White muscle disease. How to treat white muscle disease in calves
Features of white muscle disease
White muscle disease of young animals most often occurs in those animals whose mothers did not receive sufficient and nutritious nutrition during pregnancy. There is also an opinion that the disease appears due to a lack of selenium, protein and vitamin A in the feed.
Most cases of the disease are recorded in places with high concentrations of sulfur in the soil, which is an antagonist of selenium. When the moisture content in the soil increases, a lot of sulfur dissolves in it, which prevents the absorption of selenium by plants.
A concomitant cause of the development of white mice in young animals is considered to be incorrect conditions livestock housing, for example: high dampness in the premises, crowded housing or poor ventilation.
Recently, an opinion has emerged that this disease is a symptom of vitamin E deficiency in the body.
White muscle disease can also occur in young animals of other species of animals and birds. There is a decrease in the blood of a sick animal total protein and increased nitrogen. A characteristic indicator of the disease may be a disturbance in creatinine metabolism and a high phosphorus content.
Most often, this disease occurs in the countries of Australia, the USA and New Zealand.
Symptoms and forms of the disease
During the autopsy, it is revealed that the affected young animals have obvious symptoms of exhaustion. For of this disease typical clinical manifestations:
- swelling subcutaneous tissue;
- symmetrical damage to skeletal muscles;
- erased fiber pattern;
- enlarged heart;
- pulmonary hyperemia;
- softening of the brain.
The following forms of the disease in young animals are distinguished:
- acute form;
- subacute form;
- chronic form.
Acute form
The acute stage begins abruptly with bright severe symptoms and lasts about 7 days. The animal feels a loss of strength and is in depressed state and often lies down. Arises muscle tremors, paralysis of some limbs and impaired gait.
Breathing becomes rapid and difficult, there are symptoms of cardiac dysfunction and gastrointestinal tract: foul-smelling stool, swollen intestines, serous discharge from the eyes and nose.
When worn out clinical picture an animal may look absolutely healthy on the outside and die suddenly, for no apparent reason.
Subacute form
In the subacute form, the disease has less pronounced signs and lasts from two weeks to 30 days. If at this stage you do not necessary treatment, the mortality rate ranges from 40 to 60%. A sick animal develops wheezing, appetite disappears or weakens, and if complications occur, pneumonia or pleurisy appears.
Chronic form
The chronic form of the disease mainly occurs in young animals over 3 months of age. It is a consequence of lack of treatment or improper maintenance. Clinical manifestations are the same as for other forms, but they are supplemented by developmental delay, exhaustion and low mobility of the animal. Sometimes the calf is unable to rise on its hind legs.
Diagnostics and treatment and preventive measures
When making a diagnosis, clinical manifestations, the age of the animal and test results are taken into account. Since white mouse disease may not occur every year, information about the disease from previous years is collected.
If possible, electrocardiography, fluoroscopy and radiography are performed. The disease is differentiated from enzootic ataxia.
Specific treatment absent, but maximum healing effect observed after the use of selenium preparations, tocopherol, trivitamin, sulfur-containing amino acids and protein hydrolysates.
Treatment will only be effective if complex treatment, namely combinations drug therapy with good living conditions, isolation of the sick animal, adequate nutrition and quality care.
Prevention of the development of white muscle disease in calves consists of administering a solution of sodium selenite or tocopherol to pregnant animals and newborn calves.
At the first signs of illness in young animals, it is necessary not to self-medicate, but to contact a veterinary service. This will not only help sick animals in a timely manner, but also prevent further infections.
Dangerous white muscle disease in calves occurs immediately after birth or in the first weeks. It is very insidious and requires immediate, serious treatment. If the symptoms are not noticed in time and the calf is not helped, it will die. The fact is that white mouse is one of the most serious diseases of newborn calves. Probability fatal outcome extremely high. It is useful to know what causes the disease, how to quickly recognize it and how to cure young animals.
Poor nutrition and poor maintenance are to blame
White muscle disease is directly related to a lack of certain vitamins and microelements in the animal’s body. But there are other reasons that, if they do not cause the disease, then make its occurrence more likely. So, the reasons for the development of “white mouse”:
- lack of protein, vitamin A and selenium in the mother’s feed;
- lack of vitamin E in calves;
- large amounts of sulfur in the soil;
- high soil moisture;
- peat and sandy soils in the area where animals are kept;
- dampness in the livestock area;
- poor ventilation and keeping cattle in close quarters.
If during pregnancy the cow did not receive enough important vitamins and microelements, her offspring may be sick. In particular, the development of white muscle disease is associated with a lack of selenium, a powerful natural antioxidant. Its “counterweight” is sulfur. In places where there is a lot of it in the soil, it prevents plants from absorbing selenium. Then these plants, with increased content sulfur and without selenium, go to feed livestock. There are also observations showing that in regions with peaty and sandy soils, the disease is more common.
Naturally, the conditions of keeping cows and young animals influence. Crowded, damp, stuffy spaces can lead to many ailments, not just white muscle disease.
Symptoms and stages of the disease
The disease can occur in acute, subacute and chronic form. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all.
The acute stage begins suddenly and lasts up to seven days. During it, the calf is exhausted, lies around a lot, and is depressed. The work of the heart and breathing is disrupted - it becomes frequent and difficult. Tremors appear in the muscles, serous (transparent) discharge from the eyes and nose, and paralysis of individual limbs may occur. Suffering and digestive system: the calf's belly swells, the feces acquire a specific, very bad smell.
The subacute form can last from 14 to 30 days. More than half of sick animals die at this stage, so treatment is mandatory and urgent. Often on at this stage complications of white muscle disease occur - pleurisy, pneumonia. You can hear wheezing in the calf's lungs, and he either doesn't eat at all or noticeably loses his appetite. Other symptoms are not as pronounced as in acute stage.
You will observe the chronic form in two cases: if you ignored all the symptoms and did not treat the calf, or if during treatment you did not provide it with good conditions content. And, of course, if he survived. IN clinical form white muscle disease has all the same symptoms, but is added to by exhaustion and developmental delay in young animals. Many calves at this stage cannot stand because their hind legs become very weak. The stage lasts 50-60 days, and 40 to 60 percent of the calves die.
Diagnosis and treatment
To correctly determine the disease, they look not only at the symptoms, but also at the age of the animal, the results laboratory research. There is no need to make a diagnosis yourself, since it is necessary to exclude enzootic ataxia with similar symptoms, and for this you need a veterinarian.
During illness, protein is found in the calf’s urine, and myochrome (pigment) is found in the blood. If possible, the animal is given an ECG and fluoroscopy.
There are no specific treatments for the disease, but the calf can be saved comprehensive measures. They come down to replenishing missing substances. First of all, sodium selenite is injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly into the animal. This is a dangerous substance, it is extremely important to follow the dosage: 0.1% solution, 0.1-0.2 milliliters per kilogram of weight. They inject 2-3 times a day, then take a break for 7-10 days. At the same time, the calf is given vitamin E, also 2-3 times a day, 10-20 milligrams.
The veterinarian can prescribe antibiotics, protein hydrolysates (protein breakdown products), solutions of methionine, cysteine, medications such as Azvit, Erevit. Since the disease affects the muscles, including the myocardium, heart medications are given: cordiamin, tincture of lily of the valley, camphor oil.
The disease is treated with a course of these drugs. They are given to a sick animal until it recovers. In addition, the calf will need to be immediately isolated, provided with rest, good conditions, and adequate nutrition containing manganese chloride, copper sulfate, and cobalt chloride.
Consequences of the disease and its prevention
As with other diseases of the large cattle, white muscle disease is not something to joke about, because there are always health consequences that are not treated later. If assistance is delayed even a little, even surviving calves become lost to the farmer. They are hopelessly behind in development.
To avoid the disease, prevention is carried out even at the stage of pregnancy of the cow. She is given vitamins and polysalts of microelements. 4 weeks before birth, 1 milliliter of sodium selenite (0.1%) is administered. The same injection is given to newborn calves.
Remember that the prophylactic dose of drugs such as selevit adultos, selevit, selferol for young animals should be two times less than the therapeutic dose. The dosage of vitamin E (tocopherol) is three times less.
They also add to the diet of cows and young animals fish fat, but then the body’s need for vitamin E will increase significantly.
All drugs that can be used to prevent white muscle disease are sold in veterinary pharmacies.
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The harmfulness of muscular dystrophy lies in its incurability. An animal that has recovered from the disease will develop slowly. He will have to be fattened and culled. In the absence of treatment, mortality among sick animals reaches 60%. This article informs pastoralists about the causes of the disease, its elimination, and prevention measures.
Causes
The reason is selenium deficiency. The trace element has antioxidant activity. The accumulation of underoxidized radicals causes degeneration of skeletal muscles and myocardium. It is replaced by yellowish-white fatty or supporting tissue. The disease occurs mainly in winter in areas where podzolic soil predominates, rich in sulfur compounds, which are an antagonist of selenium. In Russia this is the north of Central Federal District. The following factors contribute to the development of the disease:
- Violation of living conditions and feeding of mothers during pregnancy.
- Increasing need for selenium.
Dampness and inadequate ventilation contribute to the occurrence of the disease. The formation of peroxides, as well as the insufficient content of a number of microelements and vitamins in the feed, increases the need for antioxidants, that is, selenium and tocopherol.
Symptoms
The disease occurs in manifest, subacid and permanent forms. Duration acute type myopathy is 7–10 days. Characterized by the following features:
- Oppression.
- Heart weakness.
- Tachycardia.
- Increased breathing.
- Conjunctivitis accompanied by clouding of the eyes.
- Copious nasal discharge.
- Disorder of the alimentary tract.
- The stomach is swollen.
- Copious salivation.
- Grinding of teeth.
- Paresis, paralysis. The calf has difficulty moving.
The subacid form is characterized by the above symptoms, but in a less pronounced form. The duration of the disease is 2–4 weeks. The chronic course differs from the subacute course, lasting 50–60 days.
Diagnostics
The clinic, age, and results of the pathological autopsy are taken into account. Pay attention to swelling subcutaneous tissue, attrition of muscle fibers, hypertrophy of the heart, lungs, softening of the brain.
Treatment
The therapeutic strategy is to use selenium supplements. To maintain myocardial function, cardiac glycosides, Sulphocamphocaine, caffeine, etc. are used. The optimal solution is to use the drug E-selenium, containing the mineral and tocopherol. It is recommended to administer it intramuscularly or subcutaneously at a dose of 1 ml/20 kg. The first injection is given at 14 days. To prevent the development of white muscle disease, the drug is injected at the indicated dose, with a two-week interval, until the age of three months.
The drug is administered with for preventive purposes on days 1, 3, 5, 2–10 ml/kg, subcutaneously. If the disease occurs, two or three daily injections are recommended, 3-5 days in a row.
Prevention
Those that have recovered grow poorly and are not suitable for herd repair. Therefore, the main measure in the fight against the disease should be recognized not as treatment, but as prevention. Even with a selenium deficiency, a healthy calf has a high chance of not getting sick. That's why great importance give proper nutrition mothers in the last months of pregnancy. It is important to observe two-phase feeding with low nutritional value in dry wood, 8-3 weeks before the expected calving, gradually increasing in last days. The recommended concentrations of calcium and phosphorus, as well as their desired ratio, are also different. IN last weeks it is required to take preventive measures against ketosis, which contributes to the birth of weakened young animals. They consist of enriching the cattle diet with energy supplements, for example, Propylene glycol or Felucene.
It is necessary to ensure a high content of vitamins, especially fat-soluble ones. Carotene deficiency increases the need for antioxidants. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out preventive injections of the drug E-selenium.
Two months before the birth of a calf, heifers and cows are administered the drug subcutaneously or intramuscularly, 15 ml/head. A total of 3-4 injections are required at two-week intervals.
Conclusion
Myopathy serious illness, excluding the use of cured calves for herd repair. Therefore, preventive measures should be preferred over treatment, which consists in providing deep-pregnant cows good nutrition, subject to comfortable conditions of detention. Two months before the expected birth, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatment of animals with E-selenium at two-week intervals.
White muscle disease of young animals (“ muscular dystrophy"", "myopathy", "waxy muscle degeneration") - serious disease, characterized by disturbances in mineral, protein and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as functional, biochemical and morphological changes in skeletal and cardiac muscles.
Lambs, kids, piglets, calves, chickens, ducklings get sick more often, and foals are much less likely to get sick. The disease usually occurs in the second half of winter keeping animals and primarily in young animals in the first days and weeks of life, whose mothers were not provided with sufficient and complete feeding during pregnancy. Some scientists suggest that the cause of the disease is a lack of selenium in the feed.
White muscle disease of young animals is recorded mainly in farms where pastures and haylands are located in low, floodplain, often flooded areas with a high content of sulfur in the soil, which is an antagonist of selenium. An increase in soil saturation with moisture leads to dissolution large quantity sulfur and increasing its concentration in soil solutions, which prevents the absorption of selenium by plants.
The mortality rate of young animals in the absence of rational measures of prevention and treatment reaches 50-70%. A significant proportion of recovered animals are stunted in growth and development.
Etiology the disease has not been studied enough. The most important reason the onset of the disease is considered unilateral and malnutrition animals, especially the uterine composition during pregnancy and suckling cultivation young animals, which is observed when grazing animals on low-lying, swampy and forest pastures, when feeding hay and straw, as well as silage and root crops with a lack of protein in them, minerals(primarily selenium, but also cobalt, manganese, iodine, etc.), vitamins (carotene, retinol, tocopherol) and sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine, cystine). The significance of the deficiency of selenium, methionine and cystine is confirmed by the effectiveness of their use as preventive and therapeutic agents.
Concomitant causes of the disease are violations of zoohygienic rules for keeping animals, crowded housing, dampness in the premises, poor ventilation, etc.
Pathogenesis. White muscle disease is characterized by disturbances in protein, carbohydrate and fat metabolism, as well as exchanges mineral salts and water. When protein synthesis is disrupted in the body, there is an increase in the content of connective tissue proteins with a simultaneous decrease in the amount of functional proteins of tissues and organs. In this case, a decrease in the content of total protein in the blood serum, an increase in residual and polypeptide nitrogen, a decrease in the amount of globulins and an increase in albumin are observed. A characteristic feature painful condition animal there is a violation of the metabolism of creatine - a substance containing nitrogen, but of a non-protein nature. The creatine content in muscles decreases from 500-300 to 100-50 mg%, while its amount in the blood and urine increases, which indicates deep structural changes V muscle tissue. This is also indicated by an increase in the content of inorganic phosphorus in the blood serum.
Pathological changes. The corpses of calves, lambs and piglets, especially those that died after subacute or chronic manifestations of the disease, show signs of emaciation; visible mucous membranes are anemic.
At autopsy, swelling of the subcutaneous tissue is detected. In the chest and neck area, on lower parts abdominal walls have serous-mucosal infiltrates, and in the pleural and abdominal cavities- transudate with an admixture of clots of coagulated protein.
Often there are symmetrical lesions of skeletal muscles with the greatest physiological load (muscles of the limbs, back, lumbar, thoracic, intercostal, diaphragmatic, chewing and tongue). They have either diffuse or focal lesions in the form of a diffuse whitish color, dense consistency, dryness on the cut, erased fiber pattern and resemble boiled chicken meat, which served as the basis for the name of the disease (white muscle disease).
The most common lesions are the heart muscle. The heart is enlarged due to the expansion of its cavities, especially the right ventricle. Under the epicardium and endocardium there are whitish or gray-yellowish, spotted, striped, and sometimes continuous foci of necrosis throughout the endocardium, penetrating into the thickness of the muscle (Fig. VII). There may be pinpoint, stripe or spotty hemorrhages in the heart muscle. In cases of chronic (less often subacute) course of the disease, thinning of the heart muscles is observed, especially in the area of the right ventricle. Its thickness can reach 1-0.5 mm, and the outline of a knife or scalpel blade can be seen through it. The liver, especially in piglets, is fragile, enlarged, and variegated on the surface (grayish-yellow areas without clear boundaries alternate with dark brown ones). Congestion is observed in the kidneys.
In the lungs there is hyperemia, edema, and in cases of a complicated course - signs catarrhal purulent pneumonia and pleurisy. The spleen is not enlarged, but has a flabby consistency and is cherry-red on section.
Changes characteristic of catarrhal gastritis and acute catarrh intestines, usually in thin section his.
The brain is softened, swollen, the membranes of the brain are hyperemic.
The severity of the described pathological changes depends on the duration and severity of the disease. If the disease occurs with mild symptoms, then the most characteristic changes are observed only in the heart and skeletal muscles.
Symptoms. In lambs, the disease appears in the first 2-3 months, but more often immediately after birth; calves and piglets also get sick in early age, as a rule, during the period of milk feeding or shortly after weaning. There have been cases of damage to fetuses during the period of intrauterine growth and development, which leads to abortion or the birth of weak young animals that die in the first days of life.
The disease may be acute, subacute or chronic course. Common signs diseases are weakness, depression, lying down, unsteady gait, muscle tremors, complete loss of strength, paralysis of individual parts of the body.
At acute course a disease that often occurs at a very early age, the signs of the disease are usually well expressed. Since the heart muscle is very often affected during the prenatal period, signs of cardiac dysfunction come to the fore in the acute course: rapid pulse (up to 140-200 beats per minute), weakening of heart sounds and their deafness, splitting of the first tone, and with accumulation fluid in the heart sac - splitting of the second tone and arrhythmia.
Breathing can be shallow and rapid, difficult, accompanied by
Rice. 57. Lamb affected by white muscle disease.
participation in the act of muscle respiration abdominal wall. Signs noted general weakness and losses muscle tone, and later semiparesis and paresis of the limbs and convulsions (Fig. 57). Sick animals cannot rise to their feet on their own and suckle their mothers.
Subacute course is observed in young animals aged from a week to 2 months. Signs of the disease appear more slowly. Initially, symptoms of cardiac dysfunction and damage to the skeletal muscles are also detected. At active movement within 10-15 s in young animals, cardiac activity sharply increases and arrhythmia appears.
Coherence of movements, a depressed state, ruffled coat in calves and lambs, sometimes serous discharge from the nasal cavities, lying in a half-asleep state, weakening or disappearance of appetite are noted. Disorders of the digestive organs appear (secretion of saliva, increased peristalsis, diarrhea, bloating). Breathing can also be shallow and rapid. When listening, wheezing is detected. In cases of complications of the disease (at an early age, usually bronchopneumonia, and at an older age - pneumonia, pleurisy), body temperature can be elevated to 40.5-41 ° C. With the advent muscle weakness Paresis of the limbs, more often the hind limbs, and convulsions with throwing the head up are noted. Sugar and protein are found in the urine. Fatness sharply decreases. The disease can last 15-40 days and often ends in death. Young animals that have recovered from the disease are significantly behind in growth compared to their peers.
The chronic course of white muscle disease is observed at older ages (usually older than 2-3 months). It may be a consequence and subacute course when the young animals were not provided with appropriate treatment and feeding and were in unsatisfactory living conditions. Clinical signs of the disease are also manifested by disturbances in the activity of the heart, then emaciation progresses, growth slows down, low mobility is noted, and lag behind the herd on pasture or walks (calves, piglets).
Signs of anemia are detected (pallor of the mucous membranes, decreased hemoglobin content in the blood). With preserved appetite, patients are observed to periodically show signs of increased peristalsis and digestive disorders (diarrhea, constipation).
Later, paralysis of the limbs and convulsive contractions of the muscles, especially the neck, occur. Animals are sometimes unable to rise to their hind limbs and assume a sitting dog pose.
When the disease is complicated by damage to the respiratory system, body temperature rises. Death of sick animals is possible if there is no treatment.
In farms unfavorable for white muscle disease, there are also asymptomatic cases of the disease in weakly born calves, in which in the first days of life there is only a disorder in the functioning of the digestive organs. Such cases are difficult to distinguish from dyspepsia of newborn calves, and true nature Diseases can only be established through autopsies of corpses.
Diagnosis. Take into account data on the unfavorability of the area for white muscle disease of young animals, Clinical signs, pathological changes, age of animals, season of onset of the disease and laboratory results.
White muscle disease may not occur annually and therefore it is necessary to obtain information about its past presence on the farm or surrounding farms.
When diagnosing the first cases of the disease, in the absence of pronounced clinical signs, it is necessary to carry out testing in a number of animals. functional test. To do this, the animals are forced to move quickly for 10-15 s, and then immediately after they stop, the heart is listened to, determining the degree of increase in contractions and disturbances in the rhythm of the latter.
At clinical trial Lambs can use the technique recommended by Bulgarian scientists (B. Nachev and others). The examined lamb is raised to a height of 0.5-0.7 m and released from the hands. Healthy lambs quickly rise to their feet and run away, but patients with changes in skeletal muscles cannot run after falling to the ground and remain in a supine position.
Clinical and laboratory studies take into account a decrease in the number of red blood cells in the blood, total protein (below 7.5 g%), an increase in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, a decrease in the volume of urine excreted in calves and lambs, the presence of protein, sugar, increased amounts creatine Blood and urine tests must be carried out simultaneously in healthy and sick animals and diagnostic conclusions must be drawn from a comparison of indicators.
If possible, then electrocardiography is performed (disturbances in the functions of conductivity, excitability and contractility of the heart muscles are taken into account; profound changes in the myocardium appear sinus tachycardia, atrial hypertrophy - single extrasystolic arrhythmias), radiography and fluoroscopy (sharp expansion of the heart).
Differential diagnosis. In lambs, enzootic ataxia should be excluded (with it, phenomena associated with lesions come to the fore). nervous system, there are no pathological changes in the cardiac and skeletal muscles), and also take into account the zonality of the spread of the disease.
It should also be kept in mind that pathological conditions newborns, such as antenatal malnutrition, dyspepsia due to irrational feeding and maintenance of both mothers during pregnancy and newborns, traumatic injuries with paralysis, paresis and impaired mobility, early manifestations vitamin and mineral deficiency (rickets).
Treatment. Specific treatment for young animals with white muscle disease has not been developed. The best therapeutic effect is obtained when using selenium preparations. Tocopherol preparations are also successfully used (tocopherol in oil solution, erevit and choleph in sugar solution), sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine), protein hydrolysates, trivitamin (retinol, calciferol, tocopherol).
Efficiency of application medicines is determined to a large extent by the simultaneous improvement of the living conditions of sick animals (isolation in separate rooms, provision of better zoo-hygienic living conditions, caring care, etc.), completeness and rational feeding regimen.
Sodium selenite is a drug with toxic properties; It must be stored on the same basis as group A medications and can only be used by veterinary specialists in accordance with the instructions. Mechanism therapeutic effect Selenium has not yet been fully studied. The development of white muscle disease is associated with a disorder of intracellular metabolism and the formation of fatty peroxides and their breakdown products, which have toxic properties. Selenium, as a strong antioxidant, reduces and inhibits the formation of pyroxides and thereby contributes to the normalization of metabolism. Under the influence of sodium selenite, the level of protein in the blood serum increases, the content of alpha globulins decreases, the presence of gamma globulins and albumins and the number of red blood cells increase, creatine metabolism is restored to normal, and the excretion of protein and sugar in the urine decreases.
Tocopherol is given to sick animals before feeding 3 times a day, 10-20 mg for 5-7 days. The vitamin E drug erevit is administered intramuscularly in a dose of 1 ml every other day for 6-10 days (3-5 injections).
Methionine and cysteine are injected intramuscularly in the form of a solution at a dose of 0.1-0.2 g per calf for 4 days, and protein hydrolysates are injected intramuscularly at a dose of 40-50 ml daily for 4-8 days in a row.
Prevention. Data scientific research and practical observations allow us to conclude that the occurrence of white muscle disease can be prevented by administering selenium and tocopherol preparations to pregnant animals.
Availability farm requires not only love for animals, but also complete dedication. After all, sometimes problems arise, for example, when young animals fall ill, and it is necessary to know what the symptoms of the disease are, what its treatment is and the main preventive measures. White muscle disease in newborn calves is serious danger for their life and health, which is why it is so important for an attentive owner to be able to recognize in time early signs incipient disease and begin adequate treatment.
White muscle disease appears in calves in the very first days or weeks after their birth. When this pathology occurs, a serious disruption of certain types of metabolism in the body occurs - mineral, carbohydrate, protein, lipid.
If timely treatment is not started, then in more than half of the cases it is not possible to avoid the death of young animals. In a sick animal, muscle changes are noted, to which are added dystrophy, myopathy, and serious damage to the heart muscle. Experts note the connection of this disease with the presence of calves in areas with peat, sandy and podzolic soil. The most severe forms White muscle diseases occur in young animals in winter and spring.
Thus, calves are always at risk of getting sick in milk period. The disease can occur in three main stages - acute, subacute and chronic. Duration acute period can range from a week to 10 days. It is characterized by pronounced symptoms, as well as disturbances in the functioning of the heart muscle, indigestion, general depression, and even possible paralysis of some parts of the body.
During this period, animals have characteristic cloudy eyes with serous discharge, and serous-purulent fluid flows from the nose. White muscle disease leads to the fact that the animal often spends time lying down and moves with visible effort. He has virtually no appetite, in some cases there is atony of the gastrointestinal tract, profuse salivation, teeth grinding, and the stomach may be bloated.
Due to incorrect functioning of the heart muscle, tachycardia appears and breathing becomes rapid. Feces calves have an unpleasant odor. Serious changes in the nervous system are also observed - the animal becomes lethargic, moves with its head down, shoulder blades raised, and legs spread wide apart. Later, paralysis occurs as a result of convulsions, and after this the calf almost does not get up.
White muscle disease is not characterized by an increase in body temperature. The disease can also be virtually asymptomatic, causing death in livestock in more than 60 cases out of a hundred. In subacute and chronic forms, the clinical signs are almost the same as in the acute stage, but are not very pronounced externally. Duration subacute period can last from two weeks to a month, and in the chronic form – from 50 to 60 days.
Prevention
When diagnosing a disease, a number of factors should be taken into account - data on the area in which the animals are located, pathological and clinical characteristics, age of calves, results of conducted laboratory tests, seasonality of the occurrence of white mouse.
If possible, fluoroscopy, electrocardiography, and radiography are also performed. Preventive measures to prevent the occurrence of the disease in young animals, they include the mandatory administration of a solution of sodium selenite or tocopherol to pregnant cows and newly born calves. Prophylactic doses Selevit, selferol are several times less than medicinal ones; they are also administered to animals. If you add fish oil to the diet, the animal’s need for vitamin E will become 2-3 times higher. General prevention implies the creation the right conditions housing and feeding pregnant heifers and young animals, complexes of vitamins and microelements are widely used in private practice.
Treatment
In mild cases of the disease, the prognosis for recovery is very favorable, in all other cases it is doubtful or unfavorable, even death. Selenium and vitamin E preparations are currently considered the most effective in the treatment of white muscle disease.
Sick animals must be provided comfortable conditions content, complete balanced diet, good care.
Apply sodium salt Selena - White powder sodium selenite, which is administered intravenously to animals in the form of a solution. This solution is not stored for long, so it is recommended to prepare it on the day of use. Selenium is a strong antioxidant; it reduces the formation of pyroxides, thereby normalizing the natural metabolism in the body. It is necessary to know the exact dosage, since this drug V large doses On the contrary, it may cause harm.
Its antidote is arsenic acid. In order to prevent complications, antibiotics should be used in the recommended dose along with the administration of sodium selenite. Veterinarians also prescribe vitamin E to sick calves; it usually needs to be injected under the skin three times a day. The course of treatment can be up to one week.
Such medical supplies, like “Erevit” and “Aevit”, it is recommended to inject once a day or every other day, the course lasts from a week to 10 days. Besides, good effect They also produce specific sulfur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine. Their veterinarians They are also prescribed to be injected intramuscularly; such solutions are usually prescribed to be administered several times a day.
Protein hydrolysates are also especially good during treatment. They need to be pierced every day; the course of treatment with such drugs can last about a week.
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