CHRONIC HEMATURIA AFFECTING CATTLE.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2, 20 August 1926, Page 85

CHRONIC HEMATURIA AFFECTING CATTLE.

NOTES ON CASES IN THE SOUTH ISLAND WEST COAST DISTRICT.

J. KERRIGAN,

M.R.C.V.S., District Superintendent, Department of Agriculture Christchurch.

Chronic hsematuria, a disease affecting . cattleespecially dairy cows —is. characterized ,by intermittent ..periodsJ during which the. ..urine discharged contains . varying . quantities of blood.. The disease .is usually .of comparatively long duration. During the past year I have met with two typical cases and have heard of several others. . So far as can be ascertained the disease has not been reported previously in New Zealand. ■

Chronic hsematuria was noted in France as far back as 1864, and in other Continental countries at later dates. In British Columbia it evidently caused serious losses in. certain .districts, and the trouble was carefully, studied by Bowhill and Seymour Hadwen between the years 1907 and 1912. It has also been noted in Africa and other countries. .Only within comparatively recent years has the disease been observed in Britain. Late in 1914 . Wallis Hoare stated that, so far as he was aware, it had not been noted in the British Isles. J. F. Craig, of Dublin Veterinary College, ..who in conjunction with D. Kehoe studied this trouble within recent years in . Ireland, states:. “ Our first suspicion of the presence of chronic hsematuria in this country (Ireland) was aroused, about .1917, but it was not until 1922 that an opportunity arose to investigate it in two cows, and later in a third one, and to show that it is identical in all its details to that noted in other countries.” He further remarks : “ One may be allowed, however, to state at once that there is . every reason to believe that this condition is not of recent introduction'into the country, but has for a long time remained unrecognized and has frequently been mistaken for redwater.” ■

LOCAL CASES.

In the various districts in New Zealand, in which I have been located or have travelled I have now and again been asked to advise regarding the treatment of a cow or cows affected with redwater. On several occasions during the past seven or eight years similar requests came from . the Murchison and Inangahua. districts, but no opportunity occurred of examining an affected animal. When lecturing at the Department’s winter farm school on the West Coast during June of last year I was again asked to -advise regarding the treatment for so-called redwater. However, on discussing the matter with three of the settlers I strongly suspected that their cows were affected with chronic hsematuria and not redwater. I advised the settlers accordingly, and asked them to keep in touch with the Stock Inspector for the district and with myself, so that if an opportunity occurred the trouble might be investigated. In December last information was. received that there was an opportunity of seeing two or more affected cows. Mr. P. McGregor,

Departmental Veterinarian, visited the district, and, without knowing that I had . strong suspicions of chronic haematuria as affecting cows in that area, his report strengthened my suspicions. In fact, in his report he . gave the following description of some of the typical symptoms : "Firstly, the animals were seen to pass bloody urine. No . condition was lost, nor was the milk-supply diminished in the first stages. . The cows generally became affected at calving-time in September, and except in isolated cases the urine cleared during the summerthe. animal having apparently • recovered. In the following spring at calving-time the urine again became bloody, and in this case it became gradually, thicker, until there was passed with the urine a stringy, leathery substance in the. form of clots. Shortly after, this condition began the animal rapidly lost condition and died. In some cases the animal would apparently again recover during the second summer, only to become again affected the following spring and die.” Mr. McGregor did not make a post mortem examination of any of the affected cows, as those he examined were only slightly affected, and he considered it advisable to await further developments.

In March of this year Mr. C. S. Neville, Inspector of Stock, while in the district on other matters, had an opportunity of making a post-mortem on an affected cow, and he sent the bladder to the Wallaceyille Laboratory. This exhibited typical symptoms said to be found present in cases of chronic haematuria. In April, in company with Mr. Neville, I made a post-mortem on an affected cow, and we saw another one only slightly affected. Although the cow on which we made the post-mortem was not in the advanced stages of the disease, the changes found present were typical of chronic haematuria,and crystals of calcium oxalate were found present in the urine. .

■ The area in which the trouble occurs is somewhat isolated and difficult to keep in close touch with, consequently only a limited number of cases have come under my notice, and I am indebted to former investigators for some of the following information.

The animals affected are generally matured cows (five years old and over), but occasionally younger animals have been noted as exhibiting typical symptoms. It is stated that occasionally a bull has died of the trouble, and Mr. Neville informs me that from inquiries he has learned that a certain number of working-bullocks in the early days in the Murchison district were similarly affected and died. .

. The area in which the disease 'appears lies roughly between Reefton and Murchison, and is (or had been prior to clearing) covered with what the settlers call brown, black, silver, or red birch —correctly beech (Nothofagus) species. When the bush is felled the land runs very rapidly into bracken fern. It will be understood from this that in general the land has not been - improved to any. extent by the addition of artificial manures, &c.

One or more cows may be affected on the farm at the same time, but, of course, this depends to some extent on the number kept. One farmer informed me -that during the past , five years his loss out of a herd of twenty-six cows had been thirteen, equal to io per cent. The cows are generally turned , out into the bush when dry, and are brought in again in the spring.

SYMPTOMS.

Symptoms are as follows: Greater or less discoloration of the urine-generally in spring when the animal is brought in. The colour may be brown or red, or blood-clots may be passed, and the animal may occasionally strain. Apart from this, it appears to be in good health and. otherwise normal. It may remain in this condition for a varying period, but in general as the flush of grass comes on in summer the animal apparently recovers. In the autumn the urine discharged may again be mixed with blood, or the trouble may not appear again until the following spring, and if the urine is badly affected it may contain so much blood that it sets to a reddish jelly soon after being passed. The affected animal may succumb to the first attack, or it may have several attacks. I have heard of one cow that has shown this discoloration of urine on different occasions for four years.

As a result of the loss of blood the animal ultimately loses condition, generally exhibits dropsical swellings under the lower jaw or in the dewlap, and diarrhoea may appear in the last stages. . It is stated that excitement exaggerates the symptoms, and that once the animal becomes affected'.it rarely actually recovers, also that the symptoms become more marked with each attack. Some cows apparently resist the disease, as one owner informed me that he had -cows that had been respectively eight, ten, and thirteen years .on the affected "area and had never shown any symptoms of the. trouble. .

Under post mortem examination the bladder contains a varying quantity of urine mixed with blood, and generally crystals of calcium oxalate can be found in the urine. The bladder is the only organ showing any important lesions. The mucous membrane lining this organ is rough, and contains a number of small red spots, patches, and streaks ; . in the one I examined at two -places there appeared also to be some granulation tissue. It is stated by investigators that in advanced cases - growths of a fibro-papillomatous nature are found present in. the bladder. •

CAUSES AND TREATMENT

A number of causes have been suggested by investigators. It has been suggested that the disease is caused by some poisonous plant, but the actual plant so far has not been determined. Others consider the trouble may be microbic in origin or that it may be caused by parasites, but investigations so far have not supported these suggestions. Hadwen apparently demonstrated that all the appearances presented in the disease could be produced by large doses of oxalic acid given over an •extended period of two years. It is therefore not improbable that the •disease may result from oxalic-acid contents of the herbage on which the cattle are allowed to graze for a long time, or to some toxic substances in the pasture. ; ■ ' ...

d It has been stated that when 2 to 4 drachms of calcium lactate have been given daily for a week some improvement has been noted in the animal.. Experience has evidently shown' in France, British ■Columbia, and elsewhere that following agricultural improvements, such as better drainage and top-dressing with lime and manures, in the affected areas the disease tends to disappear. -