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Effect of an Organic Certified Treatment (Optimum Uterflush®) for Toxic Puerperal Metritis on Cure and Reproductive Performance of Dairy Cows
The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of an organic certified product (Optimum UterFlush®, Van Beek Natural Science) on the treatment of toxic puerperal metritis (TPM) in cows in an organic dairy farm. Evaluation included clinical cure, survival, and reproductive performance. TPM was defined as an abnormally enlarged uterus and a fetid watery red-brown vaginal discharge, associated with systemic illness and fever (rectal temperature >39.5oC), within 12d postpartum. Cows diagnosed with TPM (n=220) were randomly assigned into two intrauterine treatments (every other day for a total of 3 treatments): i) Control (CON)= 200 mL of Povidone iodine diluted in 2 L of distilled water (n=113); ii) UterFlush (UF)= 15 mL diluted in 105 mL of distilled water (n=107). All treated cows received hypertonic solution (500 ml of 25% calcium borogluconate i.v.) and oral aspirin (5 boluses/d). Outcome variables for treatment efficacy included fever and presence of fetid vaginal discharge at d6 and d14 after diagnosis, survival at d6, d14, and d30, and reproductive performance. Control variables were parity, BCS at enrolment, and calving season. Logistic regression and ANOVA were used for the analyses (PROC GLIMMIX and PROC GLM, SAS). The odds of surviving at d6, d14, and d30 for cows in the UF treatment were 4.7 (95% CI = 1.4-15.8), 2.8 (95% CI = 1.3-6.1), and 3.6 (95% CI = 1.7-7.7) times the odds of cows in the CON treatment. Occurrence of fever at d6 and d14 was not different between the two treatments. Presence of a fetid vaginal discharge at d6 and d14 was lower in cows treated with UF compared to cows in the CON group (11% vs. 28% [P < 0.001] and 1% vs. 8% [P = 0.017] ). The odds of breeding until 150 DIM and the time to first breeding were not different for the two treatments. The odds of pregnancy at the first breeding and at 300 DIM for cows treated with UF were 2.2 (95% CI = 1.1-4.4) and 2.0 (95% CI = 1.1-3.5) times the odds of cows in the CON group. Days to pregnancy were similar in both treatments. The number of breedings per pregnancy were 1.96 vs. 2.58 for cows in the UF and CON treatments (P = 0.01). Results indicate that cows with TPM treated with Optimum UterFlush® had higher odds of recovering and improved reproductive performance compared to cows treated with Povidone iodine.
Keywords: puerperal-metritis, organic, UterFlush