Kvet Forum
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Frothy bloat results from high protein levels in cattle grazing lush leguminous pasture and clover-rich grass.
Aetiology: Rumen fluid viscosity is raised, causing small bubbles to form and leading to a stable froth that cannot be eructated normally.
Signs: Rumen tympany develops over several hours, causing distress, recumbency and, in extreme cases, death.
Diagnosis: Frothy bloat typically presents as a group problem with an immediate history of access to lush grazing. The bloat cannot be relieved by orogastric tube as the froth simply blocks the tube.
DDx: Choke
Management
All animals must be moved off the pasture immediately. Care must be taken when moving/handling cattle with frothy bloat as it may precipitate collapse and death from cardiac/respiratory failure. Severely bloated cattle may have to be restrained and treated on the pasture if handling facilities are not available nearby. Affected cattle should be drenched/stomach-tubed with an anti-foaming agent such as vegetable oil or proprietary silicone/piloxalene drench. An emergency rumenotomy can be performed in extreme cases to relieve the tympany, but this is not a simple procedure in these circumstances.
Prevention is by gradual introduction to risk pasture by either limited time access or by strip grazing. Daily drenching of cattle with an anti-foaming agent is very time-consuming. Monensin sodium, in supplementary feed or bolus, is used in those countries where thisproduct is still licensed for use in cattle.