A
Preliminary Study of the Correlations of Serum Concentrations of
Electrolytes and Trace Elements with Clinical Signs in Diarrheic
Dairy Calves
J. Tajik* and S. Nazifi1
Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary
Medicine; Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran; 1Department
of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine; Shiraz
University, Shiraz, Iran *Corresponding Author: jtajik@Gmail.com
Abstract
To study the correlations of clinical signs with
serum electrolytes and trace elements, 50
diarrheic dairy calves in a dairy herd were examined.
The diarrheic calves, before any treatment, were
clinically examined, and fecal consistency score, age, and days between disease
onset and sampling were recorded per calf. The serum concentrations of calcium,
magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese and iron were measured. Serum copper
concentration had a significant correlation with PCV (r=-0.56, P<0.001) and had
marginally significant correlations with calves age (r=-0.32, P=0.06) and
disease length (r=-0.31, P=0.07), and serum
calcium concentration had significant correlations with body temperature
(r=0.41, P<0.01) and calves age (r=-0.41, P<0.01).
Fecal consistency score or diarrhea severity had a significant effect on none of
the measured serum factors. Our results showed the importance of diarrhea length and the calves age
vs. fecal score in estimation of changes in
serum parameters in diarrheic calves.
Key words: Clinical signs,
Diarrheic dairy calves, Serum electrolytes and trace elements