Post by littlemother on Apr 13, 2017 12:20:43 GMT -5
Our beloved Buttercup developed a very occassional cough just before she calved in Jan. I called the vet and asked about it but she didn't seem concerned. She began having more trouble, that we thought was related to the weather, which it was, and she would get better and then regress. Sometimes having coughing fits and wheezing and then she'd be fine and seem to be on the mend. Finally I called the vet again because she didn't seem to be getting over it, just having good days and bad days. The vet had us bring her in for an exam. She said she has some bronchial shutdown and COPD and that it was either caused by allergies or heart failure strained her system and caused allergies and that either way it is the same result and there is nothing to be done but take her to the sale barn and get a younger cow. Right after she said that she said she understood that Buttercup was our pet and she said we could see what all TLC could do for her and to just pay attention to what hays or grains seem to bother her more and she gave us a bottle of steriods to give her when the weather gets hot and she might have trouble breathing. Since the weather has warmed up, however, she hardly ever coughs now. We can't help but hope she heals rather than goes the other way.
We are so sad. Buttercup is just the perfect cow for us and we've had such bad luck with cows.
The vet did say that we didn't cause it and we couldn't have prevented it and that is was just one of those things. I still feel awful about it.
Does anyone else have any experience with this? Is there anything else we can do for her? She has lost condition through all of this. Her appetite never really got back to normal after calving. She has good days that she eats normally, but usually she doesn't eat all of her grain. She is on the thin side, and now that the pastures are growing in she is happily munching on that and we hope she will fatten up a bit on that. Any suggestions.
The vet said that if she begins to cycle that means she can handle a pregnancy and to go ahead and breed her but that if she has trouble with the heat we can't give her the steriods. I don't know which would be better for her, to go through the heat at the beginning of a pregnancy or to calve in the heat. Or should we not breed her?
Is there any hope that she will recover and get over this and still live to a ripe old age??
We are so sad. Buttercup is just the perfect cow for us and we've had such bad luck with cows.
The vet did say that we didn't cause it and we couldn't have prevented it and that is was just one of those things. I still feel awful about it.Does anyone else have any experience with this? Is there anything else we can do for her? She has lost condition through all of this. Her appetite never really got back to normal after calving. She has good days that she eats normally, but usually she doesn't eat all of her grain. She is on the thin side, and now that the pastures are growing in she is happily munching on that and we hope she will fatten up a bit on that. Any suggestions.
The vet said that if she begins to cycle that means she can handle a pregnancy and to go ahead and breed her but that if she has trouble with the heat we can't give her the steriods. I don't know which would be better for her, to go through the heat at the beginning of a pregnancy or to calve in the heat. Or should we not breed her?
Is there any hope that she will recover and get over this and still live to a ripe old age??
