Dairy cow acidosis is very harmful if not treated promptly; how can it be prevented and treated?

    Dairy cows suffering from acidosis are all high-yielding or have a history of difficult calving, with onset occurring within 3 days after calving. This disease develops rapidly. In the early stage, the cow is depressed, has reduced appetite, muscle tremors, weakened rumen motility sounds, staggering gait, unsteady standing, and prefers to lie down. In the later stage, appetite is completely lost, rumination stops, drooling occurs, rumen motility sounds disappear, the sick cow lies down and cannot get up, passes watery thin feces with a sour odor, sometimes with blood streaks. Milk production decreases, eyeballs are sunken, and skin temperature is uneven. Body temperature is normal or slightly low, heart rate is accelerated, reaching up to 100 beats per minute, and breathing is accelerated. If treatment is not timely, it will lead to death.

Dairy cow

    Treatment

   (1) Withhold concentrate feed and restrict drinking water to prevent continued acidosis. Use an alkaline solution for gastric lavage. Insert a stomach tube through the cow's mouth into the rumen, drain the liquid contents, and use about 8000 ml of limewater (lime-to-water ratio of 1:6, using the supernatant) to repeatedly flush until the rumen becomes alkaline.

   (2) Systemic therapy to relieve acidosis. Intravenously inject 1000 ml to 1500 ml of 5% sodium bicarbonate solution. When the pH reaches 6.7, stop the injection. At the same time, intravenously inject 1000 ml of 5% glucose saline, 20 ml of 5% vitamin B1, and 40 ml of 5% vitamin C.

   (3) Symptomatic therapy to prevent secondary infection. Intramuscular injection of 10 ml of 10% caffeine sodium benzoate, or gentamicin, etc., can be used.

   (4) After 2 to 3 days of treatment, when the cow can stand or has an appetite, first give a small amount of high-quality hay to promote gastrointestinal motility, or administer 1 to 2 doses of the following Chinese herbal medicine by drenching. Angelica 50 g, Astragalus 50 g, Codonopsis 30 g, Areca seed 40 g, dried tangerine peel 30 g, Magnolia officinalis 30 g, Amomum tsao-ko 30 g, Schisandra 30 g, cardamom 30 g, malt powder 100 g, yeast tablets 60 tablets. Grind together into a fine powder, mix with boiling water, and administer when warm. Generally, it can be cured in 3 to 4 days.