2 yr heifer low head & 'snoring'

[Farminlund]

2 yr old heifer to calve in less than 6 mos, breathing heavy & eating this am, this evening is hanging head with labored breathing similar to snoring, some frothing. has access to acorns. any ideas? should we be doing something immediately? to late to call a vet, will have to wait til tomorrow. something caught in throut? disease?

 

[msscamp]

Has her feed been changed in the last two weeks?

 

[Scotty]

You can check her throat. Some times they get stuff caught. Check her temp. If it is 103 or higher I would say she is sick and needs some sort of respritory antibiotics. Maybe a Bantemine shot. Acorn poisoning animals usually have a smell to them. Good luck. My vet makes late night calls.

Scotty

 

[Farminlund]

She has been in the same pasture for the last 2 weeks - naturally it is somewhat remote from the chute area. Will try to get her up in the AM.
She is in excellent condition & was eating this AM. You can her her labored breathing from more than 50'. If she has a temp, would micatil (sp?) be a good call? Will likely try the vet, but he is always so busy that it is most difficult to get his time.

 

[milkmaid]

No advice on anything but the antibiotics. If it's pnemonia/respiratory-something I'd lean towards Baytril or Nuflor...Micotil will kill you if you slip and inject yourself with it. I'm not sure where I'd make the line at an animal being worth it, to me, to consider handling that stuff...but it would be way up there.

 

[bwranch]

Sounds like respiratory to me. Get a temp. My preference is to do nothing except banamine (1 cc/100 lb) until temp hits 104. Then I would lean toward Micotil or A180. We just bought 100 ml of draxxin that we're going to try on the next case we get. Don't know first hand but all reports on it are good (here on the board and vets from Univ. of MO). Vets here are recommending at least two doses of Micotil or A180, 72 hours apart.

Lee

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Being in the same pasture for 2 weeks is cause to consider eating acorns or something else toxic. Cattle don't eat things that are bad for them until they run out of the "lush" stuff. Although, I think cattle might eat acorns quite willingly, I'm not sure on that one. We don't have many (if any) Oak trees around.
Although, it sounds like a respiratory problem. Temp-ing her is a must to know what you are up against. That would be the first thing the vet would ask if you called him/her.

 

[dun]

Did you have a really high temperature/humidity that day? We've had a similar situation on the days that the temp jumped up into the high 80s after a period of cooler weather. They were fine again in the morning but sure looked/acted pahetic in the afternoon and evening.

dun

 

[Farminlund]

Weather here has been cool, frosts at nite with daytime highs in the 50's.

She is running what I would think is a slight fever of 102.5 (@ mid morning with outside temp ~50). Her breathing hasn't worsened & she is still eating. She is watering out of one eye - not unusual as I see it, but given the situation, worth the mention. Still frothing some at the mouth. Her stool looks normal, not overly runny. No unusual smells detected (wondering about the oak poisoning) & that I think has scours is associated with that ailment.

Since it appears respiratory, we'll try some micatil as the only other antibotic we have is LA200 & that wouldn't be the right med as I understand it. Did not check the throat as that seems most difficult & given the temp thought it unnecessary (albeit slight) - maybe others have different thoughts on that?

 

[Scotty]

I like to give the anitbiotics 4 days. That is what most reps will tell you. Give a second dose if they are still sick. After that if they are still down it could be viral. Keep conditions clean. Feed, mineral and water available and pray for the best sometimes. ;-)


Scotty

 

[Farminlund]

I left a message with the vet's secretary as to what I had found out & my plan to use micatil. His wife called back later in the day & said that this time of year many cows in our area show symptoms like those of my heifer that are a result of allergies! He also relayed that the use of the micatil would not be a bad idea.

She was injected around noon today. We checked on her a couple of hrs ago - her breathing was much less labored with little snoring. Her head is still hanging a bit lower than I'd like to see but she continues to eat & seems to be improving overall - especially compared to last nite when she was making enough noise to find her in the middle of the pasture after dark.

 

[buckaroo_bif]

warm days , cool nights this time of year. i agree, probably respiratory problem.
hope the micotil works... :?:
bif

 

[Farminlund]

warm days , cool nights this time of year. i agree, probably respiratory problem.
hope the micotil works... :?:
bif

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Post injection 27 hrs: she's back with the herd, resting as usual for mid-day, head up almost to normal, noise level not yet normal but much much quieter, labor of breathing seems normal, eating still as normal. So it looks like one for the "gipper".

 

[buckaroo_bif]

glad it worked.
cute kitty kats by the way
bif