Lameness in dairy cattle remains a major issue on many farms. In this episode, AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP member and lameness expert Dr. Gerard Cramer from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Cramer states that lameness is a major animal welfare issue and relieving the pain associated with lameness in individual cattle is a major treatment goal. He references a paper in the Journal of Dairy Science, “Evaluation of treatments for claw horn lesions in dairy cows in a randomized controlled trial” by Thomas et. al. which studies that use of NSAID’s for relief of the pain associated with lameness.  

We discuss three major causes of lameness: digital dermatitis, sole ulcers and foot rot, including pathophysiology, prevention and treatment strategies. Dr. Cramer also suggests that veterinarians have a tremendous opportunity to be involved in lameness monitoring and evaluation on dairy farms. He recommends to “put teats on the feet” and evaluate the data from your client’s farms similar to how we evaluate udder health data. We also discuss footbath strategies and the appropriate dimensions of a footbath to improve effectiveness. 

 Dr. Cramer is the recipient of the AABP Foundation’s competitive research grant for dairy. His project, “Development of a sole ulcer induction model in Holstein cows: The next step in lameness research” was funded in 2020 by the AABP Foundation. He discusses how this funding can be a seed for obtaining additional funding from other organizations. The AABP Foundation supports clinical research for beef and dairy projects that might not be funded elsewhere. These projects are funded by member donations. Please donate to the Foundation by going to this link today! A $10 minimum donation from each listener of this podcast will generate a significant amount of funds for the Foundation! All of the research projects funded by the Foundation and links to publications can be found at https://bit.ly/3gH87gn and projects funded by the Foundation and Hoof Trimmers Association can be found at https://bit.ly/3gzeaU8. 

 We also discuss the work of the AABP Lameness Committee and development of fact sheets that are provided as a member resource. You can find these fact sheets on the Lameness Committee page at this link.