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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #79661
Title: MILK FEVER (PARTURIENT PARESIS) IN COWS, EWES, AND DOE GOATS

Author
item OETZEL, GARRETT - SCHOOL OF VET MED, WISC.
item Goff, Jesse

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This chapter will deal with milk fever, a disease characterized by extremely low blood calcium concentration, that affects about 6% of dairy cattle in the US each year. The chapter will review what is known about the causes of milk fever in dairy cows and similar disorders in beef cows and ewes. The clinical signs associated with these disorders are described in detail, as well as the results that could be expected from blood and urine analysis of affected animals. Current methods to treat these disorders are presented for veterinary practitioners. Much of the chapter is devoted to measures that can be used to prevent these disorders. Among the preventative measures discussed are dietary calcium restriction, using diet to adjust blood acid-base balance, vitamin D treatment, and prophylactic calcium administration. The veterinary professional reading this chapter will have an up-to-date manual to allow diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these common disorders of calcium metabolism in cattle, sheep, and goats.