182 | Preliminary data on clinical assessment, blood biochemistry analysis, and infrared thermography in dairy cows affected by foot diseases

Maria Rizzo¹, Nicolò Parisi¹, Andrea Spadaro¹, Esterina Fazio¹, Enrico Fiore², Giorgia Taio², Giuseppe Piccione¹, Francesca Arfuso¹, Filippo Spadola¹ | ¹Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Polo University Annunziata, Messina, Italy; ²Department of Animal Medicine, Productions and Health MAPS, University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy;.

Hoof disease and lameness cause pain and discomfort, affecting normal behavioural activities, these lesions of the hoof cause alterations in the musculoskeletal system associated with pain, tissue damage and impaired homeostasis, and can induce a systemic acute phase response (APR). The prevalence of these diseases can vary from 5 to 45%, this wide variability indicates that in some herds the problem is widespread and difficult to control [1,2]. For this reason, it is one of the main problems from a production point of view, causing losses in productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical progression of foot lesions in dairy cattle by combining clinical examination with hematochemical analyses and infrared thermography, to assess the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and the evolution of inflammation over time. The study involved dairy cows affected by different foot disorders that underwent functional and therapeutic trimming. Ten lactating cows with hoof diseases (DG) and 5 healthy animals (CG) were selected to serve as a control group. The animals were evaluated and sampled (blood sampling and acquisition of thermographic foot images) at three different time points: clinical diagnosis of the foot pathology (T0), 24 hours (T1) and 10 days (T2) after treatment. Higher neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, α1- (p < 0.05) and α2-fraction values were found in diseased subjects compared to healthy ones at T0 (p < 0.05). Thermography highlighted significantly higher thermal values of foot of animals with lesions than healthy subjects (p < 0.01) especially at T0. Animals affected by hoof diseases showed lower foot temperature values at T1 compared to T0 and T2 (p < 0.001). The results highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to managing lameness in dairy cows and indicate that functional trimming, while effective, must be integrated with appropriate environmental management to ensure lasting benefits for animal welfare and farm productivity. Infrared thermography has proven to be an effective non-invasive tool for identifying active lesions and monitoring the healing process, showing a progressive reduction in temperatures after treatment. The integration of clinical evaluation, systemic inflammatory markers and thermographic analysis has enabled objective monitoring of the progression of foot diseases and therapeutic response.