REVUE DE MEDECINE VETERINAIRE, cilt.163, sa.6, ss.302-308, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
The present study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of combined preventive treatment with Ceftiofur Hydrochloride (CHR), Oxytocin (OXT) and
PGF2α on fertility parameters and puerperal disorder rates in postpartum (pp)
dairy cows. A total of 191 Holstein-Friesian cows were divided into four
groups. The cows in group I (GI; n=37) and II (GII; n=69) were treated on a
daily basis with CHR and OXT for five and three days pp, respectively. Group
III (GIII; n=52) was designed as the PGF2α group, and group IV (GIV; n=33)
served as a control group. The animals in GI, GII, and GIII were given a
PGF2α analogue on days 15 and 26 pp. Each group was further divided into
subgroups of normal parturition (np) and dystocia (d) when the study results
were evaluated. It was found that the first service pregnancy rates for the subgroup of dystocia were significantly higher (P<0.05 and P<0.01) in subgroup
GII (76.9%) than in GI (30.0%) and GIV (37.5%). Furthermore, the median
time to first service and the median time to pregnancy were longer for cows
in subgroup GIVd as compared with subgroups GId, GIId, and GIIId
(P<0.001; P<0.01). Group II was found to have the lowest endometritis rates
after treatment of subgroups-d and -np. No statistically significant difference
was found between the groups with regard to cystic ovary rates after treatment (P>0.05). As the treatment with CHR-OXT combined with PGF2α on
days 15 and 26 was associated to improved uterine involution patterns and
reproductive performance, our results suggest that administration of this preventive treatment would be useful, especially for cases of dystocia.