~ 28 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2018; 7(7): 28-34 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2018; 7(7): 28-34 © 2018 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 17-05-2018 Accepted: 20-06-2018 Sindhu K Asst. Prof., Dept. of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Somashekhar Habagonde Asst. Prof., Dept. of Animal Nutrition, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Ashok Walikar Asst. Prof. of Dept. of Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Pradeep Kumar V Asst. Prof. of Dept. of Veterinary Clinical Complex, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Pradeep Chawhan Asst. Prof. of Dept. of Veterinary Public Health, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Vijayakumar Unki Asst. Prof. of Dept. of Veterinary Parasitology, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Basavraj Inamdar Asst. Prof., Dept. of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India Correspondence Sindhu K Asst. Prof., Dept. of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary College, Gadag, Karnataka, India The incidence of foot ailments in few districts of central and north karnataka with emphasis on management of lameness in large ruminants Sindhu K, Somashekhar Habagonde, Ashok Walikar, Pradeep Kumar V, Pradeep Chawhan, Vijayakumar Unki and Basavraj Inamdar Abstract The present study was undertaken with an objective to record the incidence of various foot ailments treated in various Veterinary Dispensaries (VD) of Gadag, Koppal, Vijayapur, Bagalkote, Kalaburgi and Davanagere districts of Central and North Karnataka, India. The pooled data reveals the occurrence of 1857 cases with hoof disorders out of which 48.73% were over grown hoof, 4.79% was cork screw hoof, 2.5% was sole ulcers, 1.8% punctured sole, 3.12% was foreign body in sole, 9.43% was interdigital hyperplasia, 0.2% was aseptic laminitis, 8.57% was hoof avulsion, hoof trauma and injury which are of non-infectious origin. The rest ailments correspond to infectious origin like 15.09 % foot rot in cattle and buffalo, 4.35% of sole haemorrhage and 1.42 % digital/ interdigital dermatitis. The breed wise distribution of hoof disorders revealed the highest incidence in H.F. crossbreds (24.32%) followed by Jersey cross (21.76%), Amruth mahal cross (19.35%) and Hallikar crossbreds (12.98). Similarly, among buffaloes highest breed incidence was recorded in Murrah cross (10.57%), followed by Surti cross (7.98%) and non-descript (3.04%). Foot lesions were observed to be greater in hind limbs with greater involvement of outer claw than in fore limbs with greater involvement of inner claw. Incidence of foot lesions was higher in animals on concrete floor with limited space and poor hygienic conditions. The animals which were left loose for exercise regularly had lesser foot problems than those reared on hard/concrete floor in stall feeding system. The incidence of foot ailment was more in cross bred than in the indigenous breed of cattle and buffalo. Keywords: foot ailment, foot rot, sole haemorrhage, interdigital hyperplasia, crossbred and indigenous breed 1. Introduction Lameness is multifactorial disease of domesticated ruminants causing severe economic loss to dairy industry after mastitis and reproductive disorders. Inflammation of Laminae, the sensitive hoof-tissue-secreting portion of the hoof is termed as laminitis. Laminitis includes most of the hoof disorders that can lead to lameness. Laminitis can be hyper acute (hours), acute (day to days), or chronic (weeks to months). The most common condition is chronic, subclinical laminitis (Beteg et al., 2007) [6] . It is followed by necrosis of corium tissue, haemorrhage and oedematous swelling of corium. The effects of laminitis include ridges along the foot wall; swelling at the coronary band; waxy, flaking solar horn tissue; false soles; haemorrhage in the sole; white line abscesses; and sole ulcers (Smilie et al., 1996) [17] . Wherein, 99% of the lesions causing lameness occurred in the feet with 92% occurring in the rear feet. Of the lesions in the rear feet, about 68% were on the lateral (outside) claw, 12% on the medial (inside) claw, and 20% on the skin. The most common lesions (58%) were sole ulcer and white line disease. These are the direct result of insult or injury to the corium and are lesions we generally attribute to "laminitis" (Blowey R., 2007) [7] . Cow lameness results in poor performance and substantial economic loss. Nutrition and feeding, housing and environment, concurrent disease, genetic influences, and management factors all predisposes to lameness. Foot rot in cattle is caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum, which may act alone, or in concert with a few other bacteria, including Bacteroides melaninogenicus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia Coli, Actinomyces pyogenes and the newly blamed Porphyromonas levii (AABP, 2012 and White, 2010) [1, 18] . Foot warts (Digital dermatitis) are known by a variety of names including: hairy heel warts; digital warts; strawberry foot; raspberry heel; verrucous dermatitis; digital warts; interdigital