Every bovine practitioner is acutely aware of the increased risk of the occurrence of 'transition cow disease' in dairy cows during their transition from late pregnancy to early lactation. Changes in management during this time can result in a multitude of problems including those associated with metabolic and energy imbalances, as well as infection of the uterus and mammary gland (Mulligan et al., 2006; LeBlanc, 2008). The periparturient period can thus be quite a precarious phase in terms of the health of these 'high performance athletes' that are constantly balancing on a tightrope between health and disease.
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