Clinico-epidemiological study of bovine forestomach disorders

Introduction

The bovine fore stomach includes rumen, reticulum and Omasum (Radostits et al., (2006) [11] . They play a very crucial role in the production losses of bovines. These disorders are characterized by similar set of clinical signs such as repeated bloat, anorexia, decrease in milk yield, dullness and depression which makes them difficult to differentiate from each other (Sharma et al., 2015) [17] . These conditions primarily arise from the consumption of foreign objects. Non-digestible materials such as plastic, leather, or ropes can lead to blockages (Priyanka and Dey, 2018) [10] , while sharp metallic objects can result in inflammatory conditions of the reticulum and peritoneum. Factors that play role in ingesting these foreign bodies include indiscriminate feeding behavior, mineral deficiency diseases, improper management techniques and urbanization (Semieka, 2010) [16] . In the times of fodder scarcity feeding of dry feeds like hay and machine made wheat straw may lead to development of rumeno-omasal impactions (Hussain et al., 2013) [7] . Development of rumen fistula may be due to traumatic injuries (Abate et al., 2021) [1] and ventral herniation of rumen can be due to blunt injuries or progressive weakening of abdominal muscles. Forestomach disorders pose huge losses to dairy farmers such as production losses, economic losses and death of animals. Therefore, diagnosing and managing these disorders in early stages becomes prime importance. The present study was aimed to know the retrospective status of forestomach disorders and their influence on different factors.

Materials and Methods

The present retrospective study was carried out based on 11,047 bovines presented at the Veterinary Clinical Complex, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Kamdhenu University, Junagadh, Gujarat, India during the period of three years (January 2021-December 2023). Out of them, 2279 (20.63%) were suffering from different surgical diseases, of which 239 (2.16%) animals were diagnosed with different forestomach disorders. These confirmed cases were further analyzed based on age (up to 5, 6-10, 11-15 and 16-20 years), breed (Jaffarabadi, non-descript buffalo, Gir, non-descript cattle, Kankrej and HF cattle), sex (male and female) and types of forestomach disorders were recorded.

Results and Discussion

Age-wise distribution of affected animals

In the present study, higher number of cases were recorded in the age group of 6 to 10 years (60.66%), followed by up to 5 years (26.77%), 11 to 15 years (10.87%) and 16 to 20 years (1.67%), (Table 1). Higher frequency of the cases in the age group of 6 to 10 years may be attributed to the pregnancy and parturition of the animals. Descent of gravid uterus into the abdomen and its increasing size pushes rumen and reticulum which favours the penetration of foreign bodies into wall of reticulum (Sharma et al., 2015) [17] . Bouts of parturition increases the intraabdominal pressure thereby producing more pressure on the internal organs and diaphragm leading to penetration of foreign bodies which subsequently tear of diaphragm (Singh, 2002) [18] . Deficiency of calcium and phosphorus due to high milk production predisposes for pica (Ghurashi et al., 2009) [6] . Similar findings were observed by Aref and Abdel-Hakiem (2013) [4] in a study of sharp foreign body syndrome; Hussain et al. (2013) [7] in cases of omasal impaction; Al-Abbadi et al. (2014) [2] in hardware disease, Rajput et al.

(2018) in foreign body syndrome and Madan et al. (2018) [9] in traumatic reticuloperitonitis cases.

Sex-wise distribution of affected animals

During the present study, females (89.53%) were more affected as compared to males (10.46%), (Table 2). It may be attributable to the fact that, rearing of female animals is more as compared to males. Females are reared in abundance for milk production while very low number of males are kept either for breeding or agricultural purposes. Similar findings were observed by Sharma et al. (2015) [17] and Lakhpati et al.

(2019) [8] in their studies.

Breed-wise distribution of affected animals

In the present study, breed-wise distribution showed higher incidence in buffaloes than cattle. Incidence was highest in Jaffarabadi buffaloes (43.09%) followed by non-descript buffaloes (21.75%), Gir cattle (20.50%), non-descript cattle (8.78%), Kankrej cattle (5.43%) and Holstein Friesian cattle (0.41%) (Table 3). Buffaloes are more affected as compared to cattle, due to their pronounced indiscriminate feeding behavior than cattle. Similar findings were noticed by Ramprabhu et al. (2003) [13] ; Anwar et al. (2013) [3] Sharma et al. (2015) [17] . In the present study, breeds like Jaffarabadi, Gir and Kankrej were more affected due to their higher population in the native region of Saurashtra. Jaffarabadi and Gir are used extensively in this area for milk production and Kankrej mainly for agricultural purposes.

Type of forestomach disorders (Figure 1 to 6)

In the present study, higher incidence of traumatic reticuloperitonitis was observed which was followed by diaphragmatic hernia, traumatic reticulopericarditis, rumen impaction, traumatic reticulitis, omasal impaction, reticular abscess, rumen fistula and rumen hernia. Higher incidence of traumatic reticuloperitonitis (TRP) can be due to their earlier presentation of the suffering animals which if not treated may develop as diaphragmatic hernia or traumatic reticulopericarditis. Diaphragmatic hernia is commonly observed in buffaloes (Saini et al., 2001) [15] but also rarely reported in pure and cross bred cattle (Saini et al., 2007) [14] . Incidence of impaction of rumen and omasum increase with the age (Sharma et al., 2015) [17] and reticular abscess is also a complication of TRP or foreign body syndrome (Athar et al., 2010) [5] which occurs due to contamination by anaerobic microorganisms. Incidence of rumen fistula is less among animals but occurrence of rumen hernia is rare.

Conclusion

The present retrospective study highlights that forestomach disorders remain a major cause of clinical and economic losses in bovines, with the highest incidence occurring in animals aged 6-10 years, particularly females, due to their physiological stress from pregnancy, parturition and high milk yield. Buffaloes, especially Jaffarabadi, were more frequently affected than cattle, mainly because of their indiscriminate feeding behavior. Among all disorders, traumatic reticuloperitonitis was most common, followed by diaphragmatic hernia, traumatic reticulopericarditis, and rumen impaction, indicating the continued risk posed by foreign body ingestion and feeding-related complications.

Early diagnosis and timely management are therefore essential to prevent complications, reduce mortality, and minimize production losses in dairy herds.

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