Post by Vanessa on Oct 18, 2005 18:35:01 GMT -5
My Gabi, the brown swiss, is sick. Quite sick and I am worried about her. Please, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers-I can't bear the thought of losing her.
Now the warning part-I know that it just goes w/o saying to keep your pastures and pens free of foreign objects, but it bears repeating-if you haven't checked them, or checked them lately-GO NOW! and check. Something that can be particularly deadly-is BATTERIES! esp old batteries.
This am, when I went out to milk, Gabi didn't want to come in (very weird, she is the first one, ALWAYS). Hubby helped me chase her in and remarked she was acting weird-and he doesn't even know her. Then, she refused her chop-now this cow is usually eagerly waiting at the barn for her grain, and won't even let me put it into her feed tub-head is stuck in the bucket. She didn't even come over to check the pail. I brought it over to her-she just sniffed it and left it. Ears drooped, she lay down. Her temp is only 102 F-0.5 a degree higher than avg temp for a dairy cow. I called my Uncle's so I could get ahold of Dad-dad doesn't have a cell, but my uncle does, and works at the auction Dad was at today. But luckily Dad had stopped there for lunch and I caught a hold of him. He kept thinking her symptoms sounded like poisoning-but from what?? We had just decided not to give her any drugs, but keep watching her-when he mentioned that a very good retired vet friend of his had told him to clear out batteries on his place (the place dad bought is an old homestead, and there is a lot of junk there) b/c cattle like to lick them and they can be deadly toxic. (Stands to reason when you think about it, but Dad (nor I!) ever had til that point). Well, as soon as he mentioned that, I said-"Please don't say that Dad!" You see, Hubby was just given over a dozen forklift batteries from the neighbors and brought them over to our house, and put them in where the cows are pastured, near the grain barn. They will be for the wind generator we are installing. Anyways, stupid me, I have been tripping over them (They are big, stand at about thigh height on me), cussing hubby for putting them where I need to walk every day, and it never occurred to me that they are a hazard to my critters
We have had several young cats die in the last couple days, unexplained. Once I put it to hubby, he said, now that you mention it, the cats like to drink the water that collects around the batteries, in the plastic (the cats do have water in the barn!). Well-DUH!!
So, please, please pray my dear Gabi just has a nasty bellyache and will recover-I do not know what else to do for her. At the moment, she is still able to get up, and is drinking water, although she won't eat. If I could just chuck those batteries back over the fence, I would, but they are huge, so instead I locked the cows away from them, and have told Hubby I don't care where he puts them, but they HAVE to be away from my critters.
Thanks in advance for your prayers, and hugs!
Vanessa
Now the warning part-I know that it just goes w/o saying to keep your pastures and pens free of foreign objects, but it bears repeating-if you haven't checked them, or checked them lately-GO NOW! and check. Something that can be particularly deadly-is BATTERIES! esp old batteries.
This am, when I went out to milk, Gabi didn't want to come in (very weird, she is the first one, ALWAYS). Hubby helped me chase her in and remarked she was acting weird-and he doesn't even know her. Then, she refused her chop-now this cow is usually eagerly waiting at the barn for her grain, and won't even let me put it into her feed tub-head is stuck in the bucket. She didn't even come over to check the pail. I brought it over to her-she just sniffed it and left it. Ears drooped, she lay down. Her temp is only 102 F-0.5 a degree higher than avg temp for a dairy cow. I called my Uncle's so I could get ahold of Dad-dad doesn't have a cell, but my uncle does, and works at the auction Dad was at today. But luckily Dad had stopped there for lunch and I caught a hold of him. He kept thinking her symptoms sounded like poisoning-but from what?? We had just decided not to give her any drugs, but keep watching her-when he mentioned that a very good retired vet friend of his had told him to clear out batteries on his place (the place dad bought is an old homestead, and there is a lot of junk there) b/c cattle like to lick them and they can be deadly toxic. (Stands to reason when you think about it, but Dad (nor I!) ever had til that point). Well, as soon as he mentioned that, I said-"Please don't say that Dad!" You see, Hubby was just given over a dozen forklift batteries from the neighbors and brought them over to our house, and put them in where the cows are pastured, near the grain barn. They will be for the wind generator we are installing. Anyways, stupid me, I have been tripping over them (They are big, stand at about thigh height on me), cussing hubby for putting them where I need to walk every day, and it never occurred to me that they are a hazard to my critters
We have had several young cats die in the last couple days, unexplained. Once I put it to hubby, he said, now that you mention it, the cats like to drink the water that collects around the batteries, in the plastic (the cats do have water in the barn!). Well-DUH!!
So, please, please pray my dear Gabi just has a nasty bellyache and will recover-I do not know what else to do for her. At the moment, she is still able to get up, and is drinking water, although she won't eat. If I could just chuck those batteries back over the fence, I would, but they are huge, so instead I locked the cows away from them, and have told Hubby I don't care where he puts them, but they HAVE to be away from my critters.
Thanks in advance for your prayers, and hugs!
Vanessa