Macroscopical and histopathological investigations with respect to foot diseases were performed in 448 feet belonging to 112 cattle obtained from a private slaughterhouse.
Of the feel which were selected for assessment 110 belonged to the Holsiein breed, 1 to the Simental breed and 1 to the yerli kara breed (a local breed). Of these. 89 were male and 23 were female. Macroscopical evaluation of the feet revealed the following diseases: sole and heel erosion in 38 cases, sole erosion in 22 cases, heel erosion in 29 cases, chronic and subclinic laminitis in 30 cases. Digital dermatitis was found in 6 feet, interdigital panaritium in 4, white line separation in 12, claw overgrowth in 18, and 8 cases had healthy claws.
The capsulae of claws with chronic laminitis and heel and sole erosions were removed. A higher degree of hyperaemia was observed in corium regions relating to areas with severe sole and heel erosions in the capsule.
In the histopathological evaluation of cases with sole and heel erosions and chronic laminitis, it was seen that the corium lost its normal structure and there was mononuclear inflammatory infiltration through all the layers of this tissue. Necrosis in the corium, as well as oedema and connective tissue hyperplasia, was observed in the region near the keratinised sole tissue.