syndactyly in a miniature herford bull calf
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Syndactyly in a miniature Herford bull calf . History. Calf born on Friday evening, posterior presentation, pulled with chains (2 men pulling) Dam: retained fetal membranes, mild fever. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
SYNDACTYLY IN A MINIATURE HERFORD
BULL CALF
History Calf born on Friday evening, posterior
presentation, pulled with chains (2 men pulling)
Dam: retained fetal membranes, mild fever.
Calf: unable to rise, no suckle reflex. Hind legs had mild abrasions from chains. Owner tube fed colostrum and milk from dam
Physical Exam Unable to rise, appeared dull but responsive Temp: 38.4, HR, mm and RR WNL, no murmur
auscultated Neuro exam: weak menace response, PLR
difficult to assess due to eyes rolling ventrally. Retraction of neck resulted in loss of motor control of head.
Syndactyly on both front feet, hind right partially fused, hind left appeared normal.
Tendons severely contracted, unable to place feet on ground.
Physical Exam
Normal Radiograph and Anatomy
Radiographs
Left front Right front
Radiographs
Right hind Left hind
Necropsy findings Coning of cerebellum
Spinal cord bleed
Syndactyly Common genetic abnormality found in many
breeds, most commonly Holstein calves More common in dairy, more severe in beef Autosomal recessive trait with incomplete
penetrance Mutation of the low density lipoprotein
receptor-related protein 4 (Lrp4 gene) Can be one foot, or multiple feet affected –
right front most commonly affected, hind left least likely
Syndactyly Problems:
Difficulty walking Usually “unthrifty” and die in first few days Unable to cope with stress and heat, get
hypothermia very easily If affected, both dam and sire may be carriers
References Barr, M. (1981). Syndactyly. Angus
Journal, 34-35. Leipold, H. W., Schmidt, G. L., Steffen, D.
J., Vestweber, G. E., & Huston, K. (1998). Hereditary Syndactyly in Angus Cattle. J Vet Diag Invest, 10, 247-254.