MILK FEVER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1612, 21 January 1903, Page 62

MILK FEVER

At a recent meeting of the Scottish Metropolitan .Veterinary Society, -.ir W. O. Robertson, Selkirk, read a paper on ‘ ‘Milk Fevers” He said that in all deep-milking breeds of cows milk fever annually provided its share of cases to the cattle practitioner, especially in a year like the present, when roots were scarce, and much dry, artificial feeding was resorted to. The cases were then more numerous and severe, especially on high-class farms, where the cows were kept in a plethoric condition, and formed what they might call milking machines. In hilly districts, where the cows' in the winter are fed on natural hay or straw and the few turnips that could ho spared to them, and then turned out to a poor pasture in the spring, milk fever was a disease that seldom occurred, and this favoured the idea that it was a disease of domestication combined with the milking qualities of the cow. In his opinion it did not matter much what breed the cow was, if she was a heavy milker, as milk fever was only seen in large milkersWhen he saw an animal with a fine head, long neck, wedge-shaped body, a little hollow over the kidneys plenty of room for capacious stomach, deep, broad"ribs, large mammary gland, well set forward, with good-sized teats and large, swirling blood-vessels and lymphatics over the rudder and along the sides of the abdominal wall, then he thought he had come across the cow that would fill the pail and bo a likely subject for milk fever. It was most likely to be after a third calving.^ The cow generally went down from twelve to forty-eight hours after calving. Sometimes it came on before calving. This was said to ho A DANGEROUS FORM, but he had seen cases where the cow was down before calving, and aftei igmoving the calf the cow got up a id did well. In the comatose type the first symptoms to a careful observer were a disinclination to eat, tbe animal became restless, would take some fodder into its mouth carelessly ana partially chew it, and perhaps let it fall out again. If the udder was examined, it would be found that secretion of milk was partly checked, as it was very seldom a cow went down with ar full udder. ’ With rumination checked, the animal began to paddle with the fore feet and shift from one hind foot on to the other. There was twitching and trembling cf the muscles of the hind quarters, with straightened hocks and knuckling of the fetlocks." There was an unsteadiness in moving, and the body made a jerk to one side. After a few unsuccessful attempts to stand, the animal went down, unable to maintain its balance any longer. It migne rise and fall again, but as a rule it remained in the recumbent position.

The cygs were staring and glassy, th@ conjunctional vessels injected, the pupils were usually dilated and insensiblo to the touch, and the eyelids drooped. There were severe spasms of certain groups of muscles; the neck took on a curved appearance, and tlie head was turned round to the animal s side. At the commencement of the attack tho pulse was full, and increased from seventy-five to eighty beats per minute. Respiration increased, and breathings become stentorous. They had occasionally grinding oi the teeth, with a flow of tears and increase of the secretion of saliva. After a little they had a weakness of the pulse, respirations became much quieter, and me temperature fell often lOOdcg Fahr. Tho mouth sometimes felt quite cold to the touch, and there was great difficulty in swallowing. A little later there was gastiu-intestinal paralysis, with consequent constipation and tympanitis, and the urine was retained. The animal lay on its side with its legs (which had become-cold) stretched cmt. In THE SPASMODIC TYPE of milk fever they had a different train of symptoms, which very often came on early after calving. The animal was greatly excited, and seemed to he in great distress, and suffered much pain. It had a wild, fiery expression of the eye, and switched tho tail. He considered tliis typo much more difficult to treat than the comatose form, and one in which accidents were more likely to occur, as by the tossing about of the head the horns were liable to bo broken or the neck dislocated. In a slight attack of tho spasmodic form, where there was only congestion or the brain, tho animal seemed in good health between the convulsions. He remembered one cow that had a second attack of the spasmodic type, which in both attacks had the habit of gnawing her own forelegs. In another case of the same type the animal got beyond the control of the attendants when they were changing her from tine byre to a loose box; she got out at the door, and had a gallop till she quietened down, and ho was inclined to think the run did her a lot of good. In the peraTplilgis type, which he thought was just partum paralysis, the symptoms seemed to begin in the lumbar regions, the cow lying quite comfortable, and seeming weak and not inclined to rise. The head was carried up, but the paralytic symptoms mignt advance along the spine towards the higher nerve centres, and the head become involved. This form occurred principally in older cows that were a little broken down, but with good nursing, etc., it was very amenable to treatment. The second form of so-called milk fever was nothing more or less than septicaemia. This form was produced by cows being calved in an infected byre or shed, and the way in which they became infected was more frequently due to the places being kept in a filthy condition, such as allowing placentas, dead calves, or any other decomposing animal matter to be in or in close proximity to the buildings, it was necessary for the cultivation of the microbes to have a' certain temperature and a suitable media, and when these two conditions were provided there was nothing simpler than to have microbes multiplied by the million; hut to die detriment cf the media. In the case of a newly-calved cow, the temperature of the animal’s body was the most favourable for germ cultivation. Again, no better media could be got than the natural discharges consequent upon the time of parturition, and at the same time tho organs of generation were m an open and relaxed condition, ready to receive any germs that were' floating about. Consequently the result was septicaemia. In a paper read at the society two or three years-ago, Mr Boyd, of Melrose, showed beyond doubt that unless such INFECTED PLACES wore perfectly cleaned and disinfected, there was no way of stamping out tho disease. Mr Boyd found that temporary prevention could be gained . by_ 10moving the cow before she called a healthy place, and allowing her to remain there till the generative organs had properly closed. - The symptoms were that a few hours after calving tne cow began to tremble, the temperature rose," the pulse became irregular, the animal persistently lay on one side, there were signs of abdominal pain, and before, the cow died she gave vent to on© or more pitiful bellows. With regard to the pathology of milk fever many theories had been brougnt forward, snich as thombosis, embolism of the blood vessels, functional derangement of the sympathetic nerve leading to congestion of the brain, a peculiar form of indigestion, while later writers claimed for one form the absorption of toxins from the generative organs; and lastly, they were having their minds directed towards the highly developed mammary gland. The milk cells were said to lose their tone by the too sudden emptying of bj r the hand after calving, thus causing intoxication of the blood by tne elements which should have been secreted by the udder as milk. This was a very plausible theory, as they knowjust before and a few days after oaiv

•fcurition the mills “was yellow, licit m la-ct albumen and globulin. PREVENTIVE TREATMENT in milk fever had been too little paid attention to, as the veterinary surgeon was not generally called in till the cow was down. He would recommend that the cow should get plenty of .straw and water, with a very few turnips, doing away with all concentrated foods, such as meals, cakes, brewers’ grains, etc. He also gave an aperient a week before she was due to calve —a good dose of treacle and common salt. He never used Epsom salts for milk cows unless he wanted to put them dry, as he thought a cow never reached her former standard of milk after getting a purging with salts. When the cow’s time was up he gave another dose, and he found with that treatment he seldom had a case of milk fever on certain farms where it used to be of frequent occurrence. He advised leaving the calving of the cow to Nature as much as possible, doing away with the old style of breaking the foetal membranes as soon as the feet were seen, and allowing the waters to escape. The mother should be all owed to lick the offspring all over, as it seemed to l give her satisfaction, and in some cases the calf might be left with the dam for a few days. He also found it a good practice not to empty the udder for a few days after caivn g, and in heavy milkers, where the udder was much distended, he believed in milking a little off every day before calving, as he had seen cows, which were perfectly distressed at this period, get immediate relief by the withdrawal of some of the milk from the distended udder. Until the pathology of milk fever was better understood they could not hold to any hard and fast rule as to the curative treatment of milk fever. OTHER METHODS. Some practitioners had abandoned their old treatment, and claimed to have great success with Schmidt’s (of Holding) treatment. The chief aim of his treatment was to check the formation of colostral milk, and to paralyse any existing poison. To accomplish this he relied on potassium iodide. His procedure was to have the udder stripped, washed in soap and water, and disinfected. Seven to ten grains of potassium iodide were dissolved in a litre of fresli-boiled water. When the solution had cooled down to 40deg or 42deg Cent, it was infused in equal portions into the udder at the four teats. The infusion had to he accompanied by continued massage of the udder; a little air was allowed to pass in with the injection to favour the liberation of free iodide. If the pulse was weak and syncope feared, Schmidt injected five grains of caffeine dissolved in sodium salicylate and water. At the same time the cow was washed down, warmly clothed, and she received * every two or three hours an oleaginous salt clyster. If there was no difficulty in swallowing, aloes were given internally. The abnormally low temperature rose after an infusion, and the comatose symptoms disappeared m four hours. Of" fifty cases more or less severe treated by Schmidt, 46. or. 92 per cent., recovered. German, Danish, Swiss and Austrian statistics relating to 2400 cases treated, gave an average of at least 80 per cent, recoveries under Schmidt’s treatment. He had given it a trial in a number of cases, hut it was very difficult to keep alongside the good news they got from the Continent.

In the spasmodic form the- first treatment he resorted to was to give a good dose of chloral and bromide, and if it had not much effect on the brain it seemed to cause a contraction of the blood vessels of the brain, producing anaemia and sleep. After he had got the animal quiet, he stripped the udder and washed and disinfected it, and injected the potassium iodide in much larger doses than were used o n the Continent. In a case of the spasmodic type, which he considered hopeless, he injected 2oz potassium iodide, with the result that a natural-looking milk was drawn from the udder six hours after the cow' first went down, and she had done well since, not having even the least mammitis. In conclusion, he said, that in milk fever a great deal depended on having a good attendant, as the cow must be kept well bolstered up in a comfortable position and be kept well clothed, and the attendant must be one that they could depend upon to give the medicine according to instructions.

Mr McGowan, of the dairying staff of the Department of Agriculture, is to visit the factories in the North of Auckland to assist the managers m improving the quality of the butter, wmerever such assistance is necessary. Mr Kinsella, who is now in the Auckland district, intends to meet the dairy farmers in the newer districts which have recently been opened up, and will visit To Puke to select a site for a new cooperative factory. Tho Southland Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union has engaged Mr A. M. Paterson, M.R.C.V.S., to act for a term of three years as veterinary surgeon and organising secretary. A scheme to regulate his services as veterinary surgeon has not vet been devised.