John Campbell, DVM, DVSC

An animal’s productivity potential can be found in both its genetic makeup and environmental factors such as good nutrition, housing, climate and disease prevention. However, there might be one more factor to consider: fetal programming. More research has been highlighting the importance of this area, which has significant implications for beef cattle production. Fetal programming […] Read more

Fog fever is one of the common names for a specific pneumonia of adult cattle, which is scientifically known as acute bovine pulmonary emphysema. A related condition occurs in feedlot cattle and is usually referred to as acute interstitial pneumonia. Fog fever was first described as a disease of grazing cattle more than 200 years […] Read more

I’ve written before in this column about the importance of getting replacement heifers off to a good start. Establishing reproductive momen-tum is extremely important in heifers because their interval between calving and their first heat after calving is much longer, usually 80 to 100 days for heifers in good body condition. This puts heifers at […] Read more

The most common cause of abortion in sheep and goat flocks in North America is caused by a bacterium named Chlamydophila abortus. The bacterium used to be called Chlamydia psittaci and the disease syndrome was named ovine enzootic abortion because the infection tends to persist in flocks. The disease is widespread and is commonly diagnosed […] Read more

An infection of a cow’s udder and mammary gland is called mastitis. There is a tremendous amount of ongoing research into mastitis, often described by researchers as the most important economic disease of dairy cows, largely because of the negative effects that subclinical infections of the udder have on milk production. Mastitis is often divided […] Read more

Pinkeye in cattle is a common disease that ranchers deal with this time of year when cattle are on pasture. Pinkeye was described in cattle in North America back in the early 1800s and although there has been significant research into the disease, it still presents many unknowns and challenges. Dr. Annette O’Connor, a faculty […] Read more

A recent paper published in the Canadian Veterinary Journal provided insights into some of the losses that cow-calf producers suffer because of calf diseases. Dr. Cheryl Waldner, Dr. Murray Jelinski and veterinary student Katelyn McIntyre-Zimmer of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine surveyed slightly more than 300 cow-calf producers from across Western […] Read more

The goal of animal health programs is to maximize the health and productivity of our livestock. While veterinarians and livestock producers use management strategies and vaccination programs, pharmaceuticals are occasionally a necessary and important way to prevent and treat disease. All products licensed for food animals in Canada have a drug identification number and specific […] Read more

Branding remains a necessary form of identification for beef cattle in certain situations in North America. It’s one of the only permanent forms of identification on the open range and in community pastures and is a crucial way to identify lost or stolen cattle. As well, financial institutions may require branding as proof of ownership […] Read more