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- Postpartum paralysis is the result of insufficient calcium availability.
- It leads to disorders which may eventually lead to the necessity of culling animals.
- Paralysis is an extreme symptom of calcium deficiency, but there are a number of less noticeable but dangerous effects of hypocalcaemia.
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The occurrence of postpartum paralysis is directly related to the limited availability of calcium compounds in the body. The disease usually occurs at the beginning of lactation, when the use of this element increases dynamically, first for the secretion of colostrum, and later for milk. Although the cow has some calcium reserves in the body (located mainly in the skeleton), their mobilization takes time. The calcium supply is naturally supplemented by feed, but here another problem arises – in the postpartum period, its intake is often limited, which makes the calcium balance even more negative.
Age contributes to postpartum paralysis
The literature lists primarily the age of the cow as the primary risk factor for postpartum retention. As time passes, the body's ability to efficiently activate calcium reserves stored in bone tissue decreases, while the digestibility of calcium compounds present in feed decreases. Of course, nutritional errors are not without significance, not only in the period immediately preceding the occurrence of paralysis, but also in the drying phase. A limited amount of calcium in feed, an incorrect calcium to phosphorus ratio, or an incorrectly selected cation-anion balance do not allow the animal to accumulate sufficient calcium resources in the body.
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Symptoms of postpartum paralysis
In the case of extremely low calcium availability, clinical symptoms of paralysis occur. Initially, these are muscle tremors, apathy, and a weakened chewing reflex. As the disease intensifies, gait disturbances occur, to the point of the animals lying down. In severe cases, irregular breathing and increased heart rate appear.
Treatment of postpartum paralysis primarily consists of supplementing calcium ion levels through intravenous infusions. Usually, after such therapy, the cow quickly returns to form, but the problems do not end there. Such an animal is weakened, which can consequently lead to secondary injuries, which can unfortunately have fatal consequences, including the need to culle the animals.
Postpartum paralysis is the tip of the iceberg
Finally, it is worth adding that postpartum paralysis is an extreme and most easily noticeable example of calcium metabolism disorders. If in practice we observe such a problem in a herd, we can be almost certain that other animals are also exposed to a limited supply of this compound. They may not show specific clinical symptoms, but they are more susceptible to a number of other disorders such as inflammation of the mammary gland or displacement of the abomasum. In addition, subclinical calcium deficiency has a negative effect on the amount of feed consumed (which directly leads to lower lactation efficiency) or the functioning of the animals' immune system. Therefore, if there is a problem of postpartum paralysis in a herd, it means that we need to verify the nutritional strategy not of individual animals, but of the entire herd.
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