Ketosis and MF Quick Facts

[Janene]

Since everyone seems to be getting these two mixed up, here's what is going on (mostly from the Merck Vet Manual):

Ketosis--(Acetonemia)--is a Metabolic disease of lactating cows occurring within a few days to a few weeks after calving.
It is characterized by either lethargy or high excitability, loss of weight, depressed milk production and occasionally in-coordination.
Any factor that causes a reduction in the intake or absorption of dietary carbohydrate precourses can cause primary ketosis.
There is an acetone odor on the breath (and the milk sometimes as well).

In 'layman's terms':
Its a Glucose drain to meet lactation requirements.
Give an IV of glucose and Propylene Glycol orally for starters.
The cow needs extra carbohydrates (grass hay and things like corn)
There is also a Protein excess going on (lots of Alfalfa, lots of high protein feed/supplements).

Milk Fever--(Parturient Paresis in Cows)--is an Afebrile disease, commonly at or soon after calving, manifested by circulatory collapse, generalized paresis and lost consciousness.
Early in the onset, the cow may exhibit some unsteadiness as she walks. More frequently the cow if found lying on her sternum with her head displaced to one side, causing a kink in the neck, or turned into the flank. The eyes are dull and staring and the pupils dilated. Anorexia is complete the muzzle tend to be dry and the extremities are cool.
If treatment is delayed, the dullness leads to coma, getting deeper, leading to death.

In 'layman's terms':
They are low in Calcium and Phosphorus intake.
The Calcium & Phosphorus in (her) reserves in relation to bodyweight are depleted.
Calcium/Magnesium/Dextrose/Phosphorus/Glucose (lactated ringers) is given either by an IV or SubQ. Orally a CMPK (Calcium type) paste should be given.
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Always question everything she eats!
Is the water high in calcium? (Ours is! Fun-fun cleaning faucets!)
Is the hay low in magnesium (or other minerals) or have an excess of something?
Same with the grains!

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From Joann in the TOK:
Ketosis can occur at any time following stress but its favorite time to show up is following milk fever.

The first and most obvious signs of ketosis are dull attitude (but occasionally there is agitation), loss of appetite for grain and a fruity or acetone smelling breath.

Ketosis is a condition where metabolism has switched from dependence on immediate calories from diet to burning fat as an energy source.

The initial period in the Atkins Diet has you do this with a deliberate fast so as to get your body burning calories from stored fat instead of burning carb calories (which are available only from diet)

However, we do not want out cows doing this! The stress of milk fever causes a cow to stop eating. When she stops eating her rumen bacteria do a big die-off. If the rumen bacteria are dead then the food the cow eats cannot be digested and she is vaulted into a de facto fast. The odd smelling breath is due to ketone bodies circulating in the bloodstream and is characteristic of any fasting creature.

So you want to get her back onto those energy producing carbs. A sugary carb solution such as molasses water does not require digestion by bacteria. Get enough of that into her and she will usually switch off of fat metabolism and back onto carb metabolism. Other things that are sweet such as apples are also a good thing to offer.

You may have to keep tempting your cow with sweet tidbits for some days. She is not recovered until her rumen bacteria have repopulated. In the Old Days people used to swipe a cud from another cow and put it into her mouth to jumpstart the rumen. We now have various meds and probiotics.

Read more: familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ketosis&action=display&thread=34772#ixzz1BuLc6b7d
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This is a quick starter-factoid, to get y'all started to figure out which is which.
There are also problems like Tetany and DA or Hardware that sometimes mimic other issues as well.

And yes, we are not Vets (tho some are on here). So take our advice without calling a vet at your own risk. While we try our best to help, its hard to do sometimes via cyberspace.
I am a big fan of knowing the basic issues milk cows can have (and if you haven't noticed), will drill it into your heads every chance I get. Why?? Because if you know what the symptoms are, you already have a good answer for (quick) treatment.
Janene

[pipergrey93]

Thanks janene - this is very helpful. I knew I had read/heard somewhere about ketosis following on the heals of MF....Sandy

[marinajade]

Yup, great thread, thank you!

For the record, I was/am totally clear on the physiological differences between the two. And my cow was laying with her head twisted to the side, like a calf....and she responded to the calcium paste really well. I have a feeling in Dolly's particular case it's ketosis following milk fever.

I know the pros test all their forage for minerals, is that prohibitively expensive for the rest of us?

[AnnB (NE)]

Jan 24, 2011 8:02:49 GMT -5 marinajade said:

I know the pros test all their forage for minerals, is that prohibitively expensive for the rest of us?

My feed mill will send in a forage analysis, for free, 3 times a year, for their customers that are having feed custom milled -- more than that and they charge $10 each.

If your local feed mill doesn't do it, then contact your County Extension Office, they'll should have the information.

Ann B

[AnnB (NE)]

One thing to add -- Ketosis doesn't always present in the few days to few weeks after calving. Ketosis can come on ANY time a cow starts to break down body fat. Cold weather is a big pre-disposing factor that tends to be overlooked -- the cow can require 2-3 times as much food just to stay warm in cold weather,

Ann B

[Selden]

Yes. Katika's bout with ketosis was in 2008. She calved in January and her ketosis showed up at the beginning of April, in a very cold snap on the heels of a long, cold winter.

[marinajade]

Thanks for the info, Ann, I will look into forage testing locally.

Yes, animals require more food when it's cold. I have a feeling winters are warmer here than a lot of places (it never ever dips below 10 degrees, and it's rare that it gets even below 20), and it's been unseasonably warm for the last week, like 40s at night and 60s-70s in the day. A strange and warm mid-winter high pressure system that's supposed to last at least another week. We're actually all kind of worried about the trees thinking it's spring.

[pipergrey93]

Good point Ann. Eunice's first mild bout with ketosis was during her dry period. I had cut out her grain just as the weather started turning cold......Sandy

[sherrye]

thank you so much for a great explanation of this. i want to say first my disclaimer.lol this is my experiance. i have a medical condition. porphyria... i am missing dna enzymes in my liver. so the goal of dr.s and myself is to keep me out of ketosis. i live mostly on whole grains and sugars. no i am not fat, i eat real food and tons of sugar. i believe i know what it feels like for the cow. i did adkins once years ago. turned the sticks purple, put me in hospital. porphyria is rare. i was not diagnosed till the 90,s my point is it hurts like hell, my stomach was a rock, could not digest food. when i take an ambulance ride, the first thing i get is SUGAR. not only are they cooling the porphyrins with glucose, they are turning my ketone off. now this is simplistic for a very complicated action. again the point is the hurting is EVERYWHERE. so the cow has to be in a lot of pain is my thought. first i get sugar which by the way lowers mt blood pressure at same time. then pain med. then HARD CORE GLUCOSE> they main line about a cup or so of thick white glucose into my vein. i am so ketotic i am almost out. i feel the sugar go in my vein and feel it IMMEDIATELY> i can feel super tight muscles and insides let go. it still hurts> then as the sugar goes through my blood i can feel it. within a hour i can talk. within a few hours i can pee a few hours later and i can go home. all it took to save my life for real was tons of glucose. so my question is ARE WE GIVING ENOUGH SUGAR FAST ENOUGH? i just bought the livestock molasses for the first time. I HAte it. I AM ALSO SEVERLY ANEMIC. IN THE REAL DEAL MOLASSES UNSULPHERED i can taste the sugars and the iron big time with just a touch. the livestock molasses tastes bitter to me and no cast iron pan taste. i think its junk. so my thought is, i can drink syrup or eat candy and ward of a ketosis attack. maybe in the fight we are still not getting enough pure glucose down the cow soon enough and long enough. i come home from hospitol and stay on a high refined carb diet for over a week to 10 days before i am out of the woods. they also must get the pain part in control for the body to calm. just a thought or more. just an opinion. we all have them. the pain part must be horrible for a cow. they give me fentinol.sp. i hate drugs but when i am in e.r. i do it. sincerely wanting to help. sherrye

[sherrye]

so now i go back and read what i wrote. i hope i never stepped on anyones thoughts here. it was and is just simply my thought. if i affended anyone or atepped onto 911 when not appropriate i am sorry. sherrye

[pipergrey93]

Not at all Sherrye - I think that's very interesting. It also makes a lot of sense. Sandy

[Selden]

I love this board. "Do you drool?" LOL

Sherrye, I thought your post was extremely interesting also. Thank you! The thought of ketosis being painful definitely rang a bell, because when Katika had ketosis she hunched up looking in pain and for a day or two we thought she had hardware disease.

[pipergrey93]

Gosh guys -I'm so crazy. Just pretend I never asked that question. I swear I have no business running around loose or online!!! Sandy

[sherrye]

oh sandy i drool over candy cheese cake and ice cream. LOL so usually i am off water and food a long time. i have been known to drool, a wet pillow is an awful thing. seldon every muscle in me is aching when i am ketotic. it also has a burning feeling to it. when the sugar goes in its like a fire being put out. so i try my best to not get that way for sure. i can tell since i get sore and achey first. then off food and so on. so sugar is my friend LOL happy days sherrye

[kcjerseys]

Just a note to add to this...
Calcium is not the only thing you should be looking for in feed as a cause for milk fever. While you should feed low calcium so the cow continues to produce her own, potassium is also linked to the amount of calcium produced, so make sure feed is low potassium as well. Sometimes diets high in sodium will also shut down calcium production, so when a cow calves, all her stored calcium is used and hasn't been producing more.
Hope this helps!

[pipergrey93]

I didn't realize that calcium in feed can lead to MF. I understand that during the dry period, many pull feed so that a cow does indeed get less calcium during this time. Are you talking about calcium in feed any time causing milk fever. Please explain further if you don't mind - I am trying to learn everything I possibly can about both MF and ketosis. Thanks, Sandy

[richard olson]

i was at a farm this afternoon ,the vet was there doing a displaced abomazum[da] on a cow .the cow had been dealing with ketosis for several days.

[AnnB (NE)]

Feb 4, 2011 17:12:09 GMT -5 kcjerseys said:

While you should feed low calcium so the cow continues to produce her own,

HUH?

A cow doesn't PRODUCE her own calcium! On a low calcium diet, she pulls calcium from her bone reserves. To have reserves in her bones, she has to have consumed the calcium at some point.

Low calcium diets cause as many cases of MF as they prevent. If the cow doesn't have adequte calcium reserves to pull from, a low calcium diet during her dry period sets her up for full-blown MF at calving.

The key with MF is BALANCE -- the Calcium intake has to be balanced with Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Potassium. If the balance is wrong, you have Milk Fever.

Ann B

[pipergrey93]

Whewww! Thanks Ann. That's exactly how I was understanding the research papers I have been reading, although you just put it into much more 'easy to understand' terms. Some of these papers make my eyes glaze over!

And 'balance is everything' with these cows is the over-riding theme in all the stuff I'm studying. The big debate seems to be exactly what the optimum balance should be, i.e., what is the best ratio of calcium to magnesium. This is where I keep getting frustrated b/c I know whatever the correct answer is, it is IMPORTANT. Sandy

[Joann]

Even after getting a grasp on the metabolic explanation you still have the problem of choosing the right feed and this can be ultimately a matter of guess work and faith. Getting those minerals Ann mentions into balance is something of a math problem. But also you can't totally trust the component charts that state the mineral content of feeds because plants are inconsistent. Just make a rough attempt. And don't overlook vitamin D. It is critical to Ca management. I consider it best policy to restrick Ca during the last 2 weeks pre partum to tone Ca metabolism.

You have a big advantage if the cow is on good pasture. She will then do a lot of her own "balancing". And good pasture will usually also mean plenty of sunshine for vitamin D. It is also available as a supplement or shot.

Jerseys are more prone to milk fever than other breeds because they give more milk per pound of cow resulting in greater demand for all nutrients. A meatier cow such as Milking Shorthorn is less likely to get MF.
But MF can occur in any newly freshened mammal.

Joann