Cattle Surgery, Anesthesia, and Lameness Flashcards

Flashcards covering common surgical procedures, anesthesia techniques, and lameness issues in cattle.

Standing Surgery

Preferred over general anesthesia for many cattle procedures like castration, C-section, GI issues, enucleation, dehorning, and distal limb injuries.

General anesthesia

only used when procedure is  difficult or analgesia is not sufficient with local anesthesia

Caudal Epidural Analgesia

• 1^st intercoccygeal space

• Local anesthetic technique that desensitizes the anus, perineum, vulva, caudal vagina, and caudal thighs.

Ruminant Anesthesia Risks

Ruminants are prone to regurgitation/aspiration pneumonia, rumen distension (bloat), hypoventilation/hypoxia and compartment syndrome.

Xylazine in Ruminants

Alpha 2 Agonist, commonly used preanesthetic; ruminants are highly sensitive and require 1/10th of the horse dose. Can cause bloat, bradycardia, hypoventilation and uterine contractions.

Can be passed in milk to nursing calves, kids, or lambs

Triple Drip

Anesthetic protocol of xylazine, ketamine and guaifenesin, potential for severe CV and respiratory depression.

Double Drip

Anesthetic protocol using ketamine and guaifenesin.

Castration Methods

Surgical (knife), banding (elastrator bands). Older animals need sedation/local anesthesia.

Dehorning

Removal of horns to prevent interference management practices and decrease danger. Best done at less than 1 month of age.

Barnes dehorner

most common lever-type dehorner that cuts and scoops the horn in one motion

Polled

Term for genetically lacking horns.

Disbudding

Removal of horn buds before horn eruption, using heat cautery or chemical pastes.

Lameness in Cattle

• Affects herd productivity, fertility and economics

• 90% occurs in the foot, mostly rear feet.

Lameness Clinical Signs

Swelling of the foot, spreading of dewclaws.

Preventing Lameness

• “Cow comfort”-the less time on concrete, the better, deep bedding in free stalls

• Proper equipment-remove any sharp objects, particularly where cattle are crowded (sorting pens, water tanks feedbunks, etc.)

• Dairy- routine foot trimming (twice yearly)

Most frequent causes of lameness

• Laminitis

• Diseases of claw

• Digital dermatitis

• Foot rot

• Deep infections

Laminitis

affected by nutrition (high energy-carbohydrate diet)

Digital dermatitis

affected by environment (dairy cattle housed on concrete)

Claw disease (poor genetics)

overgrown claws, abnormal claw growth, solar abscesses/bruising)

Laminitis

• Inflammation of laminae, disturbance of blood flow in corium, separation of coffin bone from laminae.

• Can result from metritis/mastitis

• acidosis is a major predisposing factor

• Acidosis results from high concentrate diet

• Occurs more commonly in lateral claw of rear feet, medial claw of front feet

• Most common clinical sign is “walking on egg shells”-stiff, stilted gait with back hunched

• Difficult to treat-mainly nursing care-deep bedding, stall confinement, claw block if only one foot affected

• May become chronic problem

Claw diseases

• Most common- subsolar abscesses

• Environment-induced (concrete)

• Teatment-opening of abscess, if possible, claw block application, stall confinement, deep bedding

• Antibiotics ineffective for most causes of lameness, except footrot

Digital Dermatitis

• Also known as footwarts, papillomatous digital dermatitis, hairy heel warts, strawberry foot. More common in dairy cattle, large wart-like lesions in interdigital space towards heel region.

• Extremely painful to touch!

• Antibiotics ineffective

• Topical sprays (strong iodine, formalin) applied directly to wart may decrease size, but no cure and transmission still likely with current treatments

Foot Rot

• Caused by bacteria, Fusobacterium necrophorum, that lives in the soil (moist environment)-enters through skin in the interdigital space)

• Clinical signs: Lameness, inflammation, swelling, and odor

• Can be distinguished from deep infection by the fact that it usually causes symmetrical swelling

• Responds to antibiotic therapy and environment change

• Teatment: Debridement, topical antibacterial agents, foot baths, and management

Deep Infection

• Caused by subsolar abcesses/ulcers, penetrating foreign bodies, lacerations that go undiagnosed and can lead to invasion of bone, joints-septic arthritis

• Usually cause asymmetrical swelling of distal limb and foot due to inflammation focus on affected digiT