milk fever

American  

noun

1. Pathology. fever coinciding with the beginning of lactation, formerly believed to be due to lactation but really due to infection.

2. Veterinary Pathology. an acute disorder of calcium metabolism affecting dairy cows shortly after calving, causing somnolence and paralysis of the hind legs.

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milk fever British  

noun

1. a fever that sometimes occurs shortly after childbirth, once thought to result from engorgement of the breasts with milk but now thought to be caused by infection

2. Also called: parturient fever.   eclampsia.  vet science a disease of cows, goats, etc, occurring shortly after parturition, characterized by low blood calcium levels, paralysis, and loss of consciousness

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Etymology

Origin of milk fever

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

A young veterinary surgeon begins to practice in the remote Yorkshire Dales in 1937, treating abscesses in horses’ hooves and milk fever in cows and prescribing diets for overfed lap dogs.

From New York Times • Jan. 10, 2021

The veterinary who attended the mother for a mild attack of milk fever says the contention, that heifer calves who have a male twin will prove to be sterile, is just a yarn without foundation.

From Time Magazine Archive

The indirect causes of milk fever exist in any thing that can for a time prevent the free and full play of any part of the animal functions.

From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by Dadd, George

Only moderate amounts of food are necessary until the danger of milk fever is past.

From Pratt's Practical Pointers on the Care of Livestock and Poultry by Pratt Food Co.

Treatment.—Treatment of milk fever has been completely revolutionized, with the result that a former mortality of 50 to 70 per cent has been practically abolished.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry