White Line Disease in Cattle
A look at how white line disease can cause issues with hoof health.
November 6, 2024
Mud or a rainy spell that leaves pastures and pens wet and boggy can present challenges for hoof health in cattle. If feet are continually wet, the hoof horn becomes softer and more easily damaged.
Jan Shearer, professor and extension veterinarian at Iowa State University, says most lameness in cattle is caused by foot rot; but, if there is little or no swelling, the problem might be white line disease. Rough terrain or traveling on stones or gravel may contribute to white line disease, which often occurs in the toe or the heel area.
Toe lesions are relatively common in feedlot cattle, because their toes may be scraped when the animal is walking or scrambling on rough surfaces or concrete.
“This often results in separation of the white line at the tip of the toe, which provides entry for pathogens,” says Shearer. In feedlot cattle, white line lesions in the toe are frequently referred to as toe tip necrosis syndrome because of abrasions on rough surfaces.
White line disease can occur at any time, in wet or dry conditions. It sometimes occurs in the toe, but it more often occurs at the heel — on the weight-bearing surface of the hoof.
“The white line is the softest part of the weight-bearing surface,” Shearer says. “It forms the junction between the sole and the wall. Separations that occur in the white line become packed with foreign material (dirt, manure).”
Once this occurs, the separation widens, allowing more organic matter to become trapped between the wall and sole.
White line disease can occur at any time, in wet or dry conditions. It sometimes occurs in the toe, but it more often occurs at the heel — on the weight-bearing surface of the hoof.
[Photo by Murray Jelinski.]
[Photo by Murray Jelinski.]
“The separation eventually extends deeper and closer to the quick inside the foot,” Shearer explains. “Anaerobic microbes that thrive in an environment without oxygen can eat away at the tissue and work their way deeper in until an abscess forms.”
Wet conditions can make the white line softer and more easily separated. The combination of moisture and susceptibility to separation makes the animal more likely to develop white line disease, and in natural conditions this occurs most often in the heel. The heel area not only carries a lot of weight, but in the rear foot the outside heel of the outer claw is subject to more trauma because it lands first when the animal is traveling.
“If you look at the sole of your own shoe or boot, most people have the most wear on the outside of the heel. That’s how the average person walks,” he says. “In cattle, that’s the area of most horn turnover (regrowth to make up for wear), so the horn is less mature there and more prone to white line disease if footing is rocky or uneven.”
Many producers aren’t aware of what to look for, or how to examine the foot, Shearer notes. They may assume a lame animal has foot rot and treat with systemic antibiotics, hoping it will get better.“ The only way, in my view, to properly fix toe lesions, white line disease, etc., is to trim those infections completely out of the hoof,” Shearer says. “This is not a typical abscess. If I see an abscess in a claw, it is usually secondary to white line disease, a sole ulcer or some kind of foreign body/puncture to the sole, or an abrasion that allowed infection to enter. These cannot be treated with antibiotics alone.”
Editor’s note: Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer and cattlewoman from Salmon, Idaho. [Lead photo by Sonia Marti.]
Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 16, No. 11-A
Publication: Angus Beef Bulletin
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