Bayer has unveiled "Ketosis - latest insights: prevention, therapy and useful hints" at the World Buiatrics Congress 2016Bayer has unveiled "Ketosis - latest insights: prevention, therapy and useful hints" at the World Buiatrics Congress 2016

Described as a first-of-its-kind, mobile-enabled digital whitepaper, the publication offers veterinary surgeons and farmers a resource on ketosis, scientific insights on the impact of the disease, and tools to help optimize dairy herd management. 

According to the company, the whitepaper reveals that ketone bodies play a more significant role in metabolic diseases than was previously realized, and that beta-hydroxybutyrate is a good indicator of the presence of subclinical ketosis in dairy cattle. 

Rinse Boersma, Dairy Species Manager, Animal Health, Bayer said: "Recognizing the significance of ketone bodies is a positive step towards further enhancing dairy cattle health and welfare. Veterinarians can now reliably detect the presence of subclinical ketosis in dairy herds with a simple blood test, and act quickly with the appropriate corrective measures to arrest disease progression." 

Also at Congress, Bayer revealed its enhanced BCS Cowdition smartphone application, designed to support ease and accuracy of body condition scoring (BCS) of dairy cows. Bayer says the upgrade helps farmers to improve herd health management by enabling assessment of individual cows’ BCS scores based on its lactation cycle, alerts for cows that need to be attended to, and a dashboard that offers farmers an overview of their entire herd’s health.

BCS Cowdition is available in 10 languages and is free for download from the AppStore and GooglePlay.

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