Metabolic diseases of grazing cattle: from clinical event to production disease

Authors: Wilson GF
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 50, Issue 3 Supplement, pp 85-87, Jun 2002
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Cattle, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Minerals/elememts, Metabolic disease, Disease/defect, Energy, Locomotor, Nervous system/neurology
Article class: Review Article

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Abstract: The main metabolic diseases of cattle recognised 50 years ago, ketosis, grass tetany (hypomagnesaemia) and milk fever (hypocalcaemia), are even more important today, and how we view them has changed radically. Prior to 1950, the emphasis in New Zealand was on identifying these diseases and defining clinical signs and tests useful for their diagnosis, so that appropriate treatment could be provided. By the 1970s, metabolic diseases were considered to result primarily from a breakdown of an animal`s ability to cope with the metabolic demands of high production rather than from inherent defects in its biochemistry, hence the term `production disease` evolved. A further major change has occurred over the last three decades due to recognition, especially in New Zealand, of the subclinical effects that deficiencies of glucose, magnesium and calcium have on milk production and reproduction. This review presents a brief history of research on ketosis, hypomagnesaemia and hypocalcaemia in cattle in New Zealand, together with a personal view of important contributions made by New Zealanders to our understanding of these diseases and their prevention in grazing cows.

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