Post by twistedwillow on Oct 7, 2011 0:22:08 GMT -5
This morning I had to hose Abigail off before milking, so I grabbed her tail to get it out of the way so the end wouldn't get wet. (I don't appreciate the wet tail across the face thing) The end of her tail felt a bit swollen and warm. So I lifted the hair up and about 3 inches from the end her tail was cut all the way around. It was just barely hanging on! It looks like a bad banding job. There was nothing wrapped around it, and it was already healing on the attached end, but the cartilage was exposed between that end and the end that was basically cut off (which was already dead) I feel horrible! It must have happened a couple weeks ago. And I am guessing that the stress from the injury may be why her production suddenly dropped. It didn't seem to bother her any, she never let on that she was in pain.
So, the vet came out this afternoon and cut it off. He said the wound looks good and it should heal just fine. We couldn't figure out how it could have happened. She is in a pasture with a brand new fence, no hot wite to get tangled in, nothing that could have gotten wrapped around it. Do you think just a few of her hairs could have done that?
She has started licking it occasionally, like a dog licks a wound. Is that ok? I don't want to cover it, I wouldn't want her sucking a bandage off and choking on it, and I think it'll probably heal faster if it isn't wrapped.
I had her in her stancion when the vet cut it off. He numbed her tail first, obviously, and she didn't even really mind the shot all that much. She stood just fine for him to do it, and cut her tail off, and cauterize it, but when I tried to lead her back to her stall her legs were numb. Poor girl looked like a falling-down drunk! You know how when you see someone starting to fall you instinctively try to catch them? Yeah- I did that. She fell on me. LOL It reaffirmed my beliefe that 99% of all animal injuries are due to people doing stupid things. She's a little scraped up on her hocks and knees, but she couldn't wait to get into her stancion tonight to get her grain!
Oh the thigs that happen on a farm- what a life! I had to miss one of my classes today to meet the vet. You should have seen the look on my instructor's face when I told him that I had to miss because the vet was coming to cut off my cow's tail!
So, the vet came out this afternoon and cut it off. He said the wound looks good and it should heal just fine. We couldn't figure out how it could have happened. She is in a pasture with a brand new fence, no hot wite to get tangled in, nothing that could have gotten wrapped around it. Do you think just a few of her hairs could have done that?
She has started licking it occasionally, like a dog licks a wound. Is that ok? I don't want to cover it, I wouldn't want her sucking a bandage off and choking on it, and I think it'll probably heal faster if it isn't wrapped.
I had her in her stancion when the vet cut it off. He numbed her tail first, obviously, and she didn't even really mind the shot all that much. She stood just fine for him to do it, and cut her tail off, and cauterize it, but when I tried to lead her back to her stall her legs were numb. Poor girl looked like a falling-down drunk! You know how when you see someone starting to fall you instinctively try to catch them? Yeah- I did that. She fell on me. LOL It reaffirmed my beliefe that 99% of all animal injuries are due to people doing stupid things. She's a little scraped up on her hocks and knees, but she couldn't wait to get into her stancion tonight to get her grain!
Oh the thigs that happen on a farm- what a life! I had to miss one of my classes today to meet the vet. You should have seen the look on my instructor's face when I told him that I had to miss because the vet was coming to cut off my cow's tail!