Katharine Denholm

• Master of Veterinary Science
• University of Glasgow

Background Foals suffer from total failure to transfer passive immunity (TFTPI) when serum immunoglobulin (IgG) is <4 g/L, and partial failure to transfer passive immunity (PFTPI) when serum IgG is 4–8 g/L. Objectives To explore risk factors for poor serum IgG concentration. Study design Retrospective observational study. Methods Data from 535 T...

Background : Excellent colostrum management in dairy calves is paramount to their future health and productivity. Feeding colostrum in an extended manner is an emerging research area of interest which could provide health benefits to growing calves. Aim of the article : This article explains the potential benefits of extended colostrum (or transiti...

Background: The objective of this study was to explore the relative frequency and seasonality of bovine respiratory pathogens in the UK, based on clinical case submission for laboratory PCR testing. Methods: This study used retrospective data generated by a central Scotland laboratory using 407 clinical (pooled) samples collected by 95 veterinar...

This research aimed to define thresholds for ewe colostrum and lamb serum Brix refractometer measurements in lowland Scottish sheep. This would facilitate the use of this convenient, sheep-side test, enabling quick and accurate identification of poor quality colostrum and prevention of failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) in lambs. Second...

An online survey was sent to 248 dairy farms from all four UK nations. The results identified areas to optimise calf health and welfare, with a particular focus on extended colostrum feeding (beyond the first 24 hours of life). Chi squared analysis, Cochran Armitage trend tests and logistic regression were used to investigate biologically plausible...

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for and the impact of ultrasound-diagnosed endometritis (UDE) on lactating dairy cows' reproductive performance. Methods: Data were analysed from 1123 Holstein and Holstein-Friesian cows from two Scottish dairy farms. A reproductive ultrasound examination was conducted on two...

Preservation of colostrum for neonatal dairy calves has seldom been seldom in recent years, much of the peer reviewed literature having been published in the 1970s and 1980s. First milking colostrum is high in bioactive immune enhancers such as immunoglobulins, lactoferrins, lysozymes and cytokines and is vital to confer passive immunity to newborn...

When dairy cows produce little or no colostrum, calves are likely to suffer from failure of passive transfer (FPT). Volume of colostrum produced by the dam may be affected by: nutrition; environmental conditions; time from calving to milking; parity; dry period length; calving difficulty; calf weight; calf sex; calf viability; cow BCS / body weight...

Failure of passive transfer (FPT) in calves is defined as failure to absorb colostral antibodies sufficient to achieve a serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration of >10 g/L within the first week of life. The aim of this study was to compare four different tests to diagnose FPT in a convenience sample of 1-7 day old dairy calves in Scotland. Publi...

Failure of passive transfer (FPT) has health, welfare and economic implications for calves. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration of 370 dairy calf serum samples from 38 Scottish dairy farms was measured via radial immunodiffusion (RID) to determine FPT prevalence. IgG concentration, total bacteria count (TBC) and total coliform count (TCC) of 252 c...

Failure of passive transfer (FPT) is defined as failure to absorb colostral antibodies sufficient to achieve a serum Immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration >10 g/L. Immunoglobulin G can be measured directly in calf serum using radial immunodiffusion (RID), or indirectly estimated by measuring total protein (TP). Indirect TP measures are usually favou...

A hill farm in eastern Scotland had noted poor lamb growth rates since 2014. Cobalt, selenium and copper deficiencies were reported from historical blood sample results, and trace element supplementation had been administered to the ewes, but not the lambs. A supplementation trial was undertaken in 2018 to compare the daily liveweight gain (DLWG) b...

AIMS: To gather information on management practices and farmer attitudes to management of cows and calves during the immediate post-partum period on dairy farms in New Zealand, and to assess these practices for associations with concentrations of total protein (TP) in serum of calves 1–8 days-old. METHOD: Between July and September 2015 blood sampl...

AIMS: To examine associations between various cow-level factors and quality of first-milking colostrum (measured as Brix), and to evaluate herd-level associations between vaccination against calf diarrhoea and colostrum quality, in cows from dairy herds in the Waikato region of New Zealand. METHODS: A single colostrum sample was collected, by compl...

AIMS: To describe colostrum quality in spring-calving dairy herds in New Zealand, in terms of Brix, pH and total and coliform bacterial counts and to investigate associations between farm management practices and these measures of colostrum quality. METHODS: In June 2015, commercial dairy farms (n=105), located in North and South Islands of New Zea...

AIMS: To assess the effect of two temperatures (ambient temperature and 4 °C), three preservation methods (no preservative, yoghurt and potassium sorbate), and two periods of storage (3 and 7 days) on Brix and total bacterial and coliform counts of colostrum collected from New Zealand dairy farms. METHODS: One litre of colostrum destined to be fed...

AIM: To evaluate the level of agreement of three indirect testing methods with concentrations of IgG in serum, and to determine their test characteristics for diagnosing failure of passive transfer (FPT), in dairy calves in New Zealand. METHODS: From 17 July to 30 November 2015, 471 blood samples were collected from dairy calves aged 0–8 days, from...