Cold Cow Syndrome:

Cold cow syndrome is an extremely unusual disease and cold cow syndrome causes are unknown even today.



It occurs mostly in early spring among cows that are lactating and grazing from ryegrass pastures. Most cases are seen in the U.K and it can affect more than eighty percent of a particular herd. Some experts believe that cold cow syndrome causes include a high level of soluble carbohydrate intake, a reaction to the oestrogenic compounds found in plants and mycotoxins.



Contrary to popular belief, most veterinarians believe that it has nothing to do with weather conditions.

Cold cow syndrome symptoms include cows appearing tipsy or drunk, wobbling while walking and falling over. Although its body temperature may be normal, the cow may feel cold to the touch.



It can be prone to acute bouts of diarrhea but without the emanation of any foul smell and a sudden and dramatic drop in milk production which can go up to a hundred percent in infected cows. The animal may also suffer from severe hypothermia. As for cold cow syndrome treatment, there seems to be no specific treatment available. You could, however, house the affected cows separately for a period of over twenty four hours and then move them to a new pasture. In case the animal is unable to stand, it may require nursing care and attention. Take care to not feed it grass from the same pasture but instead switch to either hay or other feed. Do not forget to feed it plenty of water as well, since the diarrhea may leave the animal dehydrated. Since the cause of the disease is still not understood it is difficult to suggest a preventive measure. But the problem may recur in the same pasture every year so one way out would be to avoid the pasture completely in early spring. In fact cows that have been let out into lush green pastures can come down with the illness in a matter of just twenty four hours and as soon as they are removed and their feeding grounds change, the recovery is fairly quick and hardly eventful. Usually tests conducted using blood samples and fecal matter samples fail to establish any aetiology. Each farmer has his/her own unique blend of feed depending on the climate, breed and location, hence it is impossible to recommend an alternate feeding programme as the animal is recuperating. Consult your local veterinarian and other local farmers who have the same cattle breeds.