8mth bred heifer limping on back foot no injury..

[b&langusfarms]

She weighs aprox 1300 lbs and is due to calf mid September. Do not know what she did to her foot ( was fine this morning) No obvious signs of injury, except for some slight swelling in the ankle area. It is her back left leg. She lays down alot this evening and when I get her up with food she limps on it quite abit. She wont place much weight at all on it. Is there something I can give her for pain and inflamation that wont effect the pregnancy???

 

[milkmaid]

Treating the symptoms (lameness) is fine, but it's better to treat the problem (footrot? abcess? sprain?) instead.

Have you penned her and checked the hoof? outside, between the claws, and underside? check for unusual heat in the area of the swelling, which would be a sign of infection. If it is infected, then you'd need to treat her with antibiotics... if it's not infected then an anti-inflammatory would be perfectly acceptable.

Pretty much the only safe anti-inflammatories for a bred animal are asprin and banamine. Absolutely do not give anything like dexamethasone or predef2x; those will cause her to abort.

 

[b&langusfarms]

After much coaxing we got her penned up in our corral. I felt all around on it and it isnt warm and the hoof looks fine underneath and all around. I am assuming it is a sprang type of a thing. We do have another cow that came up from a back pasture and they havent been nice to each other and she is VERY large with the pregnancy. This is what I am assuming anyway. If I give her Aspirin what is the dosage??

 

[milkmaid]

Run a search for it on the boards... dun knows. I think it might be 1 tablet per 100lbs, but that's using people asprin. If you have cow asprin the dosage would be different.

 

[b&langusfarms]

I am going to use people asprin and I will search for it, thank you very much. Should I be concerned she will lay in one area for to long without getting up? Wondering if I need to worry about that tonight?

 

[tglenn]

We had 1 heifer and 1 cow do this about 4-6 wks before calving. They limped around and moved very slow. Pulled them, checked them out, vet visit. Then poof, one day they were fine. Vet said it sounded like a pinched nerve that the calf moving into position caused. Had to believe it 'cause we couldn't find any other cause or reason....

 

[b&langusfarms]

Thank you I will give it a shot...

 

[mnmtranching]

Most likely fighting, stepped in a hole, got a slight sprain. Keep her away from other cattle until she's healed and if they insist on fighting separate or sell the trouble maker.

 

[dun]

I've noticed with our cows that typically if they have foot rot that they seem to walk/limp with thier toe pointed down rather then stepping flat footed. But other then 2 pinched nerves from the calf position the last month or so before calving and one cracked hip , the only limping maladys I've seen are footrot.

 

[hillsdown]

I have always been told by many vets that Predef is very safe to use in bred cattle and the research I have looked up just now does not say anything as to the opposite. I have used it many ,many times to treat foot rot and injuries along with a long acting pen with no adverse reactions and definitely no injury to the calf.

As with any treatment of a medication you are unfamiliar with you should always consult a vet before you use it.

 

[milkmaid]

I have always been told by many vets that Predef is very safe to use in bred cattle and the research I have looked up just now does not say anything as to the opposite. I have used it many ,many times to treat foot rot and injuries along with a long acting pen with no adverse reactions and definitely no injury to the calf.

Predef 2x is an anti-inflammatory corticosteriod which means it can cause abortions (or perhaps more appropriately, premature labor) in bred cows. Probably not a problem in anything less than 150 days bred, but absolutely not a good idea in 3rd trimester cows.

Here's from the label of Predef 2x...

• PreDef 2X Injection
  PREDEF 2X (isoflupredone acetate)
  Manufacturer: Upjohn and Pharmacia
  A very potent corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory and anti-shock properties.
  
  Clinical and experimental data have demonstrated that corticosteroids administered orally or parenterally to animals may induce the first stage of parturition when administered during the last trimester of pregnancy and may precipitate premature parturition followed by dystocia, fetal death, retained placenta, and metritis.

From a vet book...

• Administration of glucocoticoids ... betamethasone, dexamethasone, flumetasone, isoflupredone (Predef 2x), prednisolone, prednisolone... are commonly used for their ani-inflammatory activity.
  
  Corticosteriods should be used with caution in pregnant animals because they may cause abortion and fetal abnormalities. The use of glucocorticoids to induce parturition is associated with an increased incidence of retained placenta in cattle...

You may have been lucky in the past HD, but I still wouldn't recommend using any of the steroids on bred cattle.

 

[TexasBred]

Use to use a lot of Predef 2X on "fresh cows" with a little mastitis but never on bred cattle.

 

[hillsdown]

Not lucky MM just fortunate to have a brilliant Vet that specializes in dairy cattle. Dosage is the key I wouldn't suggests that one inject 20cc's of Predef into a 1200lb cow. Just like 12-15 cc's of dex will induce labor in a heavy bred cow but 5 cc's won't do a thing.

Last time I used predef for a heavy bred cow was a Holstein heifer 71/2 months bred with severe pneumonia. In this case predef was a must for her lungs as well as Nuflor ,she had a healthy ,huge, bull right on her due date.

TB why would you use Predef on cows with slight mastitis ? Ketosis yes.

BTW I reread the booklet that comes with the Predef we get in Canada and it does not say anything about side effects causing fetal deaths. Because of our strict drug laws for cattle we may be getting a little "watered" down kind of Predef than you can buy in the US.
Nothing unusual as our calf span boluses have one main ingredient taken out of them for us to get them here. :roll:

Just like Banamine has a HUGE warning on the label NOT for IM use in cattle. In fact some vet clinics refuse to sell it for use on cattle. :?

 

[milkmaid]

Dosage is the key I wouldn't suggests that one inject 20cc's of Predef into a 1200lb cow. Just like 12-15 cc's of dex will induce labor in a heavy bred cow but 5 cc's won't do a thing.

That's an important bit of info you left out of your first post. ;-)

TB why would you use Predef on cows with slight mastitis ? Ketosis yes.

Not TB, but I suspect it's because Predef, like the other steroids, has anti-inflammatory properties and reduces milk production.

The steroids have a million and one uses. They work for treatment of shock too.

 

[hillsdown]

Darn MM caught me again my faux pas..oops..I just assume that people consult a vet when using a drug that they are unfamiliar with and read labels per as subscribed.. 8)

FWI, the reason I asked about the milk fever is because what I use already has prednisone in it so I was wondering what kind of meds TB was using for it..

Like any drug you need to know all precautions before using it. In this case I would just separate the cow and do the benign neglect thing until I knew for sure what was going on..At most a long acting pen..JM2c'nts worth.......
:tiphat:

 

[b&langusfarms]

I have been giving her an aspirin bolus for 4 days and stoppedd yesterday. I also gave her a big dose on Penecillian. As of today she is barely limping and the swelling is virtually gone... I thank everyone very much for all the help..