Associations between postpartum diseases and milk yield and changes in body condition between drying off and parturition of dairy cows in Argentina

ABSTRACT

Aims: To assess the change in body condition score (BCS) during the early and late dry periods and its association with postpartum diseases and milk yield in grazing dairy cows from central Argentina.

Methods: BCS assessments during the dry period, and cow health and milk production records up to 90 days in milk (DIM), were collated for cows from 28 farms at monthly visits between 2007 and 2008. Cows were categorised into four groups; those in Group 1 (n=7,067) maintained or gained BCS during the early and late dry periods; Group 2 (n=2,615) maintained or gained BCS during the early dry period and lost BCS during the late dry period; Group 3 (n=1,989) lost BCS during the early dry period and maintained or gained BCS during the late dry period; and Group 4 (n=5,144) lost BCS during the early and late dry periods.

Results: Cows in Group 1 had reduced odds of having retained fetal membranes (RFM), metritis, and clinical mastitis up to 90 DIM than cows in Group 2 (p<0.001), but the odds of disease were similar to cows in Group 3. The odds of having RFM or clinical mastitis tended to be lower in cows in Group 1 than cows in Group 4 (p=0.08). The odds of cows being culled or dying during the first 90 DIM were lower for cows in Group 1 than for those in Groups 2, 3, and 4 (p≤0.05). Mean accumulated milk yield up to 90 DIM was higher in cows in Group 1 than Group 2 and Group 4 (p<0.001), but was similar to that of cows in Group 3 (p=0.28).

Conclusions and clinical relevance: Cows that lost BCS during the late dry period had increased odds of being diagnosed with several postpartum diseases and had decreased milk yield compared to cows that maintained or gained BCS during the entire dry period. Loss of BCS during any stage of the dry period was also associated with increased incidence of culling or death during the first 90 DIM. These results should raise awareness among dairy cattle producers of the importance of properly managing cow body condition during the dry period, especially during the late dry period.     

Swine viscera preservation in hypersaturated salt solution after alcohol fixation as a preparation method for educational purposes

The use of live animals for educational purposes is an old practice that is still employed in teaching and research institutions. However, there are several objections to this practice, whether for ethical or humanitarian reasons. Surgical techniques teaching using anatomical pieces and/or preserved cadavers promotes greater learning efficiency, provides exercise repetition and increases the confidence and satisfaction of the students when compared to the use of live animals. The current work aimed to analyse the feasibility of using fresh swine urinary bladder and small intestines (jejunum), obtained from slaughterhouses, fixed in 99.8% ethyl alcohol (EA) and preserved in sodium chloride hypersaturated solution (SCHS) at 30%, for 7, 14 and 21 days, as an alternative method for surgical skills training (SST). Swine viscera, fixed in EA and preserved in SCHS, presented a realistic appearance, absence of odour and maintained the viable morphological characteristics during the performance of the operative techniques. Preservation solutions had low cost, were easy to acquire and did not offers risks to human health. Therefore, urinary bladders and small intestines fixed in 99.8% EA for 30 days and maintained in 30% SCHS at different periods were demonstrated as a good viable option as a preservation method for surgical skills training.     

Experimental Neospora Caninum Infection in Pregnant Dairy Heifers Raises Concentrations of Pregnancy‐Associated Glycoproteins 1 and 2 in Foetal Fluids

Plasma concentrations of PAG‐1 are used for pregnancy diagnosis and as a marker of placental/foetal well‐being, while those of PAG‐2 may be an indicator of abortion risk in Neospora caninum‐infected cows. Studies have shown that N. caninum infection modifies PAG‐1 and PAG‐2 patterns in maternal blood plasma. However, no prior work has examined the effects of N. caninum infection on concentrations of PAGs in foetal fluids. In this study, PAG‐1, PAG‐2 and pH levels were determined in the amniotic and allantoic fluids of foetuses collected at 152 days of gestation from control uninfected dams and from dams experimentally infected with N. caninum on Day 110 of gestation. Foetal fluids from infected foetuses had significantly higher PAG‐2 concentrations (p = 0.026) and pH values (p = 0.02) than fluids from non‐infected foetuses. In infected foetuses, significantly higher concentrations of PAG‐1 (p < 0.001) and PAG‐2 (p < 0.001) were detected in fluid samples showing antibodies against N. caninum than those without antibodies. Moreover, pH values were significantly higher (p = 0.011) in foetal fluid samples with antibodies than in samples from non‐infected foetuses. In conclusion, this is the first report on the effect of N. caninum infection on PAG levels in foetal fluids. Our results indicate that following the experimental infection of dams with N. caninum on Day 110 of gestation, foetal fluids collected from the infected foetuses of these dams featured higher PAG‐1 and PAG‐2 levels and pH values than fluids from non‐infected controls, provided that the samples tested showed the presence of antibodies. The clinical implications of these findings are that following infection with N. caninum, most cows will experience some level of placental damage and that this injury correlates with foetal fluid PAG levels and pH.