The relationship between certain clinical characteristics and course of disease in milk fever in dairy cows.

Recovery rate after one treatment and mortality rate in cows with clinical milk fever were related to several clinical characteristics recorded immediately prior to first treatment, namely: Appetite, mobility, demeanour, whether or not hyperhidrosis was present, pulse quality, pulse rhythm, pulse rate and rectal temperature. Furthermore, the same symptoms at second treatment and subsequent course of disease in milk fever cows which received at least two treatments were found to be related. Recovery rate after first treatment was lower in cows which had been recumbent for more than one hour before treatment than in those which had been down for a shorter period. As regards cows which received at least two treatments, the recovery rate after second treatment was higher in those which had been on their feet for a shorter or longer period between first and second treatment than in those which has been recumbent during this period.