Abstract
Diseases of the tail are common in cattle (3, 4). Infection or necrosis of the tail tip, injury of the coccygeal vertebrae resulting in tail paralysis (8, 12) as well as fracture or luxation of the coccygeal vertebrae(6) are some of the most common disorders. Congenital defects, diskospondylitis and tumours of the tail occur occasionally (5, 8). Tail fractures or luxations are usually the result of trauma, such as falls, excessive traction on the tail when moving a downer cow, excessive traction on a calf during assisted delivery, and mounting by other cows or heavy bulls (3, 13). Clinical signs depend on the severity of nerve damage and the location of the fracture. Fractures involving the second (S2), third and fourth sacral (S3 and S4) segments may affect the pudendal nerve, pelvic nerves and the tail nerve resulting in paralysis of the urinary bladder, anus and tail. Tail paralysis without other neurological deficits indicates damage to the coccygeal nerve (7). Diseases of the tail may be treated conservatively or by amputation cranial to the affected area. Tail amputation in cattle is a very controversial subject because in some countries, it is carried out prophylactically for management reasons without any medical indication (1, 9, 11). Prophylactic tail amputation is done 7–8 cm below the vulva in calves and 5–6 cm below the vulva in heifers and mature cows. The present case report describes complete amputation of the tail at the level of the sacrum in a cow with osteomye - litis of the first (C1) and second coccygeal (C2) vertebrae.
Nuss, Karl