Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Ketosis

Ketosis afflicts lactating dairy cattle of all ages, increasing during peak production years. It may occur two to three weeks prepartum to four months postpartum. Common symptoms are diminished appetite, decreased milk, nervousness, profuse salivation, unnatural gait, licking themselves, grasping hard objects and damaging mouth, becoming explosively excited and unmanageable. Clinically, animals reveal lack of alertness, eyes lack luster, rumen is hard and partially empty and noisy, feces are abnormally firm, and urine is clear, showing characteristic color responses to the Ross modification of the Rothera test. Stress factors may cause ketosis such as high production, indigestion, milk fever, partial starvation, metritis, mastitis, and ovarian cysts.