Problems of motor activity in cows with orthopaedic pathology

Abstract

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the fact that diseases that manifest various degrees of lameness in cows are widespread (50-70%) among livestock. Milk productivity and body weight gain decrease in sick animals, which causes their culling. It is important to establish nosological forms of such pathologies and determine the effectiveness of their treatment. The purpose of the study is to analyse the problems of motor activity in cows with orthopaedic pathology. The study included an assessment of herd mobility before entering the milking parlour, which allowed comprehensively considering the rhythm and length of steps and the load on the cows’ limbs. It was found that the development of purulent-necrotic processes is accompanied by severe lameness in 66.6% of animals. A smaller number of animals (16.6%) were diagnosed with mild lameness. It was found that in 100% of cases, pathological processes were localised in the pelvic extremities. In the vast majority of animals, more than 3/4 of the lateral hooves were affected. There were no differences in the development of pathological processes on the right or left pelvic limb. The results of the examination of cows proved that the surgical pathology was accompanied by the development of local purulent inflammation. The most common pathology of the distal limbs in cows was purulent pododermatitis, which accounted for 66.6% of surgical diseases. Phlegmon in the area of the corolla and interdigital ulcers were diagnosed less frequently, with their respective shares in the pathology structure being 16.6%. It is proved that for the treatment of lame cows with the use of Levomekol ointment, clinical recovery was established with the disappearance of symptoms of lameness for purulent pododermatitis up to 24 days, and for phlegmonic processes in the corolla area and lesions of the finger arch – up to 22 days. The proposed therapy regimens will help to reduce the duration of treatment of purulent pododermatitis, phlegmon in the corolla area and lesions of the finger arch compared to conventional methods

Keywords

• hoof
• limb damage
• purulent pododermatitis
• corolla phlegmon
• interdigital ulcer
• lameness