Lack of association between claw lesions or claw overgrowth and inflammation of the urinary bladder of culled sows from Greek herds

Abstract

Factors associated with decreased frequency of micturition appeared to predispose sows to urinary tract infections (UTI) which are characterized by cystitis, ureteritis and pyelonephritis. We aimed to investigate the possible associations between the frequency and severity of claw lesions or the intensity of claw overgrowth with cystitis in culled sows. At slaughter, we collected from 185 culled sows from three Greek farrow-to-finish herds the urinary bladders and feet. The bladders were histopathologically examined. The claws were macroscopically evaluated and scored for lesions in five anatomical claw sites (the sole, the heel, the wall, the white line and the coronary band). Additionally, four claw length measurements (i. the distance from the dorsal skin-horn junction (periople) to the apex of the toe, ii. the distance from the apex of the toe to the skin-horn junction at the heel, iii. the length of the abaxial wall (sole) and bulb (heel) that are in contact with the floor surface, and iv. the length of the dewclaws) were recorded per toe. Cystitis was recorded in 85/185 (45.94%) sows. All sows had at least one lesion on any site, on any foot. The proportion of sows with at least one lesion in each claw site was similar among herds (all P>0.05). Multivariable analyses revealed no association either between cystitis and claw lesions or between cystitis and claw length measurements. This result may have been biased by the fact that our study's population comprised mainly sows which had terminated their productive life (parity range 1–9, median=6 inter-quartile range=4). Inadvertently, this may have reduced variation in claw lesion frequency or severity and of the intensity of claw overgrowth in comparison to the reference population of productive sows. © 2022