• Decrease in production
• Decrease in reproductive performance, with an increase in the calving interval.
• Increase in the percentage of rejection.
• Increase in animal replacement.
• Increase in costs for treatments and veterinary care.
• Increased work demanded by the treatment and management of lame animals.

Hoof Care:

As a general rule, hooves should be trimmed at least once during lactation, with drying off being a good time to do this. In turn, cows and replacement heifers should be treated or trimmed when necessary, should a problem arise.

The larger the herd, the more difficult early detection becomes. Detection is carried out by the herders or the milkers themselves. What happens more often than necessary is that the employees in charge of separating these animals separate them when it is too late. The product of this neglect is a cow with the potential to give milk, but whose body reserves have been eliminated by leg problems and the stress associated with them. Basically, this happens because it is difficult and painful for the cow to walk two or three times a day to be milked with one or more legs affected.

The main function of traditional footbaths is to prevent the appearance of foot diseases; these should be placed in areas of obligatory passage of the animals in which they cannot stop.

The most frequent and recommended points are:

• Exit corridors from the milking parlor in animals in the productive phase.
• Access corridors to the feeding area for heifers and dry cows.

To guarantee the effectiveness of the footbath, we must replace the disinfectant solution when about 400 cows have circulated, and it is advisable to periodically check the cleaning solution to avoid excessive accumulation of excrement. Traditional preparations use formalin and copper sulfate as disinfectant principles. Formalin is a chemical compound classified as carcinogenic category 3, that is, a substance whose carcinogenic effects have not been demonstrated in humans but are of concern because they have been demonstrated in some animal species.

Commercial products such as Podocare are formaldehyde-free, using glutaraldehyde, quaternary ammonium, copper sulfate, zinc, and aluminum as active ingredients. Glutaraldehyde complements the excellent disinfectant qualities of quaternary ammonium compounds, providing a broad fungicidal, bactericidal, and viricidal spectrum. As it is a formaldehyde-free product, the handling risks derived from it are avoided, as well as the carcinogenic risk (demonstrated in animals) that this substance entails.

Greater disinfectant activity of glutaraldehyde in the presence of organic matter.
• Faster action of glutaraldehyde against spores (Rubbo et al., 1967).
• Possible development of plasmid resistance to formaldehyde (Heinzel, 1988).

All these advantages, together with the practical equality of disinfectant capacity of both compounds against the rest of microorganisms, as well as the greater danger of formaldehyde both for the animal and for the handlers, make glutaraldehyde the best choice for products intended for the prevention of foot pathologies. Zinc sulfate acts as an antiseptic, astringent, anti-infectious and keratoplastic. Zinc, like other heavy metals (Copper) has a direct antibacterial effect by astringent action that causes the precipitation of bacterial proteins. By eliminating the load of Pietín pathogens in the hoof, it eliminates the main infectious reservoir, preventing diffusion to the environment and subsequent contagion.

• Detergent capacity, influences the cleanliness of the hoof, improving the disinfectant action.

• Stability in pH conditions and extreme temperatures.

• Low toxicity.

• Residual effect, remain in the hoof increasing the treatment time. It is worth noting the effectiveness of quaternary ammonium compounds against fungi, algae and, above all, Gram+ type bacteria.