Efficacy of a nonantimicrobial cream administered topically for treatment of digital dermatitis in dairy cattle

Objective-To compare efficacy of a topically administered nonantimicrobial cream with that of lincomycin for treatment of digital dermatitis in dairy cattle. Design-Randomized clinical trial. Animals-98 cows from a commercial Holstein dairy herd. Procedure-Cows with active lesions of digital dermatitis identified on a single observation day were randomly assigned to receive a nonantimicrobial cream, lincomycin pas te, or no treatment. Cows were examined approximately every 4 weeks for 130 days after treatment for lesion maturity score, score for signs of pain, l esion size, and lesion activity. Results-29 days after a single treatment, both treated groups had significa ntly reduced scores for signs of pain, lesion activity, lesion size, and th e decision to retreat, compared with findings in the untreated group, Effic acy of the 2 treatments was not significantly different for decreasing pain score or lesion activity or for increasing lesion maturity score, but linc omycin was significantly more efficacious in decreasing lesion size and avo iding retreatment. By use of multivariate logistic regression, lactation nu mber was a significant treatment effect modifier on the outcome of a healed lesion after treatment. Cows with greater than or equal to3 lactations wer e more likely to have a healed lesion at 29 days, compared with first- and secondlactation cows. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Because antimicrobial treatments for dig ital dermatitis in cows require a veterinarian's prescription, the nonantim icrobial cream could serve as a viable but less consistently effective alte rnative to antimicrobials and could be applied by veterinarians, hoof trimm ers, and others.