Background: Sick patients deserve a particular attention regarding their nutritional balance. A catabolic state causes impairment of organ systems including the immune system and most likely favours co-morbidities.
Hypothesis/
Objectives: To determine the average daily weight gain, average number of daily feedings and average percentage of time that hospitalized calves were considered in a malnutrition state.
Animals: Hospitalized calves for which feeding data was available using an automated excel spreadsheet during the period October 2021 to December 2025.
Methods: Medical archives were analyzed for the period between October 2021 to December 2025. Inclusion criteria were all patients for which a feeding data forms was available.
Results: Out of the 52 patients studied, calf’s age ranged from 0 to 70 days old, with a mean of 17 days. The majority were female, (40/52; 77%). Holsteins predominated (32/52; 67%) followed by Jerseys (9/52; 17%). The most common primary diagnosis was gastrointestinal in nature (21/52; 40%) followed respiratory problems (9/52; 17%) and 37% were mixed aetiologies. The average stay at the hospital was 13 days. Mean average daily gain was 0.63kg ranging from -0.37 to 3.1kg. On average patients received 3.9 feedings daily ranging from 0 to 6. If we defined malnutrition as being fed less than 10% and 15% of bodyweight, then calves were underfed for 25% and 63% of their hospitalization respectively.
Conclusions: The true impact of being in a catabolic state during a convalescence is not under debate but the optimal way to reach nutritional objective still needs to be refined.
