Pneumonia in January!

January is not a typical month that we see pneumonia in cattle.  Temperatures stabilize and are more consistent.  Consistently cold!  Spring and fall seasons bring the broad temperature fluctuations that stress cattle.  So these 50 degree temps we have seen the last few days are more fall and spring like than what is normally experienced in January.

Was at a feedlot operation yesterday pregchecking heifers to see if they were going to the feedlot or to the stocker pool and the producer mentioned some cow deaths.  He had purchased cull cows 10 days prior and was going to fatten them up.  One had died over night and the other had died an hour prior to my arrival.

The first animal I necropsied it was apparent without opening up the animal that if died of pneumonia.  It had diffuse subcutaneous emphysema and large amount of bloody discharge coming from it's nose.  It had died in this curtained barn that was curtained and densely populated with colored cattle with winter coats.

The second animal on visual exam looked normal.  As I opened the chest cavity, large amounts of fluid exited between the ribs.   The lungs were hyperemic (severe redness) and the ventral lobes were covered in greenish fibrinous material.  The lungs had not adhered to the ribs and I estimated the pneumonia to be about 5 days old.

These animals probably died because of a perfect storm of warm weather conditions, overstocking, poor housing, and travelling from one location to another within the last 10 days.  In hindsight, these animals may have benefited from metaphylactic treatment with an injectable antibiotic with a short slaughter withhold or a feed grade antibiotic such as CTC.