A Look Inside: Histopathological Examinations of Different Tail Tip Lesions in Dairy Cows
July 2024
in “
Animals
”
TLDR Tail tip lesions in dairy cows may be caused by reduced blood flow to the skin.
A study examined 16 tail tips from slaughtered dairy cows to investigate lesions such as alopecia, annular constrictions, crusting, scaling, and swelling. Histopathological analysis revealed that alopecic areas had granulation tissue in the dermis, while encrusted lesions showed purulent-necrotizing inflammation and breakdown of the basement membrane. Some crusts exhibited coagulation necrosis in the epidermal and dermal layers. Scaling was linked to hyperkeratosis, and swelling was associated with low-protein edema in the connective tissue. The study suggests that these lesions may result from ischemia in the distal tail skin.
