A case of presumptive salt poisoning (water deprivation) in veal calves.

Salt poisoning/water deprivation has been described under various circumstances in adult cattle. The signs and lesions in cattle are somewhat different from those in swine, which are frequently affected. This report describes several cases of salt poisoning in veal calves. The calves were fed milk replacer and were housed without access to water. Presenting signs were mostly referrable to dysfunction of the central nervous system and included hyperesthesia, opisthotonus, nystagmus, muscle twitching and intermittent convulsions. Although the serum sodium concentration in some of these calves was over 200 mEq/1, no remarkable brain lesions were noted at necropsy. The salt content of the milk replacer was 10 times the level recommended by the National Research Council. This salt may have come from the whey included in the formula. The syndrome produced in the veal calves was similar to that seen in infant children given only a nursing formula containing too much salt, and limited water.