Abstract

Monensin is approved as a feed additive by the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine to increase milk production efficiency in lactating dairy cattle. To assess the effects of a gross error in mixing monensin into cattle feed, a 10-fold overdose was given for three consecutive days to naïve cows as well as cows previously dosed with monensin within the label range. Cows were evaluated during the overdose and for a subsequent 4 week observation period. Physiological variables were analyzed, including dry matter intake, body weight, body condition score, and serum chemistry profile. Production variables were analyzed, including milk yield and milk composition. Cows were blocked according to pre-treatment milk output, days in milk, and body condition. Results were analyzed using linear mixed model methodology with a baseline covariate. The study provided information for the veterinarian and the dairy farmer for determining whether an overdose may have occurred, for assessing the prognosis, and for deciding whether to continue feeding monensin immediately following an overdose.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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Apr 24th, 1:30 PM

EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF MONENSIN OVERDOSE IN DAIRY CATTLE

Monensin is approved as a feed additive by the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine to increase milk production efficiency in lactating dairy cattle. To assess the effects of a gross error in mixing monensin into cattle feed, a 10-fold overdose was given for three consecutive days to naïve cows as well as cows previously dosed with monensin within the label range. Cows were evaluated during the overdose and for a subsequent 4 week observation period. Physiological variables were analyzed, including dry matter intake, body weight, body condition score, and serum chemistry profile. Production variables were analyzed, including milk yield and milk composition. Cows were blocked according to pre-treatment milk output, days in milk, and body condition. Results were analyzed using linear mixed model methodology with a baseline covariate. The study provided information for the veterinarian and the dairy farmer for determining whether an overdose may have occurred, for assessing the prognosis, and for deciding whether to continue feeding monensin immediately following an overdose.