Vol. 11, Special Issue 11 (2022)

Ketosis is a metabolic disorder of high-yielding dairy cows especially during early lactation due to negative energy balance. Bovine ketosis is an economically important disease due to heavy loss in production, diagnosis, treatment and risk of secondary diseases like mastitis, metritis etc. Numerous diagnostic kits and cow side tests are commercially available for the detection of bovine ketosis but the cost is high. Cheaper traditional method like conventional Rothera’s test and Ross test is time consuming and demand freshly prepared solutions. The aim of this study was to develop a simple single reagent test for rapid detection of bovine ketosis. A total of 60 Gir cattle in early lactation were used in the study and based on serum BHBA concentration they were categorized into healthy (n=40), sub-clinical (n=12) and clinical (n=8) ketotic animals. A single reagent (30% Glycine, 15% Lactose, 50% Disodium hydrogen phosphate, and 5% Sodium nitroprusside into a fine homogeneous powder) test was developed and compared with Rothera’s test and Ross test for sensitivity. The developed single reagent test was found more sensitive than Rothera’s and Ross test in sub-clinical ketotic animals. This reagent can detect ketone bodies in urine at a concentration as low as 5 mg/dL. Hence, the developed single reagent test is a simple and sensitive method capable of rapid detection of bovine ketosis using urine samples.