Internal medicines

Practical implications 

Data is abundantly available in many dairy farms. Besides smart farming equipment, most milking systems are equipped with data collection systems that provide useful information about each cow's milk yield. A drop in milk production is one of the most universal signs that the cow’s health is at risk.

Routine veterinarian visits are essential to check the health status of the herd, to provide treatment at the right time and to ensure animal wellbeing by preventing the spread of disease (isolation of sick animals).

There are many products registered for use in cattle. Choosing the right product for the right animal requires proper examination and diagnosis, as well as knowledge of common pathogens and their susceptibility in the herd.

Therefore, all treatments should be recorded to develop a disease management protocol to standardize the common approach. This is especially important when many people are involved in treating animals. Some complex diseases, such as BRD (Bovine Respiratory Disease), are caused by a combination of many pathogens. In case of multifactorial diseases, broad spectrum antibiotics should be included in treatment protocol. To ensure responsible use of antibiotics, treatment should be prescribed only when signs of disease are observed and should be limited to the group of animals to be treated at that time.

First-line treatment is preferably carried out with category D antibiotics (according to the EMA classification). If possible, individual treatment (parenteral administration) is preferred to group treatment (i.e., oral treatment in the feed), this also supports the responsible use of antibiotics.