A study of pica in cattle in Iran

Pica is often considered a nutritional disorder of cattle and other farm animals, but the etiology is controversial. Roles for the shortage or imbalance of some nutritional elements have been debated. This study was conducted to evaluate serum variations of some electrolyte, mineral, and protein factors in cattle with pica. After history taking and clinical examination, of the 285 referred native cows, 15 with an ongoing history of pica were included as the pica group. Fifteen healthy-looking cows without pica were randomly chosen as the control. Serum levels of Ca, P, Mg, Na, Cl, K, Cu, Zn, Fe, total protein, albumin, urea, and ferritin were quantified. Body condition score and any deformity of the legs of the cows in the study were visually determined. The prevalence rate of pica was 5.96%. Six out of 15 of the cows with pica (40%) had deformation of the legs associated with hypophosphatemia (1.82 ± 0.7 mg/dL). Profound hypophosphatemia and hypochloremia were seen in all diseased cattle. There was no significant difference between serum values of copper, zinc, total protein, albumin, and urea between the 2 groups. The serum ferritin and iron concentration of pica group was also lower than those of control group (P < 0.01). Previous research has not emphasized the role of iron deficiency in pica, but it seems that low serum iron concentration accompanied by low serum ferritin may be associated with long-term nutritional iron deficiency which then plays an important role in the occurrence of pica.