Metabolic Diseases in Beef Cattle

Beef cattle are less prone to metabolic diseases as compared with dairy cattle; however, there are disease entities of concern in feedlot and cow-calf beef cattle operations. In one study, a prevalence of 2% was found for ruminant acidosis in a feedlot; however, there is little prevalence information published with regard to metabolic diseases in beef cattle.1 Metabolic diseases covered in this article are hypomagnesemia, ruminal acidosis, and all of the common sequelae, polioencephalomalacia, manganese deficiency, and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM).