Other Claw Lesions
- Foot rot
- Heel horn erosion
- Interdigital hyperplasia (Corns)
- Toe lesions
- Vertical fissures (sand cracks)
- Horizontal fissures (thimbles)
- Axial wall fissures
- Corkscrew claw deformity
- Rear medial claw corkscrew deformity
- Deep digital sepsis
Upper Limb Lameness
- Less common than lameness due to lesions of the foot
- Poorly recorded and understood
- Once the foot has been ruled out as a cause of lameness, an examination should be made of the upper limb by a veterinarian who will provide a diagnosis and treatment plan
- Categorize lameness as:
- Joint related
- Bone related
- Nerve related
Other Claw Lesions
Foot Rot
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What causes it?
- Foot Rot is an acute or sub-acute inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues above the interdigital space
- Caused by a bacterial infection with Gram-negative anaerobes such as Fusobacterium necrophorum, Porphyromonas levii and Provotella intermedia
- Similar risk factors as for digital dermatitis; poor hygiene and trauma to the interdigital space
How do we treat it?
- Treatment requires a combination of debridement of necrotic tissue from the interdigital space and use of an effective parenteral antibiotic
- Examples of label antibiotics:
- Ceftiofur sodium at 1.1 mg/kg once a day for 3-5 days
- Oxytetracycline at 10 mg/kg daily for up to 4 days
How do we prevent it?
- Foot rot is prevented by improving hoof hygiene, use of an efficacious footbath program (as for control of digital dermatitis)
- In some countries vaccination maybe available and of some limited benefit in control otherwise use of a footbath as described is necessary
Heel Horn Erosion
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What causes it?
- Erosion of the heel horn due to housing in manure contaminated conditions
- Presents as diffuse or v-shaped grooves which may become layered
How do we treat it?
- Routine removal of loose horn at routine hoof-trimming
Corns (Interdigital Hyperplasia)
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What causes it?
- An overgrowth of skin of the dorsal interdigital space
- Associated with chronic inflammation of the interdigital skin (common with digital dermatitis infection)
- Common in confinement housed herds where cows are trimmed with a concave slope to the sole – causes stretching of the interdigital skin when the cow bears weight on a hard surface, irritating the interdigital skin
How do we treat it?
- Mild lesions may be infected with digital dermatitis and my shrink when the infection is treated
- Small lesions may shrink with the topical application of copper sulfate
- Larger corns can be surgically removed by a veterinarian under local analgesia. Always wire the claws closed to limit stretching of the interdigital skin for ~ 2 weeks post-op
How do we prevent it?
- Avoidance of trimming with sole concavity
- Control of infectious hoof diseases
Toe Lesions
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What causes it?
- Toe lesions include ulcers, necrosis, apical white line disease and digital dermatitis associated toe necrosis
- These lesions are associated with excessive sole wear on abrasive flooring surfaces and/or excessive trimming and removal of sole horn resulting in THIN SOLES which give under thumb pressure when examined
How do we treat it?
- Toe lesions are treated by the removal of loose and diseased horn and soft tissues with the application of a hoof block to the sound claw to elevate the affected claw
- Thin soles maybe treated by fitting a thin plastic block to the affected claw (ensuring that there is no exposed corium)
- Consider housing thin sole cattle close to the parlor and reducing milking frequency to no more than twice a day
How do we prevent it?
- Avoidance of over-trimming using sound hoof-trimming technique
- Avoidance of excessive hoof wear by:
- Reducing the distance walked by cows to and from the parlor by improved facility design
- Use of rubber flooring in transfer lanes to reduce wear
- Reducing the frequency of milking in high wear situations
Vertical Fissure
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What causes it?
- Result from trauma to the coronary band
- Common in grazing cattle in hot dry summers – horn quality too dry?
- Often front foot, abaxial claw
- Poor horn quality due to mineral insufficiency
- Not all fissures cause lameness!
How do we treat it?
- Remove the loose horn and thin the margins around the fissure along its length
- Apply a hoof block to the sound claw to elevate the diseased claw
Horizontal Fissure
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What causes it?
- Form due to a severe temporary interruption to horn growth (eg. metabolic disease, metritis, mastitis)
- The defect cracks when it reaches halfway down the dorsal wall and forms a ‘thimble’ – a loose horn cap which presses on the corium as the cow walks, creating pain
How do we treat it?
- Remove the loose horn exposing the sensitive corium
- Apply a hoof block to the more sound claw to elevate the most affected claw
- Manage cow on a deep bedded pack
Axial Wall Fissure
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What causes it?
- A fissure of the axial wall horn along the axial groove
- Can occur on both front and rear feet, but the rear outer claw is most commonly affected. The affected outer claw is long with a straight dorsal hoof wall and a shallow 30 degree claw angle
- Most common in grazing cattle where it is associated commonly with rough traumatic cow tracks
- Not an axial wall abscess may result from over trimming and exposure of the corium between the toes
How do we treat it?
- Removal of loose horn and functional claw trimming to balance the claws
Corkscrew Claw
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What causes it?
- Typically the rear lateral claw first reported in 1950s
- Genetic and environmental components suggested
- Not really seen in well managed dairy herds with regular hoof care suggesting genetic component is weak and maybe associated with neglect
- Lateral (outer) claw is typically overgrown with bony swelling of the abaxial coronary band
- Presents often in older cattle 3.5-5 yrs
How do we treat it?
- Expert trimming can modify the claw and return normal shape
- Flexor tendons are often ‘stretched’ so the cow continues to walk with the toe pointing upward
Rear Medial Claw Corkscrew Deformity (RMCD) or ‘Reverse Corkscrew’
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What is it?
- The corkscrew of the rear medial claw first reported late 1990s
- Not associated with overgrowth, but seen with increased wear in lactating cows
- Observed in heifers from breeding age upward in well managed herds with low rates of lameness and excellent hoof care
- Rear medial claw is corkscrewed and takes more weight than the outer claw
- Significantly alters gait of cow
- Associated with thin soles and toe ulcers in extreme cases
What causes it?
- This is an anatomical change to the claw that occurs during the heifer rearing process
- Associated with this lesion:
- Overstocking of indoor heifer rearing facilities
- Lack of feed space
- Use of headlocks
- Rough flooring in combination with sand bedding
- Limit feeding or poor feed bunk management
How do we treat it?
- Remove the dorsal hoof wall buckle – straighten out
- Shorten the medial toe to 3” along the dorsal hoof wall or match the outer claw
- Don’t trim the heel of the outer claw
- Large modeling of the axial region of the medial (larger) claw
- The sole is thin – proceed with caution!
Deep Digital Sepsis
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What causes it?
- Extremely lame cow, non-weight bearing with swelling usually off center and encircling a claw (usually the outer claw of the rear foot)
- Caused by complication of sole ulcers, white line abscesses, sole puncture, and foot rot where infection spreads to the deeper tissues of the claw including the digital cushion, distal interphalangeal joint, pedal bone and flexor tendon sheaths
How do we treat it?
- Treatment should be implemented only by a veterinarian and involves drainage of the infected area and ankylosis (fusion) of the distal interphalangeal joint
- Most cows should be euthanased with this condition on animal welfare grounds
- Severely lame cows should not be shipped for slaughter
How do we prevent it?
- Cows with deep digital sepsis represent a complete failure of the herd lameness prevention and identification program
- The presence of such a cow in the herd should trigger a full review of all lameness related procedures on the farm
Upper Limb Lameness
- Less common than lameness due to lesions of the foot
- Poorly recorded and understood
- Once the foot has been ruled out as a cause of lameness, an examination should be made of the upper limb by a veterinarian who will provide a diagnosis and treatment plan
- Categorize lameness as:
- Joint related
- Bone related
- Nerve related
Joint-related
- Stifle joint cranial cruciate rupture
- Coxofemoral luxation
- Rupture of the gastrocnemius tendon
- Rupture of the peroneus tertius tendon
- Upward fixation of the patella
- Osteochondrosis – stifle and tarsus recognized
- Septic arthritis
Bone-related
- Fractures of metacarpal, metatarsal, femur, femoral head, tibia, humerus, radius
- Osteomyelitis – bone infection
- Osteoarthritis – bone and joint infection
Nerve-related
- Peroneal (fibular) nerve paralysis
- Radial nerve paralysis
- Brachial plexus injury
- Obstetrical paralysis
- String-halt