Validation of the bovine blood calcium checker as a rapid and simple measuring tool for the ionized calcium concentration in cattle.

Point-of-care (POC) devices that veterinary practitioners can use to easily and rapidly measure blood ionized calcium (iCa) levels in cows immediately after withdrawing a blood sample on the dairy farm are needed. Aims of present studies was to compare the commercially available ion-selective electrode handheld iCa meter (bovine blood iCa checker) with the benchtop blood gas analyzer GEM premier 3500 and handheld analyzer i-STAT 1. Sixty-two paired-point whole blood samples were obtained from three cows with hypocalcemia experimentally induced by Na-EDTA infusion.

Validation of a novel timed artificial insemination protocol in beef cows with a functional corpus luteum detected by ultrasonography.

This study aimed to clarify the feasibility of a novel timed artificial insemination (TAI) protocol using ultrasonography, and to determine the associations between the ovarian component and fertility. In Experiment 1, 272 Japanese Black cows with a corpus luteum (CL) ≥ 18 mm in diameter were divided randomly into either the TRT group (134 cows that were administered gonadotropin-releasing hormone [GnRH] 56 h [day 2] after prostaglandin F [PGF] administration [day 0], followed by TAI 16-20 h later) or the CN-1 group (138 cows that were administered PGF followed by AI after estrus detection). In addition, the CN-2 group was designated for 306 cows given PGF and inseminated after estrus detection in the past two years at the same farms.