Watch for Foot Rot
Identify and treat foot rot early to maintain herd health and durability.
Delayed corn planting and flooded pastures might not be the only problems farmers will face from the heavy spring rains throughout much of the Midwest. Moist environments also increase the chance of cattle getting foot rot, says University of Missouri (MU) Clinical Assistant Professor and Extension Veterinarian Scott Poock.
Foot rot is often caused by puncture wounds or continuous exposure to wet conditions that allow a bacterial infection to enter through the skin between the toes in cattle and other hooved animals. Fusobacterium necrophorum is the bacterium most commonly associated with foot rot. It enters through the skin and multiplies, thus taking the infection deeper into the foot and leg. Grazing cattle and feedlot cattle can acquire foot rot that requires treatment; however, producers should keep a particular eye on grazing cattle for symptoms.
"Foot rot can be found most anywhere cattle are, but [it] is most prevalent in grazed cattle," Poock says. "Likewise, foot rot would be more common in the warm weather of spring, summer and fall."
Lameness and swelling of tissues around hooves and the lower leg area are leading signs of the onset of foot rot in cattle. Luckily, many treatment measures are available when farmers identify the symptoms early.
Poock says there are several antibiotics labeled for the treatment of foot rot, including LA-200, Excenel, Nuflor, Oxytet and Naxel.
"All are effective, especially when used early in the course of the disease," Poock says. "Typically, the animal will respond and begin walking on the lame foot before the swelling will decrease."
Poock also says producers should keep cattle treated for foot rot away from moist environments, as moist areas will allow the bacteria to further access the damaged tissue.
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