SURGICAL TREATMENT OF ANOMALOUS MILK SUCKING IN FRIESIANS DAIRY CATTLE

Document Type : Research article

Author

Dept. of Surgery, Fac. Vet. Med., Zagazig Univ. (Benha Branch)

Abstract

Anomalous milk inter-sucking, galactophagia, was observed in 20 cows out of 1200 ones in Shubra Shehab Dairy Farm at Kalubia Governorate; moreover, self sucking was also noticed even after the isolation of the Cows showing this maladaptive behaviour. Despite several trials of isolation and application of bull rings with spikes, the problem persisted and there was a great fear from spreading of this anomalous behaviour by imitation from the other cows through out the farm. Surgical interference was decided and performed via three different techniques; Sublingual mucosal resection (10 cases), Partial glossectomy (5 cases), and a new modified full thickness partial glossectomy technique (5 cases). The time
of the first Post-operative food prehension and the post-operative complications were recorded for each technique. The modified partial glossectomy technique was found to have the lowest risk of suture disruption and post-operative complications when it was compared to the partial glossectomy and sublingual mucosal resection techniques. Furthermore, the rapid healing process of the operated wounds minimizes the chances of infection; in addition to allowing the operated animals to consume their normal amount of food as soon as possible, and their rabid return to normal productivity.

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