Some Effects of Feeding Various Filled Milks to Dairy Calves. IV. Necropsy Findings, Electrocardiographic Studies, and Creatinuria Ratios

Summary Gross and microscopic lesions were demonstrated in the cardiac and skeletal muscles of calves fed corn oil or lard filled milk. Such lesions were also found in animals receiving a similar ration containing butter oil, which had been prepared from oxidized butter. Both oral and intramuscular supplementation of the corn oil and lard filled milk diets with high levels of tocopherol prevented the development of muscular involvement during the course of the experiment. No evidence of muscular involvement was encountered in calves fed a low-fat, tocopherol-poor ration for periods as long as 5.6 mo. The influence of certain fats in the diet on the production of so-called vitamin E deficiency lesions in cattle is discussed. The microscopic lesions in cardiac and skeletal muscles are characterized in detail. In general, these lesions were typical of those described previously as occurring in white muscle disease or nutritional muscular dystrophy. Necrospy findings, other than muscular lesions, are also presented. Marked changes occurred in the electrocardiographic pattern of subjects in the corn oil filled milk group. The factor(s) responsible for these gross alterations could not be ascertained from the available data. The determination of creatinuria ratios did not provide a means of following the development of muscular involvement in calves.