Due to the recent unseasonable weather, Kelsey Daly contacted vets around the country to see if they are seeing any weather-related health issues in cattle.

Fintan O’Donnell, a vet in Co Mayo, highlighted that everything in Ireland is related to the weather, but red water is an issue at this time of year in the west.

He said chills and pneumonia are common in animals that are out and that they are also susceptible to lungworm.

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“We are also seeing a little bit of photosensitisation in cattle, especially when we had the really hot weather earlier in the summer, where they might have eaten a weed called foxglove which leaves them sensitive to sunlight,” the Ballina vet explained.

“We have been seeing a bit of summer mastitis and summer scour caused by dietary upsets, with farmers swapping and changing between grass and silage with buffer feeding and that,” Ronan Halpenny, a vet from Co Louth stated.

Moist weather favours lungworms

Vet Jim Murphy stated that, in Waterford, they “have certainly seen our fair share of pneumonia over the past month to six weeks".

"We have had the wettest July on record and we have has some very cold nights there as well on top of it, which is very unseasonably characteristic weather, which puts a stress on the animals.”

He added that “the usual health illnesses are there as well. There is a lot of hoose due to the conditions we have had; warm and moist weather which are favourable for lungworm. We have had quite a few bunches of sick spring calves recently anyway."

The Waterford vet said that the constant “pours of rain, warm days and cold nights over the last couple of weeks” and the autumn chill kicking in some mornings is going to cause a degree of stress.

Old reliable illnesses

Cork vet John Healy explained that he is seeing an “increase around the Bandon area in cases of pneumonia, in dairy cows mainly, because of the broken weather".

"Likewise, then, we are doing a lot of dung samples for parasites and there are a lot more positive dung samples for stomach worms this summer compared to last summer.”

He added that “last summer we had a lot of dry weather, but this summer the moist weather has left lots more worms showing up in samples,” he said.

“We have been seeing a good few clostridia and sudden deaths in cattle,” said Brian Leonard who is a vet in Co Westmeath.

“The old reliable illnesses that you would see this time of year are lameness and pasteurella in lambs. Anyone that is buying lambs this weather would want to watch out for [them],” Leonard advised.

The Westmeath vet added that “lungworm is becoming more of an issue on farms in the last number of years”, with the wet, humid weather boosting conditions for the infection to establish.