cases I saw were cows that were within a week or two of calving - hadn't yet delivered, but 'close'.

The dairyman I spoke with said the calcium needs to be given into the jugular to be effective - at least that's what he's seen on his dairy. Is that the case?

 

[regolith]

I have seen it in a couple of Angus cows... and both cases I saw were cows that were within a week or two of calving - hadn't yet delivered, but 'close'.

The dairyman I spoke with said the calcium needs to be given into the jugular to be effective - at least that's what he's seen on his dairy. Is that the case?

no, that's not the case.
The calcium works faster if given IV (into the jugular, or some people use the milk vein if they have trouble hitting the other). If using a calcium preparation that includes magnesium, it must be given *slowly* if put in the vein, as the magnesium component can cause heart failure if given too fast.

Put it under the skin over the ribs and it can go in as fast as it'll run with no risk - it will take longer to act (but I suspect we're talking like, minutes longer, LuckyP may know better). Basically if a cow is alert as you described, I'd put a bag under the skin and give an oral dose of a calcium chloride preparation (calol is the brand I use) offer her food if she'll eat and leave her be for an hour, then come back with the tractor and if she doesn't get up with a kick (or is already up), lift her to her feet.
If a cow is flat out too weak to sit up I'll run the bag into the vein, sit her up and support her (hay bale or vehicle tyre) and offer food and water. Once she's able to swallow, give the oral calcium, follow up a few hours later with a second bag of calcium plus the oral drench and lift her at that point if she's looking alert and strong.

The calcium boroglutamate injections alone may need to be repeated every few hours, wheras the oral calcium should boost her blood levels for at least twelve hours (but takes a lot longer to kick in, whereas you should see her brighten up immediately while administering the injection), which is usually enough to get them eating and regulating their own blood mineral levels.

Sometimes I get a downer that appears to have milk fever but either doesn't respond to the calcium or relapses later after getting up. There could be other minerals at play in those ones (phosphorous is likely) or pre-existing health problems but frankly, it's so rare that I just kind of accept that once every few years we'll lose one that way. When I say rare, I've treated 12 - 18 cows a year for this over the last decade years and I recall three that failed to respond and died quickly.

 

[cowgirl8]

We've had several cases of milk fever in our beef cattle over the years....so not just in dairy cows..

 

[TexasBred]

I always put the IV in the milk vein simply because it is easier to use. First thing I encourage everyone to do after purchasing and IV set is to throw away the huge needle that comes with it and use a 16 gauge 1 inch needle instead. This will slow down the flow rate of the CMPK or whatever other solution you might be using lessening any chance for reactions. I then follow up with dextrose solution. I never give it under the skin as it is simply to slow and cattle can die from milk fever very quickly. I've seen them walk out of a dairy barn after a milking and collapse and die within a very few minutes.

 

[Son of Butch]

I've never seen or heard of milk fever in a beef cow. Quite common in Jerseys.
You should watch "Calling Dr Pol."
In 1 episode he treated a large holstein cow for milk fever. He gave 1st bottle of cal. in vein and waited for response when it didn't happen started 2nd bottle giving maybe 1/3 in vein and finished the other 2/3 sub-q for slower release.

 

[angus9259]

The part about this particular cow is she really didn't seem to have any other "signs". She was down and couldn't get up and she was 4 days fresh. Those signs make sense. She wasn't "cold" and was alert as if nothing else was wrong with her other than she couldn't stand. She had a rumen full of food and actually seemed to be chewing her cud a times.

But, as you say, if they can walk out of the milking parlor and drop, then maybe it was.....

Upon the autopsy, the vet said her heart was so enlarged the calcium in the jugular would have killed her. Evidently, calcium is bad for a compromised heart. That said, I'm not sure if he just felt bad that he didn't suggest milk fever when I was talking to him on the phone about her the previous day. :roll:

 

[regolith]

Like everything, individual responses are different.
I think an experienced producer like yourself would have spotted the other signs in a downer that indicate milk fever - but it's possible she had it and the signs weren't there. It's also quite likely something else was going on and calcium wouldn't have been enough anyway.
The classic is the posture of the head when they're down - starts as a curve in the neck (S-bend), as they get weaker they turn their head back into their shoulder, shortly after that they lay flat out, then start to bloat; it's at that point they're in real danger because the stomach fluids coming back up will choke them.

 

[Koffi Babone]

It is very rare in beef cow; more common in dairy cattle, especially high milk producers.

FYI, the next time you or the vet can take a blood sample and analyse the calcium, magnesium and phosphorus levels before deciding the course of action.

In short, calcium for milk production is drawn from the blood. If the demand is too high, it is drawn elsewhere. Muscles have calcium stores because it is needed for muscle contraction. If it is depleted, the muscles cannot flex and thus you get a downer cow (because the leg muscles won't work). On a side note, if it is milk fever, it is very unlikely that the cow would chew her cud (regurgitation and jaw muscles would not work well).

Typical treatment involves an IV calcium bottle 1st and maybe another SC (but I give two IV and one SC in dairy cattle). Calcium borogluconate can be given SC, but other formulations containing dextrose or anything but calcium can cause abcesses when given SC. About 80% respond to the 1st treatment, the other 20% may require further treatment (more calcium) and about 5% never get up.

Keep in mind that the heart is also a muscle, so if calcium is only given SC, blood flow to the area with calcium may not be adequate (so treatment would be ineffective). The reason why extremities tend to be colder during milk fever is because blood cannot get there effectively and blood is what transports calcium from one place to another (where it is needed).

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/metab ... ver&alt=sh


There are four explanations for a downer cow syndrome (4 "M"):

1) Metabolic (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus etc imbalances)
2) Musculoskeletic (muscle, nerve or bone injury)
3) Mastitis
4) Metritis

All 4 possibilities need to be assessed and ruled out before deciding treatment.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/muscu ... cow&alt=sh

 

[TexasBred]

It is very rare in beef cow; more common in dairy cattle, especially high milk producers.

FYI, the next time you or the vet can take a blood sample and analyse the calcium, magnesium and phosphorus levels before deciding the course of action.

In short, calcium for milk production is drawn from the blood. If the demand is too high, it is drawn elsewhere. Muscles have calcium stores because it is needed for muscle contraction. If it is depleted, the muscles cannot flex and thus you get a downer cow (because the leg muscles won't work). On a side note, if it is milk fever, it is very unlikely that the cow would chew her cud (regurgitation and jaw muscles would not work well).

Typical treatment involves an IV calcium bottle 1st and maybe another SC (but I give two IV and one SC in dairy cattle). Calcium borogluconate can be given SC, but other formulations containing dextrose or anything but calcium can cause abcesses when given SC. About 80% respond to the 1st treatment, the other 20% may require further treatment (more calcium) and about 5% never get up.

Keep in mind that the heart is also a muscle, so if calcium is only given SC, blood flow to the area with calcium may not be adequate (so treatment would be ineffective). The reason why extremities tend to be colder during milk fever is because blood cannot get there effectively and blood is what transports calcium from one place to another (where it is needed).

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/metab ... ver&alt=sh


There are four explanations for a downer cow syndrome (4 "M"):

1) Metabolic (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus etc imbalances)
2) Musculoskeletic (muscle, nerve or bone injury)
3) Mastitis
4) Metritis

All 4 possibilities need to be assessed and ruled out before deciding treatment.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/muscu ... cow&alt=sh

At calving calcium for milk production should actually be drawn from the bone rather than the blood . Feeding excessive calcium prior to calving causes excess levels of calcium to build up in the blood. The sudden change of pulling large amounts of calcium from the blood rather than from the bone is what causes your milk fever. Post partum is when you begin feeding considerably more calcium in the diet of a lactating cow (especially the high producer as you mentioned) not during the dry cow period.

 

[angus9259]

Bottom line is - if you have 50 head of cattle all operating on a good mineral and feed program and one gets milk fever - do you cull her anyway? Unless you are dairy, I'm not sure how you would want to keep facing that. I wondered if this cow maybe didn't like the mineral I have out. I guess - in a beef herd - why this cow at this moment?

 

[TexasBred]

Bottom line is - if you have 50 head of cattle all operating on a good mineral and feed program and one gets milk fever - do you cull her anyway? Unless you are dairy, I'm not sure how you would want to keep facing that. I wondered if this cow maybe didn't like the mineral I have out. I guess - in a beef herd - why this cow at this moment?

If milk fever really a problem there are minerals formulated for lactating cattle and one for non lactating. If one cow had milk fever I'd probably give her a second chance.

 

[regolith]

Just adding to what TB said about low calcium diets pre-calving - that is part of my problem, and why I said I'd expect milk fever under a grass/hay/free choice mineral lick situation.
Grass is too high in calcium to reduce calcium levels to the point where they are drawing it from their bones at calving.
NZ dairy farmers generally focus on providing magnesium to dry cows, to ensure that lack of magnesium is not complicating calcium availability. This magnesium is *not* given free choice, it's added to food or water or put directly down the cow's throat. I have additional issues here in that providing magnesium is not enough to prevent cows getting milk fever, so I treat a lot of it. Hasn't been much of a problem this year, and I'm not going to tell TB what I've changed about the mineral programme either. one of my 12 yr olds that has had it every year had a set of huge twin bulls and never showed a sign of it... the other 12 yr old has also had it every year since she was seven and got it again, stood up on her own after treatment.

I'd never cull a cow for having milk fever as a six or seven year old. The cows I've culled or intended to cull (sometimes they beat me to it by dying of it) are in their teens and have had it year after year after year, so I know for sure they're going to get it again next calving. Yes, the same cows do get it every calving but as that represents about 50% of the cows that are old enough to get it, I just manage it, I don't cull for it.