How to treat the joints of cows and calves
When breeding cattle, many farmers are faced with the problem of how and how to treat the joints of calves. In fact, this is a rather serious problem and with inexperienced breeding, many animals get injured, bruised or acquire joint diseases. To deal with this, you need to know what joint diseases are in calves and how to diagnose them. If the farmer knows at least a little about this topic, it will be easier for him to notice the disease at the earliest stage of its appearance and to take timely measures for treatment.
Diseases of the joints in cows and calves
Joint diseases in calves can be congenital and acquired. To minimize the risk of congenital abnormalities, during pregnancy, the female should be shown to the veterinarian for a visual examination and collection of tests. Acquired joint dislocations in cows and calves are not uncommon; they most often occur in premises where conditions for full-fledged cattle rearing are not met.
Types of joint diseases in cattle
- dislocation;
- arthritis;
- arthrosis;
- bursitis.
Dislocations in cattle
If the calves have a dislocation, then it needs to be treated urgently. The most common dislocation is the hock or hip joint. Adults are much less susceptible to this disease than calves. The dislocation can be complete or incomplete. Such a disease occurs due to the displacement of the bones in the joint. Complete dislocation is characterized by the fact that the head completely falls out of the joint. Incomplete is a kind of partial dislocation of the joint, and some farmers treat such dislocations in their herd on their own.
Diseases of the joints in calves can be divided into subspecies:
- Congenital, when, due to improper actions, the calf is injured at birth.
- Pathological dislocations can occur due to muscle atrophy.
- Traumatic dislocation is accompanied by trauma that the cattle received as a result of a fall. Animals can also harm each other.
Along with dislocation, injury to muscles, ligaments and periarticular tissues can occur. The symptoms of such a disease can be noticed visually: it is enough to examine the animal and pay attention to its gait. If the leg joints are injured, the cattle will not be able to walk normally. If the knee joint is damaged and the injury is complex, then the cow can only lie down. This disease is quite common among young animals, and the farmer needs to know what to do in this case.
How to treat dislocation of a joint in a cow and calf? If the dislocation is not difficult, then an experienced veterinarian can easily straighten the limb. After normal gait is restored, a special fixation bandage is applied to the joint to facilitate the healing process.
Arthritis
Arthritis can be purulent or inflammatory. Purulent, chronic, or inflammatory arthritis is a serious condition that must be treated right away.Arthritis is exudative (occurs in the chronic stage) or active, it is also called "deforming arthritis". Inflammatory arthritis in cattle mainly occurs when a tissue or cavity has ruptured. This may be due to a ligament rupture or sprain. Also, inflammation of the joints in cows and calves can occur due to metabolic disorders, a deficiency of vitamins and minerals in the body.
A disease such as purulent arthritis can occur as a result of wounds and open dislocations of the legs or other parts of the body in a cow or calf. The first sign with active inflammation is bone growth. The disease is characterized by an increase in body temperature in cattle. Also, the joint becomes hot. If the animal has inflammation, the legs hurt and swell, then perhaps it is purulent arthritis. The symptoms of such a disease appear immediately: the cow cannot step on the diseased limb, because her legs are swollen, the animal is apathetic, milk yield decreases.
With this disease, pus can flow out of the wound. Treatment in this case should be carried out immediately at the first symptoms of the disease. If the treatment is not carried out on time, the processes in the joint become inflamed, growths may form or the bone tissue may not grow together incorrectly. Deforming arthritis can occur due to constant standing and untimely hoof treatment. In this case, the treatment of a cow or calf must first be directed to relieve pain and remove inflammation. For this, compresses are made, cold is applied, and then heat is applied to the sore joint. For fibrous arthritis, a lidase solution is used. Any arthritis is poorly treated, so you need to monitor the condition and health of the livestock in time, as well as take time for a walk and rest.
Osteoarthritis in cattle
Osteoarthritis is a massive disease that most often occurs on farms where the conditions for keeping and walking animals are not observed. The disease mainly affects the hind legs of cows and calves. The disease can occur if animals walk little and lead an inactive lifestyle, as well as when fed with old feed.
Please note that as a prevention of this disease, animals should be fed only with balanced and high-quality food; in case of metabolic disorders, damage to the joints can be observed.
Arthrosis is characterized by the fact that it slowly destroys cartilage. With arthrosis, they become soft, grow, and then ossify. At the initial stage, the disease does not manifest itself in any way. You can only notice how the cat walks and steps on the limbs. When the cartilage changes, the cow cannot fully step on the leg, and this can manifest itself in the form of lameness. Treatment of joints affected by arthrosis should be performed with Sollux. Also, the veterinarian prescribes various irritating ointments. In the early stages of this disease, arthrosis can be successfully treated.
Bursitis in cows and calves
Bursitis is an ailment in which there is inflammation of the mucous membranes and the synovial bag. Basically, bursitis can occur in the area of the hock, knee joint, navicular bone and maklak. The causative agents of this disease most often arise from inadequate care and rearing of cattle or due to infections in the body of animals. Bursitis can occur if a cow hits hard objects in the barn or if animals do not have a soft and warm bed on which to rest.
Bursitis can occur in various forms and depend on the stage of the disease. Only a veterinarian can diagnose what form of bursitis an animal has. As a treatment, mainly compresses, constant rest and all conditions for the restoration of previous activity are prescribed. You can see in more detail how bursitis in cattle looks like in a photo or video.
Disease prevention
So that cows do not suffer from various diseases of the joints, they need to be properly looked after and taken care of from birth. You should make it a rule to feed your cows always with balanced and high quality feed. Especially you need to pay attention to the winter diet. In winter, the vitamin reserve in the cattle body is minimal, and it is necessary to replenish the daily intake of vitamins with special additives, another option is to compose a separate winter diet. In the summer, you need to constantly release cows and their offspring into the street. Deficiency of sunlight and vitamin D also negatively affects the overall health of cows.
In some cases, farmers, when there is a shortage of sunny days, illuminate the barn with ultraviolet lamps. In summer, cattle graze on fresh grass and receive all the necessary vitamins. These animals do not have problems with joints, since their body has enough minerals, and good nutrition helps to strengthen the immune system and make it resistant to protect against bacteria and infections. It is imperative to follow the rules for keeping cattle; it is necessary to remove from the premises all unnecessary items that may interfere with cows. If done correctly, then problems such as joint diseases should not arise.