Albon for foot rot?

[Lee VanRoss]

I have this 9 year old cow that has been gimping around for a couple of months. I am suspecting foot rot may be the culprit. I have been supplying her with some ground corn
mano e bovino to keep her in shape and to tame her down as she is somewhat of a free spirit. I really don't want to go the the problem of getting her to where I can load her and
it is a tooth puller to get a vet out. My question is can I expect satisfactory results if I break or grind an Albon or Draxxin bolus in with the corn? I don't see her ingesting a
bolus on her own. I pulled the calf on September 1 to give her some relief and the calf is doing much better for it as well.

I did very little research on the type of bolus so input in that regard would be considered. I do not want to get into hog tie situation as it would turn into a Rhonda Rousey cage match.
I think I could possibly pole dart her if needed but would rather use a bolus. I would appreciate input from those who have had experience with using boluses in this capacity Thank You

 

[TCRanch]

Yes. And no. It is a sulfonamide, and sulfas work great on foot rot if caught early. But with Albon, you're going to have to give her 1 bolus for every 200 lbs. for 3-4 days. If at all possible, I highly recommend Sustain III Cattle Boluses. You can generally get them at feed supply stores, Co-Ops, your vet, online. 1 bolus per 200 lbs. and lasts 3 days. I use them in conjunction with Banamine Transdermal when they're out to pasture and I can't get them in and it's very rare I have to re-treat.

Now, how to administer? My girls are hand feeders and I can usually break one in half and shove them in their mouth with a couple cubes. Time consuming but works. That said, I've also broken them up into small chunks and mixed them with cubes, maybe a little mineral with CTC, even calf starter and drizzled molasses (not too much) over the pile. If she's a little skittish, if you leave it in a bowl relatively close, she'll find it.

Banamine Transdermal is the bomb if you can get close enough to pour it down their back (like a drench) and is also good for 3 days. Even if it's something more serious than foot rot, the Transdermal will make her feel significantly better and easier to catch.

Had a bull a couple years ago that was limping, off by himself & hiding in the woods. Only bull I've ever had that wasn't a hand feeder, so resorted to the concoction in the bowl & doused him with Transdermal from a somewhat safe distance. Worked like a charm and he actually ate the chunks of bolus first!

 

[Buck Randall]

Albon boluses will cure footrot, but it's not reasonable to expect it to do anything for a cow that's been limping a couple months. If it's actually footrot, it's progressed to the point of being nearly incurable by now, and her foot as probably extremely swollen. If it's not that swollen, you're probably dealing with an abscess in the hoof that needs to be pared out. Is there any way you could haul her in to someone with a hoof trimming chute?

 

[faster horses]

Letting true foot rot go can cause infection of the foot/bone/ankle/leg. They can recover from having a toe removed but if the infection goes further up the leg, it's too late.
Good luck.

 

[simme]

Agree with Buck. Foot rot gets bad and swollen pretty quick and needs a quick response. Treated early, it gets better/cured pretty quick as well. Chronic hopping - I tend to think abscess or injury or structural issue with the foot. People tend to think foot rot for most hopping and treat with an antibiotic. An abscess may respond to an antibiotic initially, but the hopping will soon return. Best to raise and examine the foot - foot rot is pretty easy to recognize. If a quick visual of the raised foot does not show foot rot, look at foot scoring. A foot angle score of 8 or 9 (cow walking on heel) can result in long claws and a gimpy walk. Sometimes the feet make a "clicking" noise from overlapping claws. Solution on those is culling. An abscess is generally due to a puncture injury. Clean the underside of the hoof very well and look for dark/black spots. Start digging with a hoof knife and follow the black to find the abscess. Dig until the blood drips to drain the abscess. A good set of hoof tools is needed. If there is a vet school nearby, they have the tilt table and work pretty cheap on hoof work.

Then there is the tenderness from founder when overfeeding corn or ramping the rate up too quickly. That will present as tenderness on all feet along with going off feed.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Thank you all. I think you have given me enough information with which to work. It would appear I need to get a
hands on analysis as this may be more serious than I expected. I will work to that end and let you know how this
turns out. I expect it to take a day or three so go back to more serious topics for now and we will revisit this later
Thanks again LVR

 

[Lee VanRoss]

I just ran across this and see I wrote that I would get back on this. I see the road is still paved with good intentions.
Anyway I pampered the old girl until the 25th of October and sometime about the time I was on before I rigged up
a bottle on a fibre pole and poured her with Banimine? (I am not going to go look) . She lived up to her reputation
went under one gate and tried to go over another one which with some modification I did manage to salvage both.
She hobbled on to the trailer and the same going off. Both doors were open at the ring when she went through and
went through the ring with hardly a hitch. She weighed 1325 and $928.+. She was the last of that family.
It could have turned out worse. With respect to Buck I will not let a cow get to that point of lameness again.