Clinical case study: Calves with vomiting symptoms

Abstract

Five cases of calves "vomiting" feed were recorded in a dairy farm. Three calves did not survive, one has chronic bloat after weaning and the last one was brought into our clinics for clinical examination. All of the calves were tube fed colostrum the first hour post partum, had feed coming out of their mounths after feeding, were malnutritioned and had signs of onset pneumonia. Autopsies revealed inflammation in the rumen mucosa, enlarged lymphnodes of the mesenterium and emphysema of the lungs. Blood morphology and serum biochemistry indicate inflammation and malnutrition. Endoscopy of the esophagus and X-ray of the chest and neck revealed a diverticulum. Inbreeding was not the cause of such malformations since the calves were heired from different bulls and the cows and bulls were not related. We monitored the pH level of the vomit using urine test strips to determine if it was digested and discerned that it in fact was not. By performing differential diagnosis we were able to exclude most diseases and causes like selenium deficiencies, acidosis, genetic factors. Most probable cause of such a pathology in our opinion would be mistakes during coloctrum tube feeding.