Hypoglycemia and failure of respiratory compensation are risk factors for mortality in diarrheic calves in Hokkaido, northern Japan.

Abstract

The aim of present study was to identify risk factors among laboratory findings for mortality in calves with diarrhea. A retrospective analysis was conducted utilizing medical records of 221 diarrheic calves (10.4 ± 3.7 days old) with no concurrent severe disorders that were treated with intravenous fluid therapy from the initial examination. Thirty-eight of the diarrheic calves (17.2%) died within 35 days from the initial examination. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that hypoglycemia (OR 3.09; 95% CI 1.22-7.87; P=0.02) and failure of respiratory compensation (OR 2.63; 95% CI 1.05-6.62; P=0.04) were the major risk factors associated with a negative outcome in diarrheic calves. According to the Kaplan-Meyer analysis, diarrheic calves with hypoglycemia and/or failure of respiratory compensation had a significantly shorter survival than calves without these factors.