Foot Pathologies in Dairy Cows: Preliminary Data on Clinical Assessment, Blood Biochemistry Analysis, and Infrared Thermography

Foot diseases represent a major cause of impaired welfare and reduced productivity in dairy ruminants. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the clinical progression of foot lesions in dairy cattle by combining clinical examination with hematochemical analyses and infrared thermography of foot (central zone, R1; interdigital area, R2; lateral claw, R3; medial claw, R4), in order to assess the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and the evolution of inflammation over time. The study involved dairy cows affected by different foot disorders that underwent functional and therapeutic trimming. Ten lactating cows with hoof diseases (DG) were tested and 5 healthy animals (CG) were selected to serve as a control group. The animals were evaluated and sampled (blood sampling and acquisition of thermographic foot images) at three different time points: clinical diagnosis of the foot pathology (T0), 24 h (T1) and 10 days (T2) after treatment. Higher neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, alpha 1-(p < 0.05) and alpha 2-fraction values were found in diseased subjects compared to healthy ones at T0 (p < 0.05). Thermography highlighted significantly higher foot thermal values in animals with lesions than in healthy animals (p < 0.01), especially at T0. Animals affected by hoof diseases showed lower foot temperature values at T1 compared to T0 and T2 (p < 0.001). Though the small sample size and the short observation period limited the possibility of extending the results to the entire cow population, the infrared thermography proved to be a valuable non-invasive tool for detecting active lesions and monitoring healing, with higher temperatures corresponding to inflamed areas and a progressive normalization after treatment. The combined evaluation of clinical signs, systemic inflammatory markers and thermographic patterns provided an integrated perspective on the progression of foot diseases.