A recent article in the Canadian Veterinary Journal examined how common selenium deficiency occurred in beef cows across Western Canada. Selenium is an essential micro-mineral that is a component of five anti-oxidant proteins within the ruminant animal that help prevent tissue damage. A deficiency in selenium often produces a nutritional muscular degeneration in young growing […] Read more
Stories by John Campbell, DVM, DVSC
Blackleg can cause devastating losses in unvaccinated calves
One of the more devastating disease outbreaks that I’ve witnessed was probably one of the easiest to prevent. Several summers ago I was called by a local practitioner to help investigate high levels of mortality in young calves on pasture. A cow-calf producer had a large number of calves die suddenly on pasture and the […] Read more
Parasite transmitted by mating
Trichomoniasis is a venereal disease of cattle that is commonly seen in open range beef operations or in dairy herds that use bulls rather than artificial insemination. It was first described in France in 1888, although it was not recognized as a common problem in western Canadian herds until 1993 when it was diagnosed in […] Read more
Long-acting antibiotic best for pinkeye
Cow-calf producers have to start worrying about pinkeye now that summer has arrived. Cattle affected with pinkeye, also known as conjunctivitis, will have an inflammation of the soft tissues surrounding the eye and eyelids. The clear surface of the eye or cornea may also be affected as the infection creates a cloudy surface or an […] Read more
Persistence key in combating BVD
Bovine viral diarrhea is one of the most important viruses affecting the North American cattle industry. I have witnessed the variety of ways in which this virus can cause devastating economic losses: infertility, abortions, stillbirths, and calf deaths. The BVD virus has a variety of strains with a great deal of genetic variation that are […] Read more
Type of immunity affects vaccination
A basic understanding of how an animal’s immune system functions is important when determining when and how to use vaccines. The development of the immune system in cattle progresses gradually, beginning at conception and reaching maturity with a completely functional immune system at about six months of age. Immunology is a complex science and this […] Read more
Q-fever: the Q stands for query
It’s lambing, kidding and calving season, and those of us who work around sheep, goats and cattle are at an increased risk of exposure to infectious diseases. One of those diseases goes by the strange name of Q-fever. It got the name because a definitive cause could not be established when the disease was first […] Read more
Old batteries and cattle are a recipe for disaster
I was recently reminded of the challenges of dealing with herds that have been accidentally exposed to old batteries and other sources of lead. A veterinary colleague told me about a lead toxicity case he was dealing with involving a large group of cattle. In these cases, the immediate challenge for the producer and the […] Read more
Colostral immunity helps get calves off to good start
Newborn calves are born with virtually no immunity of their own. The cow’s placenta does not allow antibodies to pass from the mother to the calf during pregnancy, which means the calf must receive its initial immunity from the antibody rich colostrum, or first milk of the cow. This initial immunity is essential because it […] Read more
Do your part to minimize calving difficulties, deaths
Getting calves off to a good start is vital if we want to have a calf to wean in the fall. Research shows that 70 percent of calf mortalities occur within the first 96 hours of life. Almost two-thirds of these losses are directly attributable to dystocia, or calving difficulties. Too much time spent in […] Read more
