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Ketosis has garnered a lot of interest in the last few years. Recent research has pointed to the role of ketosis as a gateway condition for transition cow health events and loss of milk production.
Ask any dairy farmer what type of issues they face in today’s industry, and the conversation undoubtedly will move toward money. With most farmers facing decreasing profit margins and some barely hanging on due to increased cost and a stagnant revenue stream, good farmers are always on the lookout for ways to better manage their bottom line.
A postmortem examination is a unique experience because it utilizes the full spectrum of all five senses in order to decipher a case. Upon entering the postmortem room, I hone in on the clues that stimulate my senses.
The postmortem examination technique, also called necropsy, is not complicated. I like to start by placing the carcass on its left side, cutting the dead animal in the right axilla, and proceeding to open the skin from the mandible to the inguinal region.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have that gauge to determine how successful our transition cow program is at present? If we wait to see measurable “wreck” clinical outcomes such as milk fever, retained placenta, metritis, ketosis and displacements of the abomasums, we are late to the realization of a transition program going astray.
It was a hot sunny day in southern California when I received a phone call to do a field postmortem.
I immediately said yes – I like to do those farm visits because they give me a chance to see the surrounding area and to meet local producers and veterinarians.
In the field of post-mortem examination, experienced pathologists develop a sixth sense. I encountered that sixth sense while a first-year resident at Cornell University, in the middle of a winter morning.
At 11 a.m. our lab received a phone call letting us know about seven dead heifers from a farm in upstate New York.
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