One-year cross-sectional study of dermatological lesions in 433 dairy cattle in a veterinary teaching hospital

Little literature is available on the prevalence of bovine skin diseases. The objective of this study was to describe the dermatological lesions (DL) in dairy cattle admitted at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FVM), Université de Montréal, from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.

A study-dedicated dermatological lexicon was first developed by the authors. Over a year, all dairy cattle admitted at the FVM were included in the study. Dairy cattle readmitted or without integumentary examination within 48 hours of admission were excluded. DL involvingfeet and ear canals were also excluded. The morphological and location of the skin and the oral mucosal DL were recorded by a trained observer.

On the 610 cattle admitted at the FVM, 433 dairy cattle were included. Most of them were Holstein breed (90%) and females (98%). The mean age was 3.3 years old (+/- 2.8 years). Of these 433 cattle, skin and oral mucosal lesions were observed in 91% and 9% of the cases, respectively. Most cattle had at least one hock (55%), one carpus (47%) or one stifle (23%) affected. Crusts (55%), callus (54%) and alopecia (51%) were the most common skin DL. Erosions (43%) and ulcers (20%) were the most common oral mucosal lesions.

This cross-sectional study highlighted the high prevalence of the DL in this specific cattle population. Considering these results, further studies would be important to determine etiologies, economic and clinical impacts of these DL.