anaplasmosis

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farm girl

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I have a question for all of you experts out there. Went to check on the cows this morning and found a hereford dead. Last night she was out in the pasture with the other cows, not humped up or anything, her calf was sucking and everything seemed just fine. This mornning she was pretty stiff so I know that she had been dead a while. No outside marks anywhere so it has to be something internal I am thinking. Has anyone ever heard of anaplasmosis killing that quickly or do you have any other idea of what it might be. Thanks for the help.
 
Your best bet - call a vet - complete an autopsy.

There is not one other person on this board who can do anything other than guess.

Hope what ever it is / was is not contagious or you could have serious probs on your hands.

Bez
 
anaplaz will kill a cow fast . sometimes within 2 or 3 days . was you doctoring her at time of death . scott
 
Farmgirl...I agree get a post mortum done on the cow...you need to protect your herd. Is anaplasmosis common in your area? From what I know about this disease, it is spred by ticks and insects and unsterile instruments and the cow usually shows signs of weakness, loss of appitite, depression, decreased milk production before it dies. There is alot of conditions that can cause sudden death...call your vet ASAP.
Our thoughts are with you....good luck, Susie.
 
its mostly spread by horseflys. biting an sucking the blood from the cows. so horseflys are the carriers. scott
 
We had anaplaz hit here about 15 years ago. It affects older cows. I lost about 12 cows that were around 10 -12 years old.
A cow with anaplaz starts to act "crazy". When the vet come out the check the first one that died, he looked at the cows blood. It was thin, so he said that it was anaplaz.

Ever since then, we keep 4grams aureomycin mixed in with our mineral mix. This low dose of antibiotic seems to keep anaplaz from happening.

If it was young stock, then blackleg is more likely.
 
but blackleg can happen in grown cows. i lost a 4yr cow to it 25yrs ago. the shoulder gets real mushy. scott
 
Thanks for all of your replies. The cow was 5 years old, and was up and fine last night. We check our cows at least twice a day and both times she was neither weak or limping. Her calf was sucking last night and all appeared to be fine. I dont think we will take her to the vet for an autopsy. For one we have no way of hauling her and two its expensive. If we have another cow that shows any signs we will see. I know alot of you probably think its foolish not to get checked out, but there is no guarantee with our vet that they will be able to determine what was wrong in the first place. If anyone has any more ideas send them this way. Thanks for all your help.
 
farm girl":9z346pum said:
Thanks for all of your replies. The cow was 5 years old, and was up and fine last night. We check our cows at least twice a day and both times she was neither weak or limping. Her calf was sucking last night and all appeared to be fine. I dont think we will take her to the vet for an autopsy. For one we have no way of hauling her and two its expensive. If we have another cow that shows any signs we will see. I know alot of you probably think its foolish not to get checked out, but there is no guarantee with our vet that they will be able to determine what was wrong in the first place. If anyone has any more ideas send them this way. Thanks for all your help.
At least you should have taken blood and sent it off for testing. You may not only be putting YOUR cows in harms way, but your neighbors too if you have a common fence.

Cows don't just lay down and die for no reason. Yea, it's foolish not to at least TRY to find the problem.

Your vet sounds like a "REAL GO GETTER" too.
 
lightning, poisonous plant, black leg, you name it she mighta got it. need more symptoms.
 
I wish I could give you more symptoms beefy but I cant. She seemed fine last night and this morning was dead. No limp or anything. We do not share a fence with neighbors so we do not have to worry about contaminating their cattle. We did kill 3 horseflies on her this morning and this caused me to believe it was anaplas but I never knew it would kill quite that fast.
 
Well, if a thousand dollar cow is not worth it and the obligation to protect the remaining herd along with neighours herds are not enough motivation, then I know what it is called.

Dead cow disease.

No shared fence? What about airborne or fly carried disease?

You worry about expense? Suggestyour priorities are wrong.

No confidence in vet? Suggest you get another one.

No ability to haul? Time you solved that one as well. Beg, borrow, buy or hire a neighbour.

Do not know you, and do not know your situation - but it appears you are not too worried about solving the problem - that may mean someday you will be the problem.

How are you disposing of this now dead cow? If it is diseased - not saying it is - hope you buried it deep or had it hauled away. Hauling costs money - or did you just feed it to the coyotes?

I know you think I am being an ass - but in fact I am being realistic.

I'll get off my horse now.

Bez
 
As Beefy indicated, lightning would be one of my first guesses. And don't feel bad about not taking your dead cow to the vet. I've had cattle posted before, so I'm not completely against the practice, but I don't do it for the occasional dead cow or calf. Two unexplained deaths close together is different and certainly requires proactive steps. But I don't throw more money out the window every time a cow dies.
 
Bez, I do not know you, as you do not know me or my circumstances. I appreciate you opinions and understand that you would have done things a lot different than me, and that is ok. However, I do feel that I need to touch on a few of your opinions. If I did not worry about expenses it would mean I was a billionaire, which I am not, and probably never will be. However, I have already taken some precautions to protect the rest of my herd. I bought medications to guard against several diseases that it could have been and talked to other experts, who did not believe further tests were needed. I do not have the strongest confidence in my vet but to get another one in the area that I live is not as easy for me as it may be for you. If the disease is airborne or a fly carried disease getting tests would not save my neighbors cattle. I live in a heavily populated amish community that is not going to run to the vet on a hunch that their cattle might catch something. I can't foresee the future and I hope that I am never a "problem" to my neighbors or any one else. I appreciate your opinions and the opinions of everyone on this board. I have learned a lot since I started coming here and I am sure that I will continue to learn more. This could be a mistake that could come up and bite me in the butt, but I talked to several people about handling the problem and whether or not to test her. I do not think that you are an "ass" as you put it, we simply come from different worlds and have different opinions. I am not trying to start a stink on here with you or anyone else. I was just wanting others opinions and I appreciate everyone that responded.
 
Had one of my best cows die last spring. Healthy as could be at 7 AM, down and dying at by 10 am. Vet worked on her for about a half hour from about 10:15 till 10:45. She died. Had a wal mart bag in her stomach. Wal Mart killed her. LOL
Not really all that funny, but weird things can happen.
 

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