COMPARISON OF TOPICAL APPLICATION OF 3 PRODUCTS FOR TREATMENT OF PAPILLOMATOUS-DIGITAL-DERMATITIS IN DAIRY-CATTLE

Objective - To test the effectiveness of 3 topical sprays for treatmen t of papillomatous digital dermatitis (PDD) in dairy cattle. Design - Prospective field trial. Animals - 48 lactating cows with PDD randomly assigned to 4 groups of 12 cows each. Procedure - For 3 weeks, cows i n each group were treated topically with oxytetracycline solution (100 mg/ml), acidified ionized copper solution, acidified sodium chlorite solution, or a placebo (tap water). Cows were milked 3 times daily, an d at each milking, lesions were washed with a pressure hose and treatm ent solutions were sprayed on the lesions. Degree of lameness was grad ed before and after 3 weeks of treatment. Results - Mean lameness scor e decreased (ie, cows were less lame) for all 3 treatment groups, but increased for the control group. Clinical Implications - Daily applica tion of topical solutions was effective in decreasing degree of lamene ss associated with PDD in cattle tested.