Incidence of some metabolic diseases in dairy cows

The incidence of parturient paresis, nonparturient paresis, ketosis and tetany were examined from 283 herds (2,590 cows per year) over a period of eight years. These metabolic diseases made up 29.4% of the cases treated by veterinarians during the farm visits. Significant variation in annual incidences was found only in ketosis. The monthly variation in parturient paresis and ketosis differed highly significantly from the seasonal variation in calving. They were most frequent in March-April. Most of the tetany cases were diagnosed in May-June. The incidence of parturient paresis (0.095 cases per cow per year) and the incidence of ketosis (0.058) varied significantly between herds of different size. The incidence of nonparturient paresis (0.008) and tetany (0.002) did not vary significantly between herds of different size. The incidence of ketosis was significantly higher on farms with milk recording than on other farms. The type of cowshed did not affect the incidence of metabolic disease.