RETENTION OF PLACENTA IN DAIRY COWS-CAUSES TREATMENT & PREVENTION
Compiled & Edited by-DR RAJESH KUMAR SINGH ,JAMSHEDPUR,JHARKHAND, INDIA, 9431309542,rajeshsinghvet@gmail.com
A fetal membrane is an essential organ for prenatal transfer of nutrients and oxygen from the dam to the fetus . Retention of fetal membranes from 6 to 24 hours post parturition is defined as retained placenta . Retained placenta is failure of the placenta to be expelled within 12 hours post calving . It normally drops within short time post partum (within 8 hrs of parturition), if it is retained up to 12 hrs then it is called as delayed removal and if retained for more than 24 hrs of parturition then it is called as ‘Retention of placenta’ (ROP). Such retention creates a number of problems by allowing microorganisms to grow inside the uterus causing inflammation, fever, weight loss, decreased milk yield, longer calving intervals and may result in an open cow during the next year and if the infection is so bad the animal may actually die . Retained placenta may cause great economic losses to farmers as cows suffering from bacterial infection may developed and thus reduce production and reproduction . Retained placenta causes considerable economic losses in the herd due to decreased milk production, treatment cost and decreased market value of the animal and this can be a serious setback to the progress of the herd . Several trials of interventions after calving have attempted to reduce the incidence of retained placenta. For instance, Oxytocin has long been advocated to expel the placenta after delivery. Antibiotics like Penicillin or Oxytetracycline once per day for 3-5 days may decrease bacterial complication resulting from retained placenta . Most of the developing countries rely partly on traditional herbal medicine for treatment and control of animal diseases. In the rural areas where modern medicine is inaccessible to farmers, ethno veterinary medicine is often used to expel retained placenta in livestock . A number of vitamins and trace minerals are involved in the antioxidant defense system and a deficiency of any of these nutrients may depress immunity in transition cows . Thus, the principle for prevention is to optimize peripartum immune function, principally through management to encourage feed intake in the transition period. Maintenance of normal uterine physiology by good nutritional management during dry and transition periods is important to reduce the incidence of RP .
Causes of retained placenta
The problem is caused by the following factors:
Abortions and premature calvings. The birth may occur normal but the placenta may not detach itself from the uterus lining thereby causing the problem of retained afterbirth.
When the cow produces twin calves, the uterus becomes weak, causing retained afterbirth.
In cases of milk fever, the lack of muscle power can weaken the animal and reduce its ability to push out or expel the placenta.
Difficult calving may also stress the uterus after the calf has been delivered.
Dirty cattle shed may lead to early infection of the placenta that may cause inflammation and hence delay or reduced chances of placental separation and expulsion. It is important
to note that it is unnecessary to assist a calving cow before it is confirmed that the cow cannot give birth on its own.
Lack of Vitamin E or selenium deficiency may lead to reduced muscle power in the uterus during calving.
Other conditions such as poor feeding, liver flukes and copper deficiency may lead to general weakness and hence retained placenta.
Over-conditioned cows; excessive corn silage fed to dry cows (over 50% of forage dry matter intake).
Overfeeding grain to dry cows (greater than 0.5% of bodyweight).
Excessive calcium from too much legume forage fed to dry cows (over 25-30% of forage dry matter intake).
Calcium and phosphorus deficiency; inadequate supplementation for dry cows.
Excessive vitamin D (over 50,000 to 100,000 units daily).
Other factors ——–
Other potential risk factor for retention of placenta are Twins, Cow’s body weight, Calves’ Birth weight, age, parity and repeatability
Twins —
The occurrence of retained placenta in cows remained higher in twin birth than single. Similarly, twining birth is led to the high proportion of retained placenta
Cow’s body weight ———
The percentage of retained placenta increases significantly with increasing live body weight of cows due to the increment in fat adipose tissues , which may result in trapping the steroid sex hormones
Calves’ birth weight———
A significant increment of retained placental problem is happening with increasing fetal birth weight . The reason could be due to pressure of the fetus on the placenta and fetal membrane , so that the attachment between the cotyledons and the fetal membrane become stronger these consequent in occurrence of placental retention
Reproductive Impact of Retained Placenta——–
Metritis ————–
Retention of placenta and metritis are positively correlated. Cows with ROP had a significantly higher incidence of metritis than cows without ROP and also a significant difference was found between conception rates in cows with ROP and metritis . Retention of placenta results from the presence of decomposing placental tissues, which provide a favorable environment for bacterial colonization. Coliform bacteria and high concentrations of endotoxins present in lochia of cows with ROP are potent inducers of prostaglandins and cytokines, favoring development of uterine infections . Metritis result in decreased dry matter intake, and hence, multiparous cows with metritis in early lactation produce less milk than the healthy cows. This difference is greatest during the first 20 weeks of lactation
Mastitis————
Although the main economic impact of ROP seems to be decreased milk production, more days open, decreased milk volume, milk from treated cows withheld), the correlation between ROP and mastitis is controversial. However, the economic losses as a result of mastitis could be due to reduced milk production, discarded milk, reduced cow sale value, drugs and veterinary services. It is unhygienic to milk a cow with decomposing afterbirth hanging on it
Economic consequences of retained placenta————-
Losses due to infertility and low milk production———–
In dairy cows retained placenta may be the cause of serious economic losses to the farmers as cows with retained placenta may develop bacterial infection and become ill and thus reduce production. Some may even die. Milk from cows with retained placenta is unfit for human consumption and therefore cannot be sold. The fertility of dairy cows is affected when most cows in the herd suffer from retained placenta. This causes a direct loss to the farmer due to delayed calving leading to a lengthy period between births (calving intervals) and hence low milk production. The retained fatal membrane causes considerable economic loss, especially when incidence exceeds the average of 5-10% . The fertility of cows after retention of the placenta appeared to be affected. Generally, retention of placenta has great influence on productivity. For instance, retained placenta had a significant negative effect on milk yield for several weeks after calving and there is considerable milk loss as a result of difficult of calving
Delaying post-delivery service interval———
Placental retention is usually accompanied by delayed involution of the uterus , and adversely affects reproductive performance . Cows with reproductive disorders had longer intervals from calving to first service and to conception and required more services per conception and lower pregnancy rate and conception to first service . The period from parturition to the first service was longer in cows exhibiting retained placenta compared to normal ones
Reduce conception rate ———
Varies studies reported that the conception rate of cows presenting retained placenta were significantly lower compared to normally calved cows . The highest proportion of normal cows was conceived during the period from 61 to 90 days after parturition, while cows with retained placenta were conceived at more than 120 days after parturition
Longer calving interval ——–
Retention of placenta and metritis may cause prolonged calving interval and permanent infertility. Calving interval remained longer in cows revealing retained placenta as compared to normal cows . Similarly, the mean interval of calving was prolonged in the group of cows with retained placenta compared to the control group . In general, the financial losses due to retained placenta in dairy cattle existed due to increased calving interval, increased culling rate, reduced conception rate, infertility, loss of milk production, the costs of veterinary service and drugs
Treatment ———–
There are few effective treatment options for RFM, where by choices tend to be based more on tradition than evidence. A variety of methods have been used in the treatment of bovine RFM, although the efficacy of many of these treatments is questionable
Use of ecbolics and immunomodulators—-
Use of ecbolic like oxytocin helps in inducing myometrial contraction. It was evident that E. coli LPS plus oxytocin effectively reduced the uterine inflammation and infection. LPS is a potent secretagogue for a variety of inflammatory mediators and immune regulatory cytokines from endometrial cells and leukocytes . The failure to produce any systemic endotoxic responses after intrauterine infusion of E coli endotoxin confines that E coil LPS can be used safely without producing any adverse reaction in cattle
Hormones ————
The most commonly used hormone products in treating RFM are prostaglandins and oxytocin. PGF2α does not cause detachment of retained membranes, but can improve reproductive performance in the early postpartum cow due to uterokinetic effect. Oxytocin is the uterokinetic hormone of choice in the early postpartum cow and 20 IU, three to four times daily have been used for ROP . These hormones play a role in uterine contraction, and could be effective in treating RFM because of uterine atony . However, it is thought that uterine atony accounts for a very small percentage of retained placenta case and numerous studies have not supported their use as a general treatment for RFM
Antibiotics ————–
The use of antimicrobial therapy in the treatment of ROP has demonstrated conflicting results . But systemic antibiotics are believed to be beneficial in RFM cases where fever was present . Systemic antibiotics alone are just as effective as systemic antibiotics combined with intrauterine treatment . However, because of all febrile cows remain treated systemically,it is not clear whether the resolution of fever is due to the antibiotics or due to the cow’s own immune defense mechanisms
HOMEOPATHIC REMEDY——–
Caulophyllum is a homeopathic remedy that assists the dairy cow or farm animals body with strengthening the uterus during pregnancy, labour pains, if the labour has stalled and post calving with retained placenta.
Caulophyllum 200c is a largely used remedy around retained placenta.
It can also be used in a 30c to naturally encourage calving, for your late calvers.
Manual removal————-
Manual removal can result in more frequent and severe uterine infections, when compared with more conservative treatment and found that manual removal prolonged the interval from calving to 1st functioning CL by 20 days . Additionally, intrauterine pathogenic bacteria were found in 100% of cows with manually removed RFM versus 37% of untreated cows at 3 weeks postpartum, and further 37% of treated versus 12% of untreated cows at 5 weeks postpartum. While current evidence does not support manual removal as an effective treatment for RFM, it is still commonly practiced . The removal of an attached placenta causes damage to the endometrium and suppresses uterine leukocyte phagocytosis . Both of which encourage bacterial invasion
Prevention and control ————–
The control of retained placenta needs to focus on the control of causative factors like abortions, premature calving, and calving difficulties. Good control of feeding and condition during the dry period and avoiding cows becoming overfat will also reduce the incidence of retained afterbirth. The herds with a history of selenium deficiency had a high incidence of RFM, and according to their suggestion supplementation of vitamin E and selenium can help to reduce placental retention . The synthetic form of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) was found to be more effective than the natural form of vitamin E . Approaches to prevent occurrence of RFM in cattle include cow comfort, and careful nutritional management, particularly during the transition period . Due to metabolic diseases uterine immunity is impaired Thus proper nutrition in prepartum period is provided to avoid ROP and other metabolic diseases. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can impair general immunity to minimize these conditions Vitamin E and Selenium should be supplemented . Supplementation with balanced vitamin and mineral mixture in prepartum period is considered a prophylactic step to avoid fetal membrane retention. Prepartum supplementation with antioxidants, vitamin E (DL -tocopherol acetate, 1100 IU) and Se (sodium selenite, 30 mg) by single I/M injection, at 3 week prepartum, is used as a prophylactic dose to avoid placental retention in cows . The infectious diseases like brucellosis can be prevented by proper immunization against specific infection
Suggestions————–
The control of retained placenta needs to focus on the control of predisposing factors. Therefore, creation of awareness is required to farmers and other concerned stakeholder about the risk factors of RP and measures of prevention and control options.
Careful nutritional management, particularly during the transition period and good housing management should be strongly recommended.
The most important infectious diseases (like brucellosis) should be prevented through appropriate immunization against specific agent. If any cases of reproductive problems and other complications confronted in the herds, early consultation of Veterinarian should be undertaken.
Minimize stressful conditions during dry period and at calving.
Prevent milk fever.
Evaluate dry cow ration.
Provide 0.3 part per million selenium in total ration dry matter for both milking and dry cows. If the problem affects the entire herd, submit blood samples from six to 12 dry cows for calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium (glutathione peroxidase), vitamins A and E, carotene and BUN analysis.
If special supplementation is not used for dry cows, administer 50 mg of selenium and 680 units of vitamin E as an injection about three weeks before calving.
Ensure adequate vitamins A and E equivalent intake:
- Provide about 135,000 total units of vitamin A for dry cows and 150,000 for milk cows; 2,000 to 3,000 units of vitamin E for dry cows and 1,000 to 1,500 units for milk cows total daily from all sources (natural and supplemental) with 1 mg of carotene equivalent to 400 units of vitamin A.
- Provide cows with fresh forage as green- chop or pasture for at least four to six weeks each year.
If there are numerous abortions, test the herd for brucellosis, neosporosis, IBR, BVD, leptospirosis and non-specific infections.
Prevent cows from becoming over-conditioned.
Reference-On Request
