Cynthia Miltenburg

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs

Salmonella Dublin (S. Dublin) is an emerging pathogen on dairy farms in Canada. In Ontario, S. Dublin has been increasingly isolated from diagnostic laboratory samples. The objective of this observational cross-sectional study was to identify management practices associated with herd positivity for S. Dublin. A convenience sample of 100 dairy farms...

Introduction: Maintaining the welfare of cull dairy cows from the farm to slaughter is an ongoing challenge for the dairy industry. Recent research suggests that some cull dairy cows within the marketing system are in physical states that are below regulatory standards, and further research is required to determine why these unfit cows are found th...

The removal (culling) of dairy cows from the farm is a regular and required management practice. The main objectives of this study were to describe the involvement of bovine veterinarians in Ontario, Canada, in dairy cull cow management decisions, their expectations of current producer practices, and their perspectives on welfare issues and best ma...

Removal of cows from dairy cattle production is a routine and unavoidable practice of the dairy industry and is often referred to as culling. The objectives of this study were to use a survey to describe current on-farm cull cow management, farmers' perception of cull cows' journeys to slaughter, and the adoption of current recommendations and regu...

Objective: Bacterial bronchopneumonia occurs in mature dairy cows but much of the information is extrapolated from knowledge of the disease in calves. The study was prompted by perceptions of an increasing occurrence and a paucity of information on fatal Mannheimia haemolytica pneumonia in dairy cows in Ontario. The study objectives were to descri...

Canadian dairy farmers are required to use a local anesthetic and analgesic prior to all disbudding and dehorning procedures. This study was done to investigate the opinions of Ontario dairy farmers on the use of pain control for disbudding and dehorning calves and their perspectives on the current requirements of the quality assurance program. Int...

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the presence of infectious disease in newly arrived cattle on dairy farms in Ontario. Cattle that were more than 2 years old and arrived at dairy farms within the previous year were tested. A total 321 cattle from 56 dairy farms were sampled and had blood submitted to a diagnostic laborato...

Many dairy farmers in North America disbud or dehorn their cattle to improve human and animal safety. The Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM v. 4.0) program requires that disbudding be performed before 8 wk of age with pain-control medication. The objective of this observational cross-sectional study was to quantify disbudding and dehorn...

Background: Human medicine has demonstrated that a patient-centered physician-patient relationship is more effective than the traditional physician-centered model. Objectives were to explore food-animal veterinarians' and producers' perceptions of producer-centered communication (VPPC and PPPC), during on-farm interactions and examine associated f...

The Ontario Animal Health Network (OAHN) is an innovative disease surveillance program created to enhance preparedness, early detection, and response to animal disease in Ontario. Laboratory data and, where available, abattoir condemnation data and clinical observations submitted by practicing veterinarians form the core of regular discussions of t...

Background: Effective communication has been found to have positive associations with client satisfaction, client adherence and veterinarian satisfaction in companion animal medicine. Better understanding the role of communication on these outcomes, specifically producer satisfaction, is likely to benefit food-animal medicine. Objectives were to i...

Low total blood calcium concentration after calving has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for reduced neutrophil function. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether administration of an injectable calcium supplement product soon after calving increased neutrophil oxidative burst or phagocytosis capacity. Cows (n = 27) from 4 farms wer...

Disbudding is a common management procedure performed on dairy farms and, when done without pain mitigation, is viewed as a key welfare issue. Use of pain control has increased in recent years, but full adoption of anesthesia and analgesia by veterinarians or dairy producers has not been achieved. This may in part be due to the lack of a consistent...

The determinants of metabolic and reproductive health disorders in the peripartum period and the degree to which feeding and lying space and management can influence health are only partially understood. The objective of this randomized controlled study was to determine whether providing noncompetitive feeding and lying access in the close-up dry p...

Prophylactic Ca supplementation immediately after calving is a common strategy to prevent clinical and subclinical hypocalcemia in parturient dairy cows. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of prophylactic administration of an injected Ca supplement on blood Ca concentration at 24 and 48 h after treatment, incidence risk of clini...

Abstract Text: The determinants of metabolic and reproductive health disorders and the degree to which housing and management can influence health are only partially understood. The objective of this randomized controlled study was to determine if a prepartum housing strategy of providing non-competitive feeding and lying access improves metaboli...