Evaluation of Clinical and Clinical Chemical Parameters in Periparturient Cows

¹ Dept. of Animal Health and Welfare, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
² Veterinary Clinic, Lørstedvej 26, DK-9690 Fjerritslev, Denmark
³ Dept. of Statistics, University of Udine, Via Treppo 18, 33100 Udine, Italy

Certain blood parameters and clinical symptoms have been connected with milk fever and a hypocalcemic condition in the cow. The present study intended to establish a mutual connection between relevant blood parameters and potentially valuable background information about the cow and its observed clinical symptoms at calving. Two veterinarians were summoned within 12 h of parturition of 201 cows, distributed among 41 Danish commercial herds. Cows were at different parity levels (2 to 10) and breeds and management differed broadly among herds. A blood sample was taken from the vena jugularis or the tail vein and was subsequently analyzed in the laboratory. Furthermore, 13 different clinical symptoms were recorded as categorical data. We investigated associations among the data obtained. We assessed an interpretative model for actual blood calcium level with blood parameters and background knowledge of the animals. We established a path analysis using background knowledge, blood parameters, and results of clinical examinations to uncover causal connections among the variables.

Twenty-six percent of the animals were diagnosed as having milk fever and subsequent blood analyses revealed a high frequency of hypocalcemia within the general range from 0.69 to 2.73 mmol of Ca per liter. Rectal temperature, inorganic blood phosphate, and potassium were all directly correlated with blood calcium, while glucose, lactate, and magnesium were inversely associated with calcium. Blood osteocalcin was significantly lower in hypocalcemic animals, indicating that de novo synthesis of bone was arrested during hypocalcemia. A mixed effect linear interpretative model explained 75% of the variation in blood calcium. Clinical symptoms like mood, appetite, muscle shivering, rumen motility, and paresis were individually correlated with blood calcium and were thereby predictive of hypocalcemia. The path analysis showed the central role of calcium in affecting the clinical symptoms. However, several other factors contributed to hypocalcemia.

Key Words: milk fever • hypocalcemia • calcium status • osteocalcin

Submitted on July 7, 2000
Accepted on February 16, 2001