Heart Disease In Cattle

There are several causes of heart disease in cattle, some more dramatic in presentation than others. Very occasionally, we see calves with heart defects from birth which can be heard upon clinical exam and confirmed with our ultrasound scanner. More often however our patient is an older cow, off feed and off milk. In the later stages of heart disease these animals lose weight, develop fluid under their chin and may develop a jugular pulse. With any sick animal we encourage our clients to contact us ASAP and heart cases are a good example of where early intervention is the only hope. By using our stethoscope, we can detect whether there is an issue with the valves of the heart (will hear a murmur) or whether there may be a previously consumed wire penetrating the sac around the heart (will struggle to hear the heart at all). In early cases we may be able to remove a wire either using a magnet or via surgery and treat infected tissue with extended courses of antibiotic and painkiller.