[Effect of leanness and emaciation on the development of intravital and post-slaughter macroscopic changes in the...

The purpose of the studies was to determine the pre-and postslaughter characteristics of the body and selected organs of cattle in relation to their degree of fatness which are important for veterinary inspection. The studies were carried out on 60 cows of the lowland black-and-white breed at about 4 years of age, divided into 4 groups according to the degree of fatness: well fed, lean, moderately emaciated and completely emaciated. It was found that: a) the preslaughter macroscopic features of the animal body does not permit to differentiate the leannes from two states of emaciation, they are important only in the postslaughter quality grading of carcasses, b) for the differentiation of fatness of cattle from the sanitary point of view only postslaughter evaluation based on the characteristics of carcass (index of beef round and loin eye area) and some organs (liver), is significant, c) for the use in veterinary inspection three states of the degree of fatness, i.e. well-feeding, leannes and emaciation are recommended.