Ruminal tympany, also known as ruminal bloat, is a disease of
ruminant
Ruminants (suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The ...
animals, characterized by an excessive volume of gas in the
rumen
The rumen, also known as a paunch, is the largest stomach compartment in ruminants and the larger part of the reticulorumen, which is the first chamber in the alimentary canal of ruminant animals. The rumen's microbial favoring environment al ...
. Ruminal tympany may be primary, known as frothy bloat, or secondary, known as free-gas bloat.
In the rumen, food eaten by the ruminant is
fermented
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...
by microbes. This fermentation process continually produces gas, the majority of which is expelled from the rumen by eructation (
burping).
Ruminal
tympany
Tympany or tympanites (sometimes tympanism or tympania), also known as meteorism (especially in humans), is a medical condition in which excess gas accumulates in the gastrointestinal tract and causes abdominal distension. The term is from the Gr ...
occurs when this gas becomes trapped in the rumen.
In frothy bloat (primary ruminal tympany), the gas produced by fermentation is trapped within the fermenting material in the rumen, causing a build up of foam which cannot be released by burping.
In cattle, the disease may be triggered after an animal eats a large amount of easily fermenting plants, such as
legumes
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
,
alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as ...
,
red clover
''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions.
Description
Red clove ...
, or
white clover
''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg., E.F. 1968. ''Excursi ...
.
Some legumes, such as
sainfoin
__NOTOC__
''Onobrychis'', the sainfoins, are a genus of Eurasian perennial herbaceous plants of the legume family (Fabaceae). Including doubtfully distinct species and provisionally accepted taxa, about 150 species are presently known. The Flo ...
,
birdsfoot trefoil
''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoi ...
and
cicer milkvetch are not associated with causing bloat in cattle.
In
feedlot
A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called c ...
cattle, a diet containing a high proportion of cereal grain can lead to primary ruminal tympany.
The main signs of bloat in cattle are distension of the left side of the abdomen,
dyspnea
Shortness of breath (SOB), also medically known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing di ...
(difficulty breathing) and severe distress. If gas continues to accumulate, the right side of the abdomen may also become distended, with death occurring in cattle within 3–4 hours after symptoms begin.
In free-gas bloat (secondary ruminal tympany), gas builds up in the rumen and cannot escape, due to blockage of the
esophagus
The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...
.
Treatment
# Removal of gases through
trocar or
cannula
A cannula (; Latin meaning 'little reed'; plural or ) is a tube that can be inserted into the body, often for the delivery or removal of fluid or for the gathering of samples. In simple terms, a cannula can surround the inner or outer surfaces ...
# Use stomach tube and remove the ruminal digesta
# Medi oral (antifoaming agent) 10ml+250ml warm water and drench to the animal. If antifoaming agent not available, vegetable oil can be used, 400–500ml per large animal
#
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3− ...
# ''
Nux vomica
''Strychnos nux-vomica'', the strychnine tree, also known as nux vomica, poison fruit, semen strychnos, and quaker buttons, is a deciduous tree native to India and to southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree in the family Loganiaceae that grows ...
''
#
Antihistamine
Antihistamines are drugs which treat allergic rhinitis, common cold, influenza, and other allergies. Typically, people take antihistamines as an inexpensive, generic (not patented) drug that can be bought without a prescription and provide ...
is used to avoid lameness. One particular sign in
acidosis
Acidosis is a process causing increased acidity in the blood and other body tissues (i.e., an increase in hydrogen ion concentration). If not further qualified, it usually refers to acidity of the blood plasma.
The term ''acidemia'' describe ...
is lameness. Because
lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as nat ...
accumulates in the coronary band, it causes irritation;
histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological functions in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Since histamine was discover ...
is released which causes lameness, so antihistamine is used to avoid it.
Cultural depictions
*
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...
's novel ''
Far from the Madding Crowd
''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in '' Cornhill Magazine'', where it gained a wide readership.
The novel is set ...
'' depicts a flock of sheep suffering from bloat, which are saved by shepherd Gabriel Oak using a
trocar to release the gas.
*In the second chapter of
James Herriot
James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author.
Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Eng ...
's book ''
All Creatures Great and Small''), an anxious James waits to meet his new boss, and is haunted by an urban legend of a new vet who ruined his career when he blew up a farmer's shed by lighting a match while gas was being released from a bloated cow. This same accident was portrayed in the
TV series of the same name, but with Farmer Skerry striking a match to light his cigarette as James' colleague Tristan releases the gas. Here, the scene was played for humor instead of as a disaster.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0509030/ ]
See also
*
References
Ruminant diseases
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