Das geht auf den Magen?

That upsets your stomach?

How it itches! Atopic dermatitis and its treatment Reading That upsets your stomach? 6 minutes
By Jonathan Jacob
Share

"You have to come over, I have to show you something" - when a vet says that, of course we are already on our way! When we arrive in front of a calf barn in Bavaria, Dr. med. vet. Josef Beisl, M. Sc., is already there - his own practice is only a few kilometers away. And then he pulls something out of his car - a large paper bag that looks very familiar to us.

Infobox: Crash course in bovine anatomy

Cattle – or rather ruminants, because cattle belong to this suborder – have a stomach that is divided into four chambers. They are called the reticulum, rumen, abomasum and omasum.

In young cattle, the stomach does not yet function fully as it does in adults. When they start eating solid food, the rumination process begins, which then takes place primarily in the rumen. In young animals, the rumen is not yet fully developed, and the abomasum is particularly active - because it is responsible for digesting the fat and protein in the milk.

Ulcers in the abomasum are particularly common in calves. The causes of this are not fully understood, but factors that promote these ulcers are: stress (for example, due to changing stables, transport or dehorning), too much milk at once (especially if the calves do not drink from their mother, but only drink large amounts once or twice a day) or switching from milk to solid food too quickly. Treatment is made particularly difficult by the fact that the ulcers are only really noticeable when they are already bleeding. Then even the vet can no longer help.

But first we go to the stable. Xaver Eder, the farm manager here, is also there and leads us into the compartment next to the large stable where his 70 Fleckvieh cattle are kept. And here we see what Beisl has just taken out of the car: a pack of VomiSan... for horses? So Mr. Beisl, what are you and VomiSan doing here? "The first thing you need to know: 80 percent of fattening calves have abomasal ulcers," the vet begins. "From this we can conclude that a large proportion of calves that are used for further fattening also suffer from this problem." The animals we see here are not very young - they were born in another stable and then came together here. The abomasum is one of the four stomach chambers of a cow, and ulcers here often go undetected - until they break through. Then the vet can no longer help. With such a high number of animals having such an ulcer, it is a real problem for farmers.

There is a situation that is particularly critical for calves - the so-called transfer. The calves are moved from different stables to a new one, which is an extremely stressful situation for them: the weighing, the change of location and the new stable, the other calves, everything is new and unfamiliar. A phase during and after which the vet is particularly in demand. "During this time, a particularly high number of abomasal ulcers develop due to the stress," says Beisl. If an animal is particularly conspicuous here, the vet immediately resorts to feed supplements. "We were already using VomiSan as a stomach protector for horses when I had the idea that we could also use it for abomasal ulcers, after all, the indications are exactly right for the product. And it convinced both me and the farm managers - it works very well and is still relatively inexpensive." Even if every calf were given VomiSan without showing any symptoms, it would still be cheaper than having some that die from perforated ulcers. In addition, it is of course practical that they do not have to wait for milking or slaughtering, explains Beisl.
That's why almost all of the farms that Beisl looks after now have a can of VomiSan on hand. "If a calf shows signs of illness, the farm manager can soak some of it and feed it a few hours later so that it is easier for the calves to take in than the pellets," explains the vet. In particularly acute cases, however, the medication can also be given without soaking. "I also have one or two farms that now feed VomiSan to all calves as a preventative measure because they have had such good experiences and otherwise struggle with ulcers." He also gives VomiSan as a preventative measure when he has to administer painkillers to protect the stomach.
In addition to feed supplements, the vet also uses other methods to prevent stress and promote the health of the cattle. He has discovered that electrolyte solution, which is available to the calves on the first night in the new barn, helps them overcome the stress situation more quickly and accept milk better the next day.
He repeatedly discusses such options with farm managers. In the end, says Beisl, many factors are responsible for a healthy calf. Working with farm animals is important to him - keeping them healthy and working with farmers and farm managers to improve conditions is a matter close to his heart. "People are really open to trying new things," he explains. "When they try things and they work, they keep them," says Beisl. That was the case with VomiSan. The vet now wants even more farmers and their animals to be able to benefit from it.

Continue reading

Wie das juckt! Atopische Dermatitis und ihre Behandlung

How it itches! Atopic dermatitis and its treatment