Recovery of chronically lame dairy cows following treatment for claw horn lesions: a randomised controlled trial

Thomas, Heather J.; Remnant, John; Bollard, Nicola; Burrows, Abigail; Whay, HR; Bell, Nick; Mason, Colin; Huxley, J.N.

doi:10.1136/vr.103394

Cited by 71 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The etiologies and pathogeneses of some foot disorders are still relatively poorly understood (Huxley, 2012). Early lameness detection and prompt treatment reduce the duration and prevalence of lameness and thus improve cow welfare (Leach et al, 2012;Thomas et al, 2016). Change in an animal's behavior is one of the most important criteria in assessing animal welfare and health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cow pedogram—Analysis of gait cycle variables allows the detection of lameness and foot pathologies

Alsaaod

Luternauer

Hausegger

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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Changes in gait characteristics are important indicators in assessing the health and welfare of cattle. The aim of this study was to detect unilateral hind limb lameness and foot pathologies in dairy cows using 2 high-frequency accelerometers (400 Hz). The extracted gait cycle variables included temporal events (kinematic outcome = gait cycle, stance phase, and swing phase duration) and several peaks (kinetic outcome = foot load, toe-off). The study consisted of 2 independent experiments. Experiment 1 was carried out to compare the pedogram variables between the lateral claw and respective metatarsus (MT; n = 12) in sound cows (numerical rating system <3, n = 12) and the differences of pedogram variables across limbs within cows between lame cows (numerical rating system ≥3, n = 5) and sound cows (n = 12) using pedogram data that were visually compared with the synchronized cinematographic data. Experiment 2 was carried out to determine the differences across limbs within cows between cows with foot lesions (n = 12) and without foot lesions (n = 12) using only pedogram data. A receiver operator characteristic analysis was used to determine the performance of selected pedogram variables at the cow level. The pedogram of the lateral claw of sound cows revealed similarities of temporal events (gait cycle duration, stance and swing phases) but higher peaks (toe-off and foot load) as compared with the pedogram of the respective MT. In both experiments, comparison of the values between groups showed significantly higher values in lame cows and cows with foot lesions for all gait cycle variables. The optimal cutoff value of the relative stance phase duration for identifying lame cows was 14.79% and for cows with foot lesions was 2.53% with (both 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity) in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. The use of accelerometers with a high sampling rate (400 Hz) at the level of the MT is a promising tool to indirectly measure the kinematic variables of the lateral claw and to detect unilateral hind limb lameness and hind limb pathologies in dairy cows and is highly accurate.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cow pedogram—Analysis of gait cycle variables allows the detection of lameness and foot pathologies

Alsaaod

Luternauer

Hausegger

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…On a 144-cow dairy farm in Germany, early lameness treatment did not lead to a firm conclusion on an LS decrease during a 41-wk period (Gundelach et al, 2013). Two recent studies compared 4 treatments for lameness (Thomas et al, 2015(Thomas et al, , 2016, including therapeutic trimming alone or therapeutic trimming combined with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), a foot block, or both. In both studies, only cows with visible lesions were enrolled.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of hoof trimmer intervention in moderately lame cows on lameness progression and milk yield

García-Muñoz

Singh

Leonardi

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of hoof trimmer intervention (HTI) in moderately lame cows on lameness progression and milk yield. Two freestall Holstein herds were enrolled. Cows were milked 2 (herd A: 2,374 cows) or 3 (herd B: 2,800 cows) times a day. Within each dairy, moderately lame cows [locomotion score (LS) = 3 on a 5-point scale] were randomly assigned to control group (CON; herd A = 66, herd B = 84) or treatment group (HTI; evaluated and treated by the hoof trimmer under researchers' supervision; herd A = 73; herd B = 75). Enrollment criteria were <350 d in milk, <180 d pregnant, >10 kg/d of milk yield, not selected for therapeutic trimming 2 mo before enrollment, and >14 observations of daily milk yield during the study period. Biweekly lameness scoring (LS ≤2, LS = 3, LS ≥4) was conducted up to 6 wk post-intervention. Lesion type and severity records were collected at intervention from HTI cows and up to 6 wk post-intervention from all enrolled cows identified as lame by farm employees. Daily milk yield data were collected from -1 to 6 wk relative to intervention using Afifarm (Afimilk Ltd., Kibbutz Afikim, Israel) records. No treatment effect was detected on the predicted probability of locomotion score, but the predicted probability of LS ≥3 decreased over time in herd B, whereas in herd A, it initially decreased but later increased. A tendency for a treatment by time interaction was observed in herd A; at 2 wk post-intervention, the predicted probability for LS ≥3 was higher for HTI (0.69) than for CON (0.43), but similar at 4 wk (0.41 HTI, 0.49 CON) and 6 wk (0.77 HTI, 0.73 CON). At intervention, most study cows had no lesions (41.2%), sole hemorrhages (28.4%), thin soles (8.8%), or vertical fissure (6.8%). During the 6 wk following intervention, a similar proportion of cows were identified as lame in CON (8.7%) and HTI (6.7%) groups. In herd A, milk yield (least squares means ± standard error) was similar for CON (42.0 ± 0.77 kg/d) and HTI (42.3 ± 0.75 kg/d) cows, whereas in herd B, it tended to be lower for HTI (43.7 ± 0.61 kg/d) than for CON (45.2 ± 0.59 kg/d) cows. A significant effect of time was detected on both dairies, with milk yield decreasing over the study period. In our study, implementing HTI on moderately lame cows resulted in no improvement in gait or milk yield. The low presence of severe lesions amenable to therapy may partially explain our findings.

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“…The 2 observers had been trained using this locomotion scoring system and had used the system during previous research studies ( Thomas et al, 2015Thomas et al, , 2016. Inter-observer tests were performed as follows: 176 cows were locomotion scored by both observers during the same passage of walking.…”

Section: Locomotion Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A prospective cohort study of digital cushion and corium thickness. Part 2: Does thinning of the digital cushion and corium lead to lameness and claw horn disruption lesions?

Newsome

Green

Bell

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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Recovery of chronically lame dairy cows following treatment for claw horn lesions: a randomised controlled trial

Cited by 71 publications

References 14 publications

The cow pedogram—Analysis of gait cycle variables allows the detection of lameness and foot pathologies

The cow pedogram—Analysis of gait cycle variables allows the detection of lameness and foot pathologies

Effect of hoof trimmer intervention in moderately lame cows on lameness progression and milk yield

A prospective cohort study of digital cushion and corium thickness. Part 2: Does thinning of the digital cushion and corium lead to lameness and claw horn disruption lesions?

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