Ruminal tympany in cattle is a common disease in the rainy season, caused by cattle eating feed that are easily fermented and produce gas.
Ruminal tympany is a disease that occurs when cattle eat a lot of easily fermented feed, creating a lot of gas in the rumen, causing the volume of the rumen to increase beyond normal, compressing the organs in the abdominal cavity, reducing the liver’s ability to detoxify. At the same time, it reduces the volume of the thoracic cavity, hindering the activity of the heart and lungs, making it difficult for the animal to breathe and often dying quickly from suffocation.
The disease usually appears 2-3 hours after eating and progresses very quickly.
Image of cow farming
I. CAUSES
– Because cattle eat a lot of young grass or legumes, feed with a lot of mucus such as sweet potato leaves, young water spinach ferment and produce gas quickly, cattle do not have time to release gas, causing bloating of the rumen. Especially, in the dry season, they eat a lot of dry feed such as straw so the rumen microflora is adapted to digesting a lot of dry feed, at the beginning of the rainy season, cattle suddenly eat a lot of young grass, causing disease.
– Because cattle eat moldy feed containing toxins causes poor rumen motility.
– Overworking cattle affects the digestive process.
– Due to grazing and working in cold weather, with a lot of frost, and subsequent heatstroke, lameness, paralysis, and long-term illness, the animal cannot move and lies still in one place.
– Due to secondary causes of rumen paralysis, rumen overeating, esophageal obstruction, pharyngitis, causing animals to not belch, and peritonitis.
II. SYMPTOMS
1. Acute form
– The disease appears very quickly from 30 minutes – 1 hour after eating.
– Restless cattle.
– Left abdomen is increasingly swollen.
– Symptoms of abdominal pain: Cattle always look back at their stomach, wag their tail, arch their back, and draw their legs into their stomach.
– The left abdomen is swollen, the left hip socket is distended.
– Percussion on the left abdominal area (left hip hollow) reveals a dominant hollow sound, dull sound and slightly absent booming sound.
– If a lot of gas accumulates in the rumen, when percussion, a metallic sound can be heard.
– Auscultation of the rumen shows that rumen motility initially increases, then gradually decreases and disappears, only crackling sounds due to fermented food can be heard.
– The more severe the disease, the more obvious the animal’s stomach pain, sweating, lethargy, fear, the animal stops eating and stops chewing.
– Cattle have difficulty breathing, increased respiratory rate, spread their front legs to breathe, or stick out their tongue to breathe and the animal dies of suffocation.
– The neck veins are enlarged, the heart beats rapidly, the pulse is weak, blood pressure drops, and the animal urinates frequently.
Image of cow farming
2. Chronic form
– The disease often occurs cyclically.
– After a period of bloating, cattle recovers, but if the feed, climate, or weather changes, the disease reappears.
– The left flank is slightly distended, the disease often lasts a long time, sometimes diarrhea, sometimes constipation.
III. TREATMENT
– First, let the cattle fast, stand with their front legs raised or walk uphill so that the rumen does not compress the lungs and heart.
– Then, give the animal one of the following solutions:
+ Solution of magnesium sulfate with dose of 50-100g per head mixed with 0.5 – 1 liter of water.
+ Pickle juice: 0.5 – 1 liter.
+ Draft beer: 0.5 – 2 liters.
– At the same time, massage the rumen area to stimulate belching. You can pound ginger and soak it in straw or coarse cloth, and rub it continuously for 30-60 minutes on the left flank. Do this several times to increase rumen motility.
– Grasp the animal’s tongue and pull it rhythmically to one side several times to stimulate belching.
– A soft tube (made of rubber or soft plastic) can be inserted through the esophagus into the rumen, while pressing firmly on the left flank to let the gas escape. Remove the stool from the rectum to let the gas escape.
– Enhance rumen motility by injecting Pilocarpine (for bloat secondary to rumen paralysis); inject one of the tonics and stimulants after Butavit 100, Butasal 100 or Introvit
Image of cow farming
– If the above measures are not effective, the rumen is still distended, endangering the animal’s life, emergency treatment must be performed by trocar puncture.
– Disinfect with Iondin @ solution in the middle of the left hip socket of the animal, poke the trocar strongly through the abdominal wall, slowly pull out the core, cover the exit end of the trocar to let the air escape slowly, if the air escapes quickly, the blood pressure in the brain will suddenly decrease, the animal will go into shock and may die.
– Keep the trocar open to let all the air out, so that the animal can recover. When removing the trocar, the core must be inserted to prevent food from coming into contact with the wound and causing peritonitis.
– Intramuscular injection of one of the following antibiotics to prevent infection such as: Biogenta, Ceftionel 50.
III. PREVENT
– Do not feed cattle too much young grass or legumes, feed high in mucus such as sweet potato leaves, young water spinach, and other foods that are easily fermented or produce gas.
– When changing feed, change slowly so that cattle can adapt and avoid digestive disorders.
– When cattle suffer from rumen paralysis, overeating, esophageal obstruction, pharyngitis that prevents them from belching, peritonitis, etc., timely treatment is needed to avoid secondary ruminal bloating.
– Regularly exercise cattle, do not keep them in the barn for many days.
With the above information, we hopes to help farmers better understand the disease of bloat in cows.