Milverton-Wellesley Veterinary Services

In this article, we are going to present a medical case that highlights the importance of a stethoscope in diagnosing digestive disorders in dairy cattle.

While older calves can still be affected by all the causative agents that affect newborn and younger calves, such as E coli, Rota and Corona virus, Clostridium, and even Cryptosporidium, calves that are older are typically less susceptible to clinical disease from these pathogens.

Recent studies in Canada show that between 19-27% of calves can have an enlarged or abnormal umbilicus (navel). It is important to have a navel care protocol for both replacement heifer calves and bull calves that you plan to sell.

Recently, there was a tragic case where a couple of dogs chewed on a plastic Kexxtone bolus that had been regurgitated from a cow on a farm. Sadly, the result was fatal.

During parturition or calving, the umbilical cord separates from the fetus due to contraction of the smooth muscle around the umbilicus, which then exposes the umbilical structures to the external environment after calving. This exposure can allow environmental pathogens like Streptococcus species and E coli to enter the umbilical cord, causing infection.

Reproductive efficiency is an important factor for successful and profitable dairy herds. In the last twenty years, sexed-sorted semen has become a popular tool for producers to increase the rate of genetic progress, manage heifer inventory, and allow for expanded use of beef semen in their herd.

With the introduction of the new Dairy Code of Practice, paired housing of calves is going to be a requirement for all dairy farmers in the future (likely January 2033). This has been a hot topic with various opinions on how feasible or beneficial this change will be. 

Reproductive performance is one of the most significant drivers of profitability in dairy herds. Recent research continues to highlight the hidden economic drain of purulent vaginal discharge (PVD), a common postpartum uterine disorder, and its financial impact within just one lactation cycle.

We are soon going to be getting into beef calving season, and with the extra cold temperatures we have been experiencing this winter, it may be harder to get calves active after birth. Here are a few tips to keep in mind this season – including a surprising boost you can get at the gas station!

Milking routine is something that is tried and true on most farms. There may be small things that are making a larger impact on your milk quality as cows produce more milk and the system become more stressed.

Now there is an exciting new combination product called Bovilis Nasalgen 3 PMH. This product combines both the viral components of Inforce 3, and the bacterial components in Once PMH, into one convenient product.

Vaccines play a key role in preventing costly diseases like pneumonia. However, vaccines must be used, handled, and stored correctly to ensure their effectiveness.

...with damp weather and fluctuating temperatures calves and cows have been struggling so an overview of the available drugs and vaccines seems prudent.

Milk quality has been a hot topic lately. Learn more about the five main points of mastitis control.

As many of you have experienced over the years, fluctuating cool temperatures brings on an increase in stress level and disease in young calves.  Pneumonia cases in particular are common this time of year...

Each cow in your herd that freshens, experiences numerous physiological changes in her body. Having a plan for managing these changes are important for your bottom line because they can impact your cow’s risk of developing certain diseases such as ketosis, metritis, mastitis and LDA.

Two of the most common and challenging health issues faced by young calves are pneumonia and scours (diarrhea). As we turn the page into 2026 and winter has finally seemed to arrive, we are starting to see more scours and pneumonia in our herds, both in calves, but also some pneumonia in mature cows as well. In this newsletter, we’ll review some of the key information on pneumonia, some of which

As the weather is starting to warm up, we are starting to see flies in the barns and now is the time to think about fly control...

We are experiencing extensive backorders on products, including Vitamaster and Newcells – two commonly used products for ketotic or off-feed cows. We have stocked vitamin B12 for a few years now, but thought it would be a good idea to go over the benefits of using B12, especially when other similar products are not available. Vitamin B12 plays a role in gluconeogenesis – or the production of glucose by the liver. This can be important to help correct negative energy balance

A December 2020 study in the Journal of Dairy Science set out to determine how much effect the addition of dextrose IV has in treating...