A comparative evaluation of 2 cow-side meters and a milk test for the diagnosis of subclinical ketosis

Subclinical ketosis (SCK) is a metabolic disease of dairy cows that has significant economic effects on dairy farms due to its effect on reproductive performance, milk production, and future risk of disease. Subclinical ketosis has been defined as being present when serum β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) concentrations are >1.2 mmol/L. Currently there are 2 electronic hand- held meters marketed for cow-side determination of βHB levels. One meter, the Nova Vet Blood Ketone and Glucose Monitoring System, is a new veterinary specific entrant to the market, and no performance data on it exists. The other, Precision Xtra, is a human meter validated for use in cows. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic test performance of 2 different cow-side handheld meters and a milk βHB test to a reference laboratory testing method.