Ketosis in Cattle
Definitions & Key takeaways
Ketosis refers to high concentration of ketone bodies in blood and other body fluids. In cattle, it occurs due to low levels of glucose available for energy that leads to high mobilization of fats. Ketosis is commonly seen in calving cows in which the energy metabolic demand is elevated. It commonly presents with reduced feed intake, lethargy, and an empty-appearing abdomen. There may also be neurological signs such as abnormal licking and chewing, gait abnormalities, aggression and bellowing.
Ketosis is a common disease of adult cattle. It typically occurs in dairy cows during early lactation with signs including reduced appetite and depression.
Rarely. It occurs during late pregnancy but it looks like pregnancy toxemia.
A more common disease in beef cattle. The pathogenesis of bovine ketosis is not well understood but requires a combination of intense fat mobilization and high glucose demand.
Both conditions are present in early lactation when negative energy balance leads to fat mobilization and milk production causes high glucose demand production of glucose by the liver leads to increased concentrations of ketone bodies in the blood called ketosis.
The exact cause of the clinical science is not known as they don't appear to be correlated with the concentration of either glucose or ketones.
All dairy cows in the first six weeks of lactation are at risk of ketosis. The prevalence in cattle during this time is estimated at 7 to 14% but the prevalence in individual herds varies substantially and can approach 100% cows with excessive fat stores referring to those with a body condition.
Score of 3.75 out of five or higher at time of calving are at greater risk of ketosis for cows kept in stalls, reduced feed intake is usually the first sign of ketosis.
Central nervous system signs are often noted in some cases and include abnormal licking and chewing in coordination and other gait, abnormalities, aggression and bellowing C NS signs only occur in a minority of cases.
But due to the prevalence of the disease, it's still not unusual to find animals with these signs. The diagnosis of ketones is based on risk factors such as early lactation and body condition.
Clinical signs and ketone bodies in urine or milk on site tests for the presence of ketone bodies are critical for diagnosis and several commercial tests are available.
Treatment of ketosis is designed to return blood glucose to normal and reduce serum ketone body concentrations. One common therapy is bolus IV administration of 50% dextrose solution.
However, the effect is frequently transient and commonly results in a relapse. Giving glucocorticoids may result in a more sustained response relative to glucose alone.
Both treatments can be repeated daily as needed. Propylene glycol given orally once a day acts as a glucose precursor and is effective but overdosing can lead to cns depression, ketosis can be prevented by good nutritional management.
Body condition should be supervised in late lactation when cows frequently become too fat. Some strategies that may help shift energy away from body fattening and toward milk production instead include modifying diets in late lactation to increase the energy supply from digestible fiber and reducing the energy supply from starch.
As cows tend to cut back on feed consumption in the last three weeks of pregnancy, nutritional management should be aimed at minimizing this reduction.
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