PARTURIENT APOPLEXY. 
IO9 
PARTURIENT APOPLEXY. 
By F. E. Pierce, D.V.S., Oakland, Cal. 
A Paper Read before the California State Veterinary Medical Association. 
While nearly all of the papers that have been read at our 
meetings of late have been on some contagious or infectious 
disease, I would take up a more common subject; one we all 
meet with very often in our practice, and one which gives us as 
much trouble as almost any other disease we meet. 
The disease which I shall present to you for consideration is 
parturient apoplexy, or milk fever, the term usually applied to 
it by dairy men. It is a malady usually attended with fatal 
results, and is regarded with more dread by cattle owners than 
any other disease which the cow is subjected to. Some herds 
of cattle are more subject to it than others. The majority of 
cases coming under my notice have been among the high-bred 
jerseys. 
It is not my purpose to advance any new theory or treatment 
of this disease, but simply to bring out the views of the different 
members, through the discussion which I hope will follow. 
Causes .—The causes are predisposing and exciting. Among 
the first may be mentioned high condition, well-fed cows, and 
especially large milkers, suffer from this disease, and one 
attack usually predisposes another. The exciting cause is the 
act of parturition; and from my observation, I have noticed the 
disease to follow a case of parturition where there has been very 
slight labor, and the animal being in a plethoric condition. 
And in my experience in getting the history, the owner says, 
almost always, that the cow had a very easy time calving, and 
cleaned in a very short time; and, also, that the appetite was 
good previous to calving, and from 24 to 48 hours following, 
while on the contrary I cannot personally call to mind one case 
of parturient apoplexy following a long and protracted case of 
parturition. 
The pathology of parturient apoplexy appears to be largely 
a matter of conjecture, even with our leading writers on scien- 
