Post by milkmaid11 on Jul 2, 2009 13:58:45 GMT -5
Hope someone can help...
Mama C, our oldest cow (5 yr) that calved last Dec was down this morning. I saw her when I drove past the cow barn on the way to work. She was laying on her side with all four legs out in front, and her head and neck stretched out. I thought she was dead at first, but when I jumped the fence into the corral, I saw she was stilll breathing, but it looked like she had emptied her bowels pretty much completely while down. No blood or mucous, just loose stool.
I ran to get my husband and we got her up on her brisket. Her rumen was huge and tympanitic. I was getting ready to give her the bloat remedy in Joann's book, but she started belching and over the next 15 to 20 minutes, her rumen went down significantly and she looked a little better, but we couldn't (and still can't) get her up.
She doesn't want water or food.
We called the vet and he came and gave her some IV calcium and dextrose (I think...that was husband's report - I had to leave to come into work). H just texted me that she is still down on her brisket, but looking around. Still burping occasionally. Breathing less labored.
More background that might be helpful: She's dried off from her calving. We've had her on prairie hay, and some alfalfa cube and oats. She's been steadily losing condition over the last few months. I've been adding some beet pulp to her rations to try to get her to stop losing, but to no avail. None of our other cattle are sick and all have been tested neg for Johnne's. She hasn't been exposed to any new livestock since last Nov. She gets a handful of Purina all purpose cattle mineral in her rations daily (that's the only minerals I can find around here) and has free access to salt blocks. She's had looser stools for the past few months, I thought maybe it was due to my increasing the "richness" of her rations, trying to get her back into condition.
3 weeks ago she got out and got stuck in the mud in a drainage ditch. I don't know how long she was there...couldn't have been much more that a few hours when we found her. But she was pretty tired. She couldn't help us help her get her out. She was up to her neck in muck. We had to use the loader to hoist her out. After we got her out, she had no strength to stand...my husband and I fashioned a "sled" for her on a piece of plywood and pulled her onto a tarp and then onto the plywood and pulled her back into the corral with the pickup. It was really late when we got her in (2 in the morning) and I didn't think she'd still be with us in the morning, but the next morning, she was up and eating and drinking. She's been ok until this morning.
I don't know what happened...we haven't made any big changes to her feed or hay...it's our own hay she's eating, no fertilizer or chemicals on it, the other cattle get some of the same stuff she gets and no one else is sick.
I don't know what exactly is going on, what caused it, what else to do.
Mama C, our oldest cow (5 yr) that calved last Dec was down this morning. I saw her when I drove past the cow barn on the way to work. She was laying on her side with all four legs out in front, and her head and neck stretched out. I thought she was dead at first, but when I jumped the fence into the corral, I saw she was stilll breathing, but it looked like she had emptied her bowels pretty much completely while down. No blood or mucous, just loose stool.
I ran to get my husband and we got her up on her brisket. Her rumen was huge and tympanitic. I was getting ready to give her the bloat remedy in Joann's book, but she started belching and over the next 15 to 20 minutes, her rumen went down significantly and she looked a little better, but we couldn't (and still can't) get her up.
She doesn't want water or food.
We called the vet and he came and gave her some IV calcium and dextrose (I think...that was husband's report - I had to leave to come into work). H just texted me that she is still down on her brisket, but looking around. Still burping occasionally. Breathing less labored.
More background that might be helpful: She's dried off from her calving. We've had her on prairie hay, and some alfalfa cube and oats. She's been steadily losing condition over the last few months. I've been adding some beet pulp to her rations to try to get her to stop losing, but to no avail. None of our other cattle are sick and all have been tested neg for Johnne's. She hasn't been exposed to any new livestock since last Nov. She gets a handful of Purina all purpose cattle mineral in her rations daily (that's the only minerals I can find around here) and has free access to salt blocks. She's had looser stools for the past few months, I thought maybe it was due to my increasing the "richness" of her rations, trying to get her back into condition.
3 weeks ago she got out and got stuck in the mud in a drainage ditch. I don't know how long she was there...couldn't have been much more that a few hours when we found her. But she was pretty tired. She couldn't help us help her get her out. She was up to her neck in muck. We had to use the loader to hoist her out. After we got her out, she had no strength to stand...my husband and I fashioned a "sled" for her on a piece of plywood and pulled her onto a tarp and then onto the plywood and pulled her back into the corral with the pickup. It was really late when we got her in (2 in the morning) and I didn't think she'd still be with us in the morning, but the next morning, she was up and eating and drinking. She's been ok until this morning.
I don't know what happened...we haven't made any big changes to her feed or hay...it's our own hay she's eating, no fertilizer or chemicals on it, the other cattle get some of the same stuff she gets and no one else is sick.
I don't know what exactly is going on, what caused it, what else to do.
