Foot Rot in Cattle

As you see from my last couple of stories, I’d been talking about a cow we had with foot rot, and our three ring circus atmosphere we created in catching her up to treat her, as we were all rookies to the cattle business . I thought you all might like to know what foot rot actually is, so this morning we’ll talk about this for a little while.

Foot rot, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Bacteroides melingenicus are the most common bacteria in foot rot, although now there is a feeling that another bacterial organism that could play a role in this disease as well. This is Porphromonas levii.

The term, foot rot, is the most commonly used name here in the United States. This disease occurs worldwide and the name most commonly used outside the U.S. is foul, or foul-in-the-foot. The scientific name is infectious pododermatitas, or interdigital phlegmon.

What all this means is that foot rot is caused by bacterial organisms that infect the foot area. It is found in cattle, sheep, and goats.

The most common area this is found is between the claws on the hooves, as seen in the top picture, or where the skin actually attaches to the upper part of the hoof.

It normally is first noticed by the animal showing signs of having trouble walking, followed by swelling as the disease progresses. You’ll notice as in our case, the cow while walking will put as little weight on the affected foot as possible. The limp will be highly visible as she tries to move around, as this infection is very painful.

You may also notice the cow holding up the foot in question as she stands around. Other signs, though not as noticeable right off the bat, are just plain reluctance to move around as she would normally, and seeing the animal beginning to lose weight.

Bulls infected many times will even refuse to breed, and this is all the explanation I need in regards to just how painful this must really be! LOL!!

As it progresses along, you will see that the lesion in the foot area has necrotic material, or dead tissue surrounding the edges of the wound, and the wound itself normally smells pretty rough.

In dairy cattle, they say you will notice a drop in milk production after the onset of this disease.

One thing that I found interesting in regards to foot rot is that the bacteria that cause this cannot penetrate normal skin. This simply means that unless the cow has cut, or opened a small wound around the foot area, then this disease can’t enter the body to create the infection. The bacteria can survive for up to seven days with no host.

By literally just walking around on the ranchland, the trouble can start by stepping on a small stump, or stick, palmettos slicing a small area, a rock or stone, or even stepping on an old fence staple or nail, along an old fence line.

Most times it affects only one or two cattle, but in extreme conditions can affect larger numbers. It is mainly caused during the wet season, involving very wet or muddy pastures.

The treatment is fairly simple if not let go too long, by injecting antibiotics. Today you can find many feed additives that will help control the disease, and even supply treatment for large numbers of cattle.

All ranches keep boxes out in the pastures for the cattle to go to and feed on mineral to supplement their diets with, as a free choice, or, there it is if you want it.

The cattle use these boxes much more heavily during the fall and winter months. This simply because the grass has quit growing, or frost has killed it, so the pastures themselves are supplying little to no nutritional value.

Once spring arrives in full force the cattle use the mineral boxes very sparingly, especially if you keep the pastures fertilized. At that point, most all they need is supplied simply from the grass.

We appreciate you stopping by to see us, and hope you have a great day today.

God Bless.

Dub and Deb