Post by mcdaid36 on Dec 10, 2011 11:00:16 GMT -5
Finally called the vet because I'm at my wits end. Smidgeon is caught in this cycle of eat well for 1-2 days, eat a little for 1 day, eat nothing for 1-2 days, eat a little 1 day then eat well again. We've been going through this for over 3 weeks, she's lost weight, continues to keep having high levels of ketones in her urine. On the days she's eating she looks great, on the days she's not she's sullen, depressed. On the in between days she's a nervous wreck, mooing constantly, running after her calf whenever he walks more than 5 ft away from her.
I was not happy with the vet's suggestions. We both agree that obviously she needs to get out of this ketonic state or her liver will shut down. She thinks I should pull the calf and dry up the cow. She's only been 3 1/2 weeks fresh!!! She should just be starting her milk production, not ending it. She also recommends pulling her off grain and only giving hay/alfalfa, which I did read in a bunch of studies for this persistent ketosis. Obviously then her milk production will drop (which is already has been anyway). She is on her way however to give an IV of dextrose and I'm running out to get propylene glycol which she said I can supplement with. She thinks this might pull her through for a while, but then she'll go downhill again so she really thinks I should just dry her up.
I'm so upset by that suggestion, but of course I want to do what's best for the animal. I think I'd be more upset if I dried her up, then fed her for a year until she calved again, and we had to go through all this again just to find out she really is not a candidate for producing anything to be a milk cow....
I was not happy with the vet's suggestions. We both agree that obviously she needs to get out of this ketonic state or her liver will shut down. She thinks I should pull the calf and dry up the cow. She's only been 3 1/2 weeks fresh!!! She should just be starting her milk production, not ending it. She also recommends pulling her off grain and only giving hay/alfalfa, which I did read in a bunch of studies for this persistent ketosis. Obviously then her milk production will drop (which is already has been anyway). She is on her way however to give an IV of dextrose and I'm running out to get propylene glycol which she said I can supplement with. She thinks this might pull her through for a while, but then she'll go downhill again so she really thinks I should just dry her up.
I'm so upset by that suggestion, but of course I want to do what's best for the animal. I think I'd be more upset if I dried her up, then fed her for a year until she calved again, and we had to go through all this again just to find out she really is not a candidate for producing anything to be a milk cow....