3 Foot Problems ?

[Stocker Steve]

Foot issues today:

Heifer had wire wrapped around a hock. Walked her into the chute and she held the foot out between the bars so I could cut the wire off easily. :nod:
Cow is limping on a front foot. Walked her into the chute but could not see a problem or swelling. Any tips?
Bull is limping on a rear foot. Has a baseball sized lump above one dew claw. Any tips?

 

[Bigfoot]

I have bad luck treating lame cows/bulls. I have good luck with them just recovering on their own. I had a cow last week, with what looked like the entire hood wall separating off the foot. She had long toes in the front, and I hadn't even noticed it. She was 3 legged lame. Over it by yesterday.

Anything soft, you can attempt to drain it. Anything you can't find visually, is usually an abcess. Easy to treat, and sometimes hard to find.

 

[Nesikep]

On the cow, she maybe twisted it or something?
Bull sounds like an abscess.. something poked him and stuck inside?.. treating may not be much fun depending on his size and temperament.. draining it would be the first thing to do

 

[Aaron]

Bet the cow has an abcess.

Hit the bull hard with a dose of Resflor.

 

[TCRanch]

I currently have a cow limping on her right front foot. Stuck a flat edge screwdriver between her toes to make sure there wasn't a rock/debris and took a whiff - didn't smell like roses but didn't knock me out like the unmistakable smell of foot rot. No visible swelling and she didn't flinch while I was digging with the screwdriver or feeling up/down her leg so I'm going with a bad tweak. Sprinkled some molasses flavored aspirin powder on her cubes, applied some DMSO and will watch her a couple days; if no improvement I'll get her in the chute for a thorough exam (easier said than done).

Tip on the probable bull abscess: we had a bull with a nasty abscess on his leg a while back and the vet made 2 slits, drained/flushed and then ran a strip of soft rubber tubing through the slits and tied the ends together to make sure the slits would not close before the abscess was completely drained. I'm not a fan of penicillin but that's all he used and we removed the tubing after a week.

Good luck!

 

[Stocker Steve]

This new bull had foot rot in the other hind foot this spring. He is a little nervous and seems problem prone. Took a couple doses to clean up that infection. Then gave all the bulls foot rot vaccine last week... They pushed each other around after all that fun and excitement.

Are abscesses usually from puncture wounds, or can they be from something else?

 

[MRRherefords]

Usually it might not be the best idea to keep a bull that is problem prone especially when the problems occur in the feet. The feet are about the most important part of the bull and need to be about perfect.

 

[Aaron]

This new bull had foot rot in the other hind foot this spring. He is a little nervous and seems problem prone. Took a couple doses to clean up that infection. Then gave all the bulls foot rot vaccine last week... They pushed each other around after all that fun and excitement.

Are abscesses usually from puncture wounds, or can they be from something else?

Abscess in flesh is puncture or cut. Abscess in hoof is simple as dirt embedded in hoof crack and hoof growing around it.