Intraruminal selenium pellet for control of nutritional muscular dystrophy in cattle

Administration of an intraruminal selenium pellet to a herd of pregnant crossbred cows was evaluated for controlling nutritional muscular dystrophy in an area of northern Ontario with numerous losses of calves. Cows were winter-fed grass silage. Each spring cows and calves went to pasture. A single dose of intraruminal selenium pellet was given to 80 cows during last 3 mo of pregnancy the 1st yr only while the remaining 80 were controls. During 3 consecutive years, efficacy of intraruminal selenium pellet was evaluated by selenium status of recipient cows and their offspring as well by the incidence of nutritional muscular dystrophy. Selenium in plasma, as well as glutathione peroxidase in whole blood, in the cows administered intraruminal selenium pellet, were higher than in the deficient controls. Ten months after intraruminal selenium pellet treatment, selenium in tissues was higher in treated than in untreated cows but within normal ranges. Before cows were turned out to pasture the 1st yr, milk selenium of intraruminal selenium pellet cows were higher than controls. This technique of selenium dosing was effective in raising the selenium status of the progeny. There was no evidence of nutritional muscular dystrophy in calves from selenium-dosed cows, while 15 calves born of the untreated cows showed clinical symptoms of nutritional muscular dystrophy.