Bad foot????

[J&T Farm]

A young Black angus bull [16 months] we just bought 3 weeks ago is 3 legged lame and had a little cut right at the hairline on the inside of his hoof. We called the vet and he said he had an Infected Distal Interphalangeal Joint. He gave him 35cc Baytril, 15cc Banamine and 15cc PreDef. He put a sweat wrap on the leg and told us to do the same thing every day for 6 days. Well it has been 5 days and bull is no better that we can tell. The vet said the only other thing he can do is cut it open and flush the joint but he couldn't guarentee that would work either and it would cost another 1000 on top of the 500 we had already spent. The wound is getting bigger it is wet and white/bloody looking from being wrapped up for 5 days I think it needs some air and to dry out a little. Any ideas?

 

[JMichal]

$500 for an exam and those 3 shots. $50 sounds more like it. I think this vet is scamming you unless you have'nt told us everything.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well the $500 was counting enough medicine to doctor him for 6 days. The Baytril alone was $250 for a 250ml bottle.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well,
We usually do buy our medicine at other places besides the vet but this time we just didn't. We have used Nuflor before and had good luck with it, but we just figured he was the vet so we took his advice. We have had foot problems in the past but they were never like this. We left his foot open to see if it will dry out some today. The bull is still really sore on the foot but he is getting harder and harder to get in the squeeze chute. He is eating good and no other problems. We figured we might as well go buy a new bull. The vet said to hold him off med's for 28 days before sending him to the butcher. I hate to watch him be crippled for that long, if he gets to bad we will probably just put him down. Unless he shows some improvment in the next few days. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Bez>]

Second opinion anyone?

Bez>

 

[fourstates]

Is it draining, is that what you mean by bloody looking, or geting worse? It may have abcessed and ruptured. If the infection is in the joint and is draining that may be a good thing. If you let a scab form by letting it dry, it may not drain. Infections in the joint take a while to clear up.

Some dressings are designed to draw the drainage from the wound and are left on for several days. You might try warm water with epsom salts as daily soak, it you do not wish to put the dressing on.

With a bull, it may be difficult to get him to soak his foot daily for ten or fifteen minutes. Keep the area clean and don't let up on the antibiotics. Keep us posted.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well at first the cut was small. It seems to be getting bigger since we were wrapping it. We were doing cold water then covering it with DMSO and Nitrofurazone mixture
wrapping it with cotton and vet wrap. Today we just gave him the shots ran a cold hose on it for about 10 minutes then some nitrofurazone and sprayed it with blue lotion to keep the fly's away. It may be draining some that is a good point. maybe we should keep wrapping it. I know the infection needs to come out. I will try to get a picture of it in the morning so you can see what I mean. My husband could probably explain it much better than me. He wouldn't even touch it to the ground
now he will let it rest on the ground but no weight on it at all.
Thanks. We welcome anymore advice someone might have.

 

[fourstates]

I would like to see a picture. I deal with a lot of difficult wounds. I'm a RN.

 

[msscamp]

Second opinion anyone?

Bez>

Apparently not.

 

[rockridgecattle]

here are some tips for drawing out infections. Epsom salts mix w/ water and use as a spray or bandage up drenched in epsom salts.
you know the plant the hosta? Well there is a wild one out there called... it's on the tip of my brain, any how it can help to draw out infection. squish the leaves so that some of the juice flows and then wrap on the wound.

SCRAP the vet wrap. It seals the wound so it can not dry out increasing the infection. Creates a nice warm wet enviroment for bacteria to grow.

My advice and this comes from experience in bull feet problems that do not want to heal.
Get the bull ready for slaughter or such. Withdrawl times followed. With an absess now he will not be a great preformer in the future. We have been down that road twice. Treated when it was treatable and for some reason it would not go away. We had the vet work on him serval times. on the tipping table to clean his feet, and the drugs. We ended up spending near half the cost of him to get him better. And he did. Next breeding season he was ready to go ...vet aproved and all. We got 5" of rain and he went down just days before turnout. Tried to treat and did not work. With that vet call and the drugs and with the previous years vet bills and his down time, extra hay and grain we could have bought a new one.
Next advice look into insurance for bulls. Life, loss of use, and loss of function. This year it will hopefully pay off. One bull (another) went down with foot rot and lump on the jaw (last year fractured jaw, vet treated and it healed, passed a vet pre breeding test this year). We are putting a loss of use to cover a bull rental. If he does not heal the life policy will hope fully kick in. First year doing this so...
When a bull goes down it is hard cause they are so expensive. If an insurance policy can help with the finances all the better.
For 4 bulls it cost $800.00 for $8500.00 in bulls.
It gives us $1000.00 for rental on each bull insured, and payout of purchase price less amount recieved from slaughter on each bull. No deductable, and does not affect your main insurance policy if you make a claim. You have to buy the policy within 48 hours of a breeding soundness evaluation.

Hope he gets better

 

[TheBullLady]

Seems like a lot of problem for a "small cut"... but I'm guessing with all the rain it may have helped develop an infection.

I'm sure it's painful and that's why he won't put it on the ground.. but I would think that wrapping it would make the hoof softer as well, increasing the lameness. Personally I wouldn't wrap it, but I'd keep him in a small grass pasture, not a dirt lot.

I realize vets are mostly underpaid and overworked, but that bill seems very excessive!

[/i]

 

[Susie David]

Sure doesn't sound like you got your money's worth at the vet's office.
.....No second opinion either....make it a point not to treat other folk's animals.
Dave Mc

 

[3MR]

Not going in to what the Vet may or may not have charged you, but assuming the 500 total is fair for what he did and provided, I dont think an extra 20 for the Baytril is excessive. $20 bucks to develop a good relationship with a vet is money well spent. Is this vet the only one in th earea though? It does seem he is rather pricey.

Oh, and I would get rid of the bull. Its probably the reason the original owners got ris of him. It may heal, it may not, but a bull with feet problems is usless.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well the vet is the only one that we can ever get to come out and he has helped us out in the past with advice and letting us just come and pick of medicine and give it ourself. We bought this bull from the same breeder we bought our other 2 from, and they are good bulls. I looked at his papers today and he is 15 months. I think this all started because he was fighting with our other bull. He is in no shape to try and sell or take to the sale barn. We had him in a stall that is open to a small patch of grass he was out grazing this morning which he hasn't been doing. But he still will not put the foot on the ground. We soaked the leg this morning and cleaned it. I will take pictures when we get him in the chute tonight. That is if we can get him in there. He is really tired of us messing with him.

 

[highvoltagecattleco]

I wouldn't think it would hurt to give him a nice big shot of Pen or LA 200. Most infections are sensitive to a simple penicillen shot. I would hit him with more than the recommended dose. I don't like keeping wounds closed up. I keep them open and spray iodine on the exposed cut. Spray some fly spray around the leg.

 

[J&T Farm]

This is a pic of his foot after I hosed it down. He still won't put it on the ground. And this is a pic of him I took today. He has lost some weight. He is 15 months.

 

[J&T Farm]

I know the pics aren't real good I had just hosed him down so he is wet and it was getting dark on me. The flash made it look funny.

 

[J&T Farm]

Well the bull wasn't any better this morning, we are going to try a different medicine. If he is not better by Saturday we are going to stop giving him medicine and the vet said if we held him off the meds for 28 days he would be fine to butcher. So as long as he is still eating and drinking good I guess that is the plan. He was our favorite bull, he was out of Rito 6I6 but usually that seems to be what happens. It's always your favorite that gets hurt. Thanks for all the advice and I will keep you posted on his condition, but right now he looks like some expensive hamburger.

 

[3MR]

Sorry, hope things still turn around for him, but remember sometimes expensive hamburger is still better then expensive worm food.

 

[frenchie]

J&T Farm seeing as how you are running out of options ...try putting pine tar on it. You have nothing to lose..