Dairy and Beef Cattle

Abortion:

• Bovine Abortion diagnosis can be challenging. To have the best chance finding the cause follow these basic rules.
• Bovine Abortion Investigation. Best samples for optimal diagnostic chances!
• Neospora in Cattle. Abortions are starting to be seen, so it is an apt time to be looking at some of the causes. Let’s start with Neospora.

BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea):

• Can New Zealand eradicate the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea virus? The challenges of eradicating a destructive and expensive disease. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, March 2017)

Calf Management:

• Freemartin Testing
• Assessing Colostrum Intake
• Blood smears: A critical part of the CBC! The steps to consider when making a blood smear.
• Dairy Calves Seen some cases of neurological signs with deaths? Could be related to the following read on!
• Calf scours are common at this time of the year and many samples are assessed at laboratories and at the pen-side in order to detect causative pathogens.
• Calf diarrhoea. The importance of understanding the fluid, electrolyte and acid-base requirements of calves with diarrhoea to ensure the correct therapy is given. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, August 2018)
• Enteric Coccidia in Calves. Coccidiosis due to Eimeria is most common in young or nave calves.
• Fluid Therapy in Calves with Diarrhoea Update

CBC (Complete Blood Count):

• Blood smears: A critical part of the CBC! The steps to consider when making a blood smear.
• Chronic Theileria orientalis Ikeda infections. When cattle are first infected with Theileria orientalis Ikeda they develop an acute, moderate to severe regenerative anaemia.

Infectious Diseases:

• Antibiotic sensitivity testing for anaerobes
• Antibiotic judicious use guidelines for Dairy
• Haemorrhagic enterocolitis in cattle? Consider Bovine Adenovirus
• Pink Eye (Moraxella bovis)
• Increases in cases of Yersiniosis in cattle. We have seen an increase in cases of bovine yersiniosis cause by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis over the last few years.

Mastitis:

• Lesser known mastitis pathogens
  
• Microbiologists are amazing but they are not miracle workers!
• Interpretation of Mastitis Milk Culture Results (From: Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)
• Lesser known mastitis pathogens and reasons for No bacterial growth. Uncommon mastitis pathogens continue to crop up.

Metabolic Disease:

• NEFA vs BOH: Which one to assess?  Concentration of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and beta-hydroxy-butyrate (BOH) reflect mobilisation of adipose tissue in response to an imbalance between feed intake and milk production.
• Hypokalaemia as a cause for recumbency in cattle. Hypokalaemia is common in acutely unwell dairy cows, however, is usually mild and produces few clinical signs. 

Miscellaneous Topics:

• ODONTOMAS: TUMOURS OF JUVENILE ANIMALS. The most common oral lesion of cattle how to diagnose it, and how to treat it. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, June 2018)
• Non- Parturient hypocalcemia in Dairy Cows. In the last 2 weeks we have seen several cases of hypocalcemia in dairy cows.
• Submandibular Oedema in Cattle. Submandibular swelling is commonly seen in cattle. It is often attributed to hypoalbuminaemia due to Johne’s disease.

Nutrition:

• The perils of poor nutrition in high producing dairy cows. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, February 2018)
• Magnesium: some lesser known effects of derangements. Two cases that highlight the diversity and complexity of Mg functions. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, February 2017)
• A hidden menace. Two recent cases of hardware disease in dairy cows arising from feed supplements. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, May 2018)

Parasitism:

• Ostertagia ostertagi immunology and implications for diagnosis. Genevieve Amours of SVS Laboratories discusses the ins and outs of the abomasal parasite Ostertagia ostertagi, including diagnostic options. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, August 2019)

Trace Elements:

• Can serum copper testing help base decisions on supplementation programs? The answer is yes it can, to a limited degree.

Transition Cows:

• Non- Parturient hypocalcemia in Dairy Cows.
• Dehydration in Recumbent Dairy Cows.

Toxins:

Facial Eczema:

• The facial eczema season is here! Although overall spore counts across the country is low, some very high counts have been observed in South Waikato and Eastern Bay-of-Plenty, and we are seeing occasional animals with biochemistry changes consistent with facial eczema damage. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, February 2020)
• Sporidesmin toxicity and decreased production. It is facial eczema season and temperatures have been favourablefor spore formation and therefore animals may be at risk of liver damage from sporidesmin toxicity.
• Informative article from Dairy NZ on Facial Eczema. We have seen large numbers of submissions with severe facial eczema this week. With the increased moisture and continuing warm weather, the spore counts have increased dramatically in all regions over the past 2-3 weeks. Make sure prevention strategies are still in place. (The link from this post is to an informative article regarding Facial Eczema by DairyNZ and includes a video about the subject. Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, June 2018)

Nitrates:

• Nitrate toxicity in ruminants. Nitrate toxicity can occur in cattle ingesting plants containing high level of nitrates.

Sheep and Goats

• The role of phytoestrogens in pseudopregnancy of goats. A case of increased rate of pseudopregnancy in a North Island dairy goat herd. (Article first published in VetScript, New Zealand Veterinary Association, September 2018)
• Ovine abortion storms associated with Chlamydophila pecorum. A request for help from veterinary practitioners

Submission Tips:

• Things to consider when submitting Histological Samples for Infectious Diseases
• How much blood is needed?
• Antibiotic sensitivity testing for anaerobes
• When providing Postmortem samples more is better!
• A picture is Worth a Thousand Words! Pictures can be a big help when Interpreting histological and cytological samples.
• Microbiologists are amazing but they are not miracle workers!
• TSE Incentivised Programme Update For Vets. If fresh spinal cord is not included as part of the submission there will be no payment to the farmer or submitting veterinarian. Similarly, dont submit the whole head!