LECTURE XLIX 



PARTURIENT PARALYSIS (MILK FEVER) 



This serious disease of cows usually appears within a very 

 few days after calving, although it may appear before or some 

 time after calving. Its cause, nature, and pathology are not 

 well understood. However, prevention and treatment are, as a 

 rule, very satisfactory. 



Fig. 79. — Parturient Paralysis — Milk Fever. (M. H. B.) 

 Early stage. Unsteady on hind legs. 



Causes. — The causes of parturient paralysis are of two classes, 

 predisposing and precipitating. 



Predisposing causes include age (maturity), heavy feeding 

 and milking qualities, pregnancy, easy delivery, lack of exer- 

 cise, and high temperature in stables. The cow that is a heavy 

 feeder and milker and in the prime of life, with her third or 



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