Post by carragheendexters on Apr 29, 2014 8:26:15 GMT -5
Every cow owner should know something about acidosis, so after some people talking about baking soda on Olga's thread about Maxine, I thought I would just put a bit here.
Acidosis, Lactic acidosis, grain poisoning, grain overload are all just different names for the same disorder in cattle.
I don't think that many Dexter owners would have too many issues with lactic acidosis in their cows, as most don't feed too much grain.
Mostly it would happen if their cattle accidently got into grain, when they were not used to it, such as raiding a feed shed and getting into chook pellets or the chooks wheat.
The other way would be an inexperienced person not understanding how a rumen works may feed too much grain too quickly without an adaptation period.
What happens is grain is high in carbohydrates, and a group of bacteria in the rumen that loves carbs multiply and digest the carbs giving off lactic acid as a metabolic byproduct. This makes the rumen somewhat acid, which in turn kills off the other good bacteria which allows the breeding up of more lactic acid producers, and consequently the production of more lactic acid. The rumen can't function under these acid conditions, and becomes sluggish, eventually not functioning at all. The cow can bloat from this lack of functioning, the gas can't be moved out of the rumen, (compared to true frothy bloat from gas production), fluid moves out of the tissues and into the rumen, diluting out the acid but causing dehydration in the cow, the cow will get diarrhoea, sore feet from founder, and eventually the inner wall of the rumen will start to die. If the cow survives this, other nasty things can happen as well, necrotic tissue, liver abscesses etc.
Acidosis can go from being very mild where the cow may be off her feed with a bit of diarrhoea, tender on her feet, to full blown severe acute acidosis, where the cow will die within a couple of days, depending on just how much grain the cow ate and how much she and her rumen bacteria are used to eating grain.
Baking soda, also known as carb soda, bicarb, bicarb soda, sodium bicarbonate, or if you want to be really scientific NaHCO3, is often given as a buffer to neutralise the acid in the rumen in acute cases or generally when feeding grain.
Just how much affect it really has is often discussed by the bovine nutritional experts and vets. The amount needed to treat a moderate to severe case of acidosis is quoted to be at least 1 kg (over 2 lbs) and nobody gives that amount. So most probably giving bicarb is ineffectual in treating lactic acidosis.
The very real problem of treating with bicarb is if people can remember their highschool chemistry classes, NaHCO3, when it reacts with acid will give off CO2, carbon dioxide gas. if the cow is already bloating, this extra gas will just add to the problem.
Many people drench or feed also with molasses which can also exacerbate the situation, molasses is full of carbs.
For severe acidosis, most vets would recommend euthanasia before the animal gets so sick and dies. The chances of surviving are very slim.
So prevention is the key. Make sure you lock up grain stores securely, no accidentally leaving gates and doors open. Double catches for clever cows who can open doors and gates. Keep poultry feed out of reach of cattle.
If feeding grain, slow and steady increases is the rule. Start out with a small amount, increasing every third day or so, taking about 3 or 4 weeks to get to the amount you want to feed. No sudden changes in types of grain or pellets, start from scratch or shandy in the 2 feeds for a few weeks till they are changed over.
This gives the rumen bacteria time to adjust to the grain, and keeps the rumen microflora in harmony.
If your cow does indulge, and you are worried, get the vet out, to give her a chance of survival. It may be her only chance.
Lactic acidosis is deadly to cows! I have a friend who lost a Dexter heifer to lactic acidosis, the vet couldn't save her.