Strategies for Managing Septic Arthritis of the Digit in Cattle

Abstract

Conservative therapy of deep sepsis of the digit is generally unrewarding even with prolonged administration of antibiotics. What we consider prolonged antibiotic administration in bovine practice is clearly different from that employed in other species. In nonruminant species including humans, treatment with antibiotics for septic arthritis typically extends for 2 months or 3 weeks after all clinical signs have resolved. This duration of therapy is clearly not practical in cattle and still might not resolve the types of lesions occurring in the digits. The end result following a common 1 to 2-week course of antibiotics for septic digital arthritis is usually euthanasia or culling after appropriate withholding for drug residues. In the author's opinion, less than 5% of cases of deep digital sepsis respond satisfactorily to such conservative treatment. Why? Possibilities include failure to choose an appropriate antibiotic, inability of the antibiotic to penetrate to the site of infection, or drug resistant strains of bacteria. Most digital infections are caused by a mixed population of bacteria including at least Arcanobacterium pyogenes and Fusobacterium necrophorum; there may also be various Streptococci, Staph. aureus, and other anaerobes involved.⁸