Chloride and lactate as prognostic indicators of calf diarrhea from eighty-nine cases.

Importance: Deaths due to neonatal calf diarrhea are still one of the most critical problems of cattle breeding worldwide. Determining the parameters that can predict diarrhea-related deaths in calves is especially important in terms of prognosis and treatment strategies for the disease.

Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to determine mortality rates and durations, survival status, and predictive prognosis parameters based on vital signs, hematology, and blood gas analyses in neonatal diarrheic calves.

Methods: The hospital automation system retrospectively obtained data from 89 neonatal diarrheic calves.

Results: It was found that 42.7% (38/89) of the calves brought with the complaint of diarrhea died during hospitalization or after discharge. Short-term and long-term fatalities were a median of 9.25 hours and a median of 51.50 hours, respectively. When the data obtained from this study is evaluated, body temperature (°C), pH, base excess (mmol/L), and sodium bicarbonate (mmol/L) parameters were found to be lower, and hemoglobin (g/dL), hematocrit (%), lactate (mmol/L), chloride (mmol/L), sodium (mmol/L) and anion gap (mmol/L) parameters were found to be higher in dead calves compared to survivors. Accordingly, hypothermia, metabolic acidosis, and dehydration findings were seen as clinical conditions that should be considered. Logistic regression analysis showed that lactate (odds ratio, 1.429) and CI^- (odds ratio, 1.232) concentration were significant risk factors associated with death in calves with diarrhea.

Conclusions and relevance: According to the findings obtained from this study, the determination of lactate and Cl^- levels can be used as an adjunctive supplementary test in distinguishing calves with diarrhea with a good prognosis.