A Look Inside-Histopathological Examinations of Different Tail Tip Lesions in Dairy Cows

Feedlot cattle are frequently affected by inflammation and necrosis of the tail tips, resulting in impeded animal welfare and economic losses. In a recent study, it was demonstrated that dairy cows are also affected by different lesions of the tail tip, including alopecia, annular constrictions, cru...

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Published inAnimals (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 14; p. 2094
Main Authors Lorenz, Lea M, Volkwein, Marielle E, Schmidt, Christine, Lechner, Mirjam, Kremer-Rücker, Prisca V
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 17.07.2024
Subjects
Alopecia
Animals
Baldness
Blood vessels
Connective tissue
Dairy cattle
dairy cows
Edema
Fibroblasts
Follicles
Granulocytes
histopathology
Inflammation
Neutrophils
tail inflammation and necrosis
tail lesions
histopathology
dairy cows
tail inflammation and necrosis
tail lesions
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Summary:Feedlot cattle are frequently affected by inflammation and necrosis of the tail tips, resulting in impeded animal welfare and economic losses. In a recent study, it was demonstrated that dairy cows are also affected by different lesions of the tail tip, including alopecia, annular constrictions, crusting, scaling and swelling. Despite the frequent occurrence of these lesions, the underlying etiology and pathomechanisms are unclear to date. To gain insight into this malady, we histopathologically examined 16 tail tips of slaughtered dairy cows, representing the entire range of different lesions. While macroscopically alopecic areas were characterized by the formation of granulation tissue in the dermis with an inconspicuous epidermis, we found not only dermal granulation tissue but also purulent-necrotizing inflammation with the breakdown of the basement membrane in encrusted lesions. Interestingly, in some cases, we found areas of coagulation necrosis of the epidermal and dermal layers in the crusts. Tails with macroscopical scaling were affected by ortho- and/or parakeratotic hyperkeratosis, and, in tails with macroscopical swelling, we observed a low-protein edema of the central longitudinal connective tissue of the tail. We conclude that the observed lesions might be caused by ischemia of the skin in the distal parts of the tail.
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ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani14142094