Swollen eyes?

[tom4018]

I noticed a cow right before dark tonight with both her eyes swollen. They were about swollen shut and seemed to be watering pretty good. They only seem to be about half open. Eyeballs look ok. Anyone seen anything like this? Wondered if might be a reaction to something, did not see any others with it.

[ousoonerfan22]

I have 7-8 cows/calves with an eye draining or swollen shut.Two yearling heifers and one cow have an eye turning grey,I plan on giving them a shot of LA300.I don't know if it's because of the flies,grass seeds,weeds or pink eye but I'm going to go ahead and buy pink eye vaccine.I worked the cows/calves last saturday and used fly tags on the calves but I don't think they're helping right now.

[tom4018]

Eyes look clear, so I thought it was not pinkeye. She has been vaccinated for pinkeye.

[medicinewoman]

Pink Eye

See: http://www.cattle.com/articles/title/Pink+Eye.aspx

Pinkeye is a highly infectious bacterial disease affecting the eyes of cattle.

The name identifies the redness and swelling of the lining of the eyelid and eyeball.

Latest tests confirm that pinkeye can be cured by treatment with oxytetracycline, penicillin and sulfonamides.

As you are most likely dealing with a bacterial infection, the more appropriate medication is penicillin.
In addition you may want to use a 50/50 water/hydrogen peroxide eye/face wash .
I use a squirt bottle and shoot it right in the eye and on the face.

The three main elements to preventing pink-eye are:
1. Vaccination
2. Pasture mowing and pasture rotation
3. Fly control

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

MW

[tom4018]

Pink Eye

See: http://www.cattle.com/articles/title/Pink+Eye.aspx

Pinkeye is a highly infectious bacterial disease affecting the eyes of cattle.

The name identifies the redness and swelling of the lining of the eyelid and eyeball.

Latest tests confirm that pinkeye can be cured by treatment with oxytetracycline, penicillin and sulfonamides.

As you are most likely dealing with a bacterial infection, the more appropriate medication is penicillin.
In addition you may want to use a 50/50 water/hydrogen peroxide eye/face wash .
I use a squirt bottle and shoot it right in the eye and on the face.

The three main elements to preventing pink-eye are:
1. Vaccination
2. Pasture mowing and pasture rotation
3. Fly control

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

MW

I checked them right before dark tonight. Tonight it looks like it may be pinkeye, yesterday could not see anything on the eyeball. Gotta run her in the chute tomorrow and get a better look. Frustrating thing is she gets vaccinated yearly, change to a custom made vaccine last year and it may have failed. This area was hit hard year before last with a strain normally only found in sheep the vets said. Flys had not been real bad this year yet, pastures are not that tall as its been a real sry spring.

[dun]

Conventional wisdom is that if the white spot is centered it's pinkeye if it's not centered it's IBR

[medicinewoman]

Dun,

Conventional wisdom is that if the white spot is centered it's pinkeye if it's not centered it's IBR

I never heard that one before.
Do you have any collaborating documentation of that?
How did you get from swollen eyes to IBR which is characterized by acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract?
MW

[ousoonerfan22]

The flys are really bad here right now so I don't know if I should try spraying or using the pour on fly control.Can you use the pour on at the top of a cows head or forehead? My cows are spending time in the pond everyday now so I'm not sure spraying is the best option.I need to get the rubs out tomorrow.I had one cow with both eyes grey today and she got a shot of LA300.

[dun]

Dun,

Conventional wisdom is that if the white spot is centered it's pinkeye if it's not centered it's IBR

I never heard that one before.
Do you have any collaborating documentation of that?
How did you get from swollen eyes to IBR which is characterized by acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract?
MW

Talk to an experienced vet and they'll explain it to you.

[hillsdown]

Dun,

Conventional wisdom is that if the white spot is centered it's pinkeye if it's not centered it's IBR

I never heard that one before.
Do you have any collaborating documentation of that?
How did you get from swollen eyes to IBR which is characterized by acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract?
MW

Talk to an experienced vet and they'll explain it to you.

Or pretty much any cattle person .

It is a well known fact that conjunctivitis and corneal opacity can be a symptom of IBR .

[milkmaid]

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis of cattle, sheep, and goats is characterized by blepharospasm, conjunctivitis, lacrimation, and varying degrees of corneal opacity and ulceration. In cattle, Moraxella bovis with multiple serovars is the most commonly recognized cause of infectious keratoconjunctivitis. Most other ocular infections of cattle are characterized by conjunctivitis and minimal or absent keratitis. The primary differential diagnosis is infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), which causes severe conjunctivitis and edema of the cornea near the corneoscleral junction, but corneal ulceration is uncommon. Other organisms that may cause conjunctivitis of cattle, either alone or in conjunction with M bovis , include Mycoplasma spp and Neisseria spp . Infection with IBR or other microbes may increase the severity of infection with M bovis .
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... /30500.htm

I'd look at the cow in the daylight, both eyes affected to equal degrees seems a little less likely to be pinkeye. With as many possibilities for swollen eyes - allergic reaction, foreign material in the eye, pinkeye, IBR, growth behind the eye, wind/dust causing tearing, etc (obviously some possibilities more likely than others) - I'm a little reluctant to recommend antibiotic treatment simply because there's drainage.

[KNERSIE]

As you are most likely dealing with a bacterial infection, the more appropriate medication is penicillin.

Actually the more appropriate over the counter medicine is oxytetracycline as it concentrates in the ocular conjuctiva. Cloxicillin would be another good choice.

[ousoonerfan22]

So should I be using LA300 or the two you mentioned above for pinkeye?

[KNERSIE]

So should I be using LA300 or the two you mentioned above for pinkeye?

LA300 is oxytetracycline and should work very well.