Sudden death is defined as the unexpected death of an apparently healthy animal within 24 hours after onset of the symptoms. In literature, many causes of sudden death have been reported. In the field, it is very difficult to confirm the exact cause of sudden death only by necropsy. Nevertheless, an exact diagnosis is requested in case of insurance expertise or herd health problems. In the present article, a practical protocol for approaching sudden death in cattle is proposed. The protocol is based on information available in the literature and on a retrospective necropsy series of sudden death cases in cattle in Flanders (n=124). The most common causes were enterotoxemia (23.7%), acute pneumonia (9.3%) and Taxus baccata intoxication (6.8%)
