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During the Soviet years, thanks to experiments and the search for the cheapest feed, the belief spread that a cow can eat almost anything. They gave the cattle cut paper instead of straw and they didn’t die. In some places they tried adding dried jellyfish to the food. Fortunately, such experiments remained at the exotic level, since tympany in cattle is a very common phenomenon. Mild forms often even go unnoticed. But if the disease has become severe, the cow needs immediate help. Otherwise the animal may die.
What is tympany
In common parlance, this phenomenon is often called “bloated cow.” The popular name is apt. Tympany is an excessive accumulation of gases in the rumen of cattle. In animals with a single-chamber stomach, this is called flatulence. Sometimes it can go away on its own, but often the animal needs help. There are 3 types of rumen swelling:
- chronic;
- primary;
- secondary.
An acute course occurs with primary and secondary forms of swelling.When treating cattle for rumen tympany, it is good to know the history of the disease, since each type has its own cause of origin.
Causes of tympany in calves and cows
The formation of gases in the stomach of cattle is normal. Cows, when chewing cud, belch gases along with food. The latter accumulate in the rumen when the act of belching is blocked. If a cattle chews cud, you can be calm: it does not have tympany.
Very often, cattle become “bloated” during a sudden transition from one type of feed to another or when a large amount of succulent feed is introduced at once. The latter is often practiced with the goal of getting as much milk as possible from a dairy cow.
Tympany in young animals
Calves often develop bloat when they are switched from milk to plant-based feed.
Since owners usually don’t fool themselves too much, this transition occurs quite abruptly. In nature, a calf can suckle its mother for up to 6 months. But there is not enough milk, so the cub consumes more and more vegetation as it grows. For a private owner who bought a 2-month-old calf, such conditions are impossible to fulfill. Even if there is a dairy cow in the farmstead, a person will not be able to constantly run around to feed the calf. Therefore, young animals are usually transferred to “adult” feed within a week. And at the same time they receive tympany.
Abrupt transfer of calves to adult food is a common cause of rumen swelling
Acute primary
An acute course of the primary type of tympany occurs if cattle receive a large amount of easily fermented feed in one feeding:
- clover;
- wiki;
- alfalfa;
- cabbage;
- tops;
- corn at the stage of milk ripeness;
- winter crops
These feeds are especially dangerous if they are fed raw, frosted or self-heated.
The primary acute form of the disease is also often caused by frozen root vegetables:
- potato;
- turnip;
- carrot;
- beet.
All of the above feeds belong to the category of dairy products, therefore they are almost mandatory included in the diet of cattle. To prevent tympany, it is necessary to monitor the quality and condition of these feeds. You should not feed moldy or rotten food. Spoiled spent grain and stillage, as products that are initially potentially prone to fermentation, are almost guaranteed to cause tympany. They can only be fed fresh.
Acute secondary
This type can occur when:
- blockage of the esophagus;
- acute infectious diseases, one of which is anthrax;
- some plant poisonings.
Secondary tympany cannot be cured without eliminating the true cause of bloating.
Chronic form
The cause of this form of tympany in cattle is other internal diseases:
- compression of the esophagus;
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, abomasum;
- traumatic reticulitis.
The chronic form of cattle can suffer for several months, but without eliminating the cause, the process will inevitably lead to the death of the animal.
Symptoms of rumen tympany in cattle
In the case of acute tympany, the process develops very quickly:
- the abdomen increases sharply;
- the left “hungry” hole begins to bulge;
- the work of the scar first weakens and then stops completely;
- the animal is anxious;
- shortness of breath appears;
- heartbeat is frequent and weak;
- cyanosis of the mucous membranes.
When you tap on the abdominal wall, a drumming sound is heard.
A type of acute form of tympany with gas formation is foamy. The released gases mix with the contents of the stomach and “lubricate” the picture. Anxiety in cattle with foamy tympany is less pronounced.
If timely assistance is provided, the prognosis is favorable.
Chronic tympany is characterized by the fact that the scar swells periodically. Often after feeding. In chronic tympany, scar swelling is less pronounced than in the acute form. The gradual exhaustion of the animal is observed. The disease can last for several months. The prognosis depends on the underlying disease.
Diagnosis of tympany
Intravital tympany is diagnosed by a cow that is swollen like a balloon. If there was a normal animal and suddenly it turned out to be “in the last month of pregnancy,” you don’t have to look for other signs: this is tympany. To be sure, you can tap your fingers on the swollen belly and listen to the booming sound, compare the sides (the left one sticks out more) and take a closer look to see if the cow is chewing cud. If the latter is not present, but everything else is there, then this is tympany.
It is unlikely that from a photo, without seeing the process in dynamics, anyone will be able to determine whether this cow is pregnant or bloated with gases
Pathological changes
If the cattle has already died from tympany, an autopsy reveals:
- blood-filled muscles in the front of the body, especially the neck and front legs;
- gas comes out of the cut scar and foamy contents pour out;
- the spleen is pale, compressed;
- the kidneys are pale, autolyzed, there are areas with a rush of blood;
- the liver is partially autolyzed, ischemic.
In other words, during tympany, the liver and kidneys are not completely preserved.
Treatment of rumen tympania in cattle
Since tympany is a fairly common occurrence in cattle, the owner’s first aid kit should contain:
- formalin, lysol or ichthyol;
- tympanol, vegetable or vaseline oil, sikaden.
These elements are kind of synonyms. You don’t need to use them all at once, but you should always have one drug from these two items at home.
Without these drugs, the prognosis for acute gas tympany is unknown. The veterinarian may not have time to get there, since treatment must begin as soon as the bloated cow is discovered:
- to weaken the fermentation process in the rumen: 10-20 g of ichthyol/10-15 ml of formalin/5-10 ml of Lysol are mixed with 1-2 liters of water and poured inside;
- to destroy foam orally: 200 ml tympanol/150-300 ml vaseline or vegetable oil/50 ml sikaden mixed with 2-5 liters of water;
- for adsorption (“precipitation”) of gases: 2-3 liters of fresh milk or 20 g of burnt magnesia.
Of the oils, Vaseline is better, since it only coats the intestinal wall from the inside, but is not absorbed by the cattle body.
To induce belching, the cattle are placed on a raised platform with their front legs and the rumen is massaged with a fist. You can also try:
- rhythmically extend your tongue with your hand;
- irritate the velum;
- pour cold water over the left iliac vein;
- bridle a cow with a thick rope;
- slowly guide the animal up the hill.
There is also a rather funny “folk method” from the category of “magic”: cover the cow’s eyes with the mistress’s nightgown and lead her (the cow, but it is possible together with the mistress) through the threshold of the barn. The threshold must be high. There is a rational grain here: when crossing the threshold, the cow is forced to strain her abdominal muscles, and this contributes to the appearance of belching. And if the cattle close their eyes, the animal becomes much calmer. With tympany, this is important, since often the cow is very irritated due to pain. So any suitable rag can serve as a shirt.In the 19th century, if tympany appeared in the middle of the night, they threw whatever was at hand over the head of the cattle, hence the shirt.
It's good to have a suitable slide
All these activities are carried out before the veterinarian arrives. If by that time the tympany has not gone away or it turns out to be a severe form of the disease, the cattle rumen is probed, releasing gases. Using the same probe, the stomach is washed with a solution of potassium permanganate in a ratio of 1:10,000. The second option for releasing gases from the scar: puncture with a trocar.
If foam has formed in the stomach, the puncture will be of no use: only a small amount of foam can come out through the trocar sleeve. In this case, the rumen is washed with a probe, and the cattle are given oral foam-breaking drugs and belching agents.
During the recovery period, cattle are kept on a limited diet.
Preventive actions
Prevention of tympany is “standard.” The same recommendations can be found for almost any gastrointestinal disease:
- providing cattle with good quality feed;
- limiting those types of feed that can cause fermentation in the stomach;
- a ban on cattle grazing on wet leguminous grasses: clover, alfalfa, peas and others;
- gradual transfer to grazing with rich grass, especially after the winter period. At first, it is advisable to feed hay before pasture;
- timely anthrax vaccinations;
- instructing cattlemen and shepherds on measures to prevent tympania.
The latter, however, is not feasible for private farms. Either the owner knows, or no matter how you instruct the hired shepherd, he will not help.
In the West, tympania is increasingly being prevented by implanting a special ring with a lid into the side of the cow. Even in severe cases of tympany, anyone can cope with the problem: it is enough to open a hole in the side of the cattle so that the gases come out. Through the same hole you can get rid of fermented food.
In the end, it’s good for everyone: the cow doesn’t have tympany, the owner doesn’t need to call the veterinarian
Conclusion
Tympany in cattle can cause a lot of trouble for the owner, primarily due to the large size of the animal. With small cattle everything is easier, since they can be “taken into the arms” by raising them on their hind legs by their front legs. In cattle, it is better to prevent tympany than to later eliminate the consequences of improper nutrition of the animal.
