Investigations to assist in the prognosis for calves with ruminal acidosis due to ruminal drinking

The objective of the study was to assess the association of the clinical history, clinical findings, ruminal liquid quality and the early course of the disease with the outcome of ruminal acidosis due to ruminal drinking. The study involved 180 calves, up to four weeks of age, with ruminal acidosis. Non-specific factors such as primary disease, the duration before admission, inappetance, forced feeding and body condition had a much greater influence on the prognosis compared with the results from examination of ruminal liquid. With respect to ruminal fluid, the presence of casein curds and of sloughed mucosa, but not the initial pH or the development of pH appear to have an influence on prognosis. A favourable prognosis was evident for calves with diarrhoea (98.8 %) as the only primary disease. The worst prognosis was for calves with inappetance, who had been force-fed several times a day over a period of several days, only 15 of 26 such calves (58 %) were cured.