with hardware disease . Infection from the wire causes fluid to accumulate around the heart and prevents blood from flowing in and completely filling the heart before it pumps again , resulting in much smaller amounts of blood being moved with each beat of the heart . All the blood trying to get into the heart backs up and causes fluid buildup as well .
Another cause of heart failure is direct damage to the heart muscle . Overdoses of ionophores ( such as monensin ) or exposure to other muscle toxins ( such as gossypol or from contaminated cottonseed ) can directly damage the heart and cause it to fail . There are many more causes of congestive heart failure , including a form that happens in feedlot cattle that are genetically predisposed . The complexity of how CHF develops makes it difficult to prevent and treat .
Is there anything producers can do to prevent it or treat their cattle ?
In some cases , yes — for instance , doing a good job of putting up feed and maintaining equipment to reduce the probability of hardware disease or developing good herd health programs to minimize the risk of cattle developing respiratory disease or chronic respiratory disease . These husbandry and preventive herd health programs are key to BQA guidelines and working with your herd veterinarian to evaluate risks at the operation level is important . However , in many cases , there are no good prevention or treatment options . Treatments generally only address acute signs but do not provide long-term relief from CHF effects . Once a case of heart failure develops , the disease is not reversable or treatable , and it is considered a terminal disease . If one is diagnosed , animal welfare needs to be considered and the animal should be immediately shipped to a processor or humanely euthanized per BQA guidelines .
How can we improve genetics to minimize CHF ?
A form of heart failure in feedlot cattle has genetic links . Several research projects have demonstrated a genetic component making cattle more likely to develop heart failure at some point during the feeding period . This is both good and bad news . The good news is there are tests available to help make breeding decisions to reduce the risk of heart failure in feedlot cattle ; however , this work needs to be done at the seedstock and commercial cow-calf levels . Genetic testing of feedlot cattle to assess their risk of heart failure is possible , but there is little known about how to reduce the chances of heart failure in cattle that are at increased genetic risk for the disease .
Why is it such a concern for the industry ?
Several reports have looked at CHF occurrence over time and show a doubling of CHF every 10 years . While cattle die from
CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE ...
• Is the last stage of damage / dysfunction to the heart , lungs , and blood vessels
• May be caused by multiple ways the heart malfunctions
• Cannot be reversed or treated once the animal is diagnosed ( i . e ., is a terminal disease and a welfare concern )
• Prevention includes good husbandry , minimizing respiratory disease , and understanding genetics at cow-calf and seedstock level
• Causes substantial loss of resources if an animal dies , is euthanized , or is not used for beef
heart failure throughout the feeding period , the most painful cases are those which develop very near the end of the feeding period . Animals that develop heart failure have very compromised welfare and are essentially untreatable . Identifying these animals early , managing them separately and following BQA guidelines for handling , transporting , and marketing compromised cattle is recommended for these animals . Another important aspect of this is the substantial loss of resources including the beef that animal would have produced plus all the feed and water the animal consumed . Reducing CHF cases would improve sustainability of the cattle industry from a business and economic aspect , while mitigating animal welfare concerns from advanced stages of CHF . While there is not as much documented evidence for CHF at the cow-calf level , there are a lot of anecdotal reports from veterinarians of calves suffering from this disease before weaning . These characteristics add up to create a problem that harms cattle , causes losses for livestock producers , and is becoming more common . It is important to continue to research the multiple causes contributing to CHF and determine how our industry can minimize its impacts in the future . BQA provides prevention guidelines for herd health plans in addition to ways to improve collaboration across the industry , from producers to animal scientists to veterinarians . Resources can be found at bqa . org .
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