bloating

[katethefuturevet]

my cow recently died because she bloated. she was in a stall so it wasn't pasture bloat. we called mums cousin and he said to poke needles in her side behind her ribs and we did that. he also said to give her a baking soda mix to make her burp but neither worked. what do you have to say about this isue should it come up again with my other cows. also he said NOT to use a nife to poke the holes. what is your opinion on that?

 

[Farminlund]

From the thread "downed cow" by Hawkspoint:
Farminlund wrote:

It's been my experience that if you don't relieve the bloat tonite, she'll be dead in the morning anyway.

Do you know how? I helped with birthing, I raised calves, but we are pretty much ignorant about downers like that.

Puncturing the rumen with the standard trocar and cannula is much less traumatic than an emergency rumenotomy
and has been used by livestock producers and veterinarians for the emergency release of froth and gas in bloat. The
standard-sized trocar and cannula (Figures 9 through 10) are adequate for the release of gas when the gas cannot
be expelled with a stomach tube and when an emergency rumenotomy is not necessary.

If you don't have a trocar & cannula you should try the following:

Using a sharp knife, make a quick incision of the skin, 6 to 12 cm in length, over the midpoint of the left flank
(paralumbar fossa, Figure 8). Continue the incision through the skin, the abdominal muscles and into the rumen.
This action will result in an explosive release of ruminal contents and marked relief for the animal. It will then be
necessary for a veterinarian to irrigate and cleanse the wound, followed by standard surgical closure of the incision
of the rumen, the abdominal wall and skin to prevent peritonitis.
Bloat in Cattle http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ex6769?o...
15 of 18 1/14/2005 10:03 AM
Figure 8. Insertion point for trocar and cannula - dotted triangle is the left paralumber fossa, where the hollow of the
flank is found in a normal cow

The sketch is missing & the web site is temporily down, but cut on the left side of the animal, not far past the last rib, high up on the side (as it says "where the hollow of the flank is found in a non bloated cow". It will also be fairly near the peak of the bloated side as well. I've saved them with the trocar/cannula - pretty easy, this method seems to take a little more "hands on".

Good luck - with the bloat relieved you have a chance to save her.

There are other posts there that will be informative as well.

Either the trocar/cannula or the incision should have done the trick & saved her life.

 

[TheBullLady]

The last calf we had problems with bloat with we were able to relieve the bloat with the stomach tube. That should work.. the incision is a last ditch effort.

There are a lot of over the counter bloat products available at the feed store / vet supply also. We keep a supply of Bloat Guard just in case. The only down side with that it takes a short time to work. Depending on how severe the case is, you may not have "short time" to wait.

 

[shorty]

We use a stomach tube on calves which usually helps, never tried it on a cow but it should work

 

[dun]

Tubing a cow gets tricky because they're a lot stronger and those chewing teeth will really frazzle fingers and hose. When we had a bloat epidemic we made a piece of wood a couple of inches in diameter (maple) and about a foot long. Drilled a hole through it from side to side and put the wood in the cows mouth and fet the tube trhough that. Sticking them is definitely a last resort and is best done with supervision for the first time. I think now the approved method is a large needle instead of the trocar annula method.

dun

 

[jt]

dun, i take it that you stick that piece of wood as far back in the cows mouth as possible... reminds me of the old westerns.. bite down on this... its going to hurt :lol:

anyways.. if that is right... is it hard to keep the stick in their mouth, or do they steadily spit it out and you need someone else to hold each side so they cant?

jt

 

[dun]

They just gnaw on the wood, that's the reson for a good hard wood. Beats haveing the hose chewed into chunks. BTW stand clear of the end of the hose when you do get it in and don;t be smoking. I'm nnot sure what the gas is, methane maybe, but it will flare up if lit and the stink will darn near knock off your feet.

dun

 

[jt]

yep... on the gas... and if i remember off your previous posts on this subject, you use a water hose and insert the male end into the cows stomach.. what i dont remember is .. does this usually work?

jt

 

[dun]

If the cow is standing it does. If they're laying the only thing that worked was sticking them. Had a hard time with one because it actually had someting stuck in the throat but I managed to poke it through and it was ok.

dun

 

[MrBilly]

Dun is so very ingenious. We too had an outbreak of bloat a year or two ago with calves that were being finished and the grain ration had been changed without our knowledge. Had six in one weekend, and of course the weekend the Mrs. was out of town.

Tubing is the way to go, needle last ditch effort. Unless you make or buy a speculum, the cow will chew up the tubes. Before I had a speculum, one weekend during the height or our misery, I went through half dozen tubes.

Not being as ingenious as Dun, I bought a Frick Speculum from NASCO for about $15, and a vet. injection pump for about $90 and a tube for about $16. So, for about $100 you are in business.

Insert the speculum into the rear of the mouth, estimate the length to insert by laying it next to the head and holding it in such a way that when you slide it into the mouth from the side of the jaw, you stop at the place you are holding it. Having already done the same for the length of the stomack tube - lay it along length of critter from mouth to the Rumen's bulge and have someone hold it at this measured spot - don't go any further.

Insert the tube into the speculum and the calf will begin to chew on the speculum, gently push down throat, you will smell the methane. I put the end into water to make sure it is not in the lumg for you would see bubbles with each breath, and of coarse the animal, if in good shape, would be coughing if you accidentally put it down the windpipe - never have. Have someone push on the rumen to expell gas.

Once the tube is all the way in, inject about one gallon of water into which you have placed about one cup of Tide laundry soap, or I have used two oz. of Dawn dish soap also with good results. Then follow this with about one pint of medicinal grade mineral oil.

Remove tube and run the animal around for ten or fifteen minutes. This has worked well every time for us. This week I had a calf who didn't want to run, but he woulld let me push in and out and giggle his side (Rumen) to make sure the soap (acting as the surfactant) mixes well with the thick foam and busts the bubbles.

Of course, checking the rumen of calves on feed every day is critical to early detection and early treatment.

Good Luck

Billy :cboy:

 

[dun]

Dun is so very ingenious.

I've never seen cheap spelled that way before.

dun

 

[shorty]

Instead of a piece of wood with a hole in I took a piece of PVC pipe big enough that the hose fits thru , they can chomp down on that pretty hard too and it saves the hose , it's easy to wash up and clean between use

 

[jt]

Instead of a piece of wood with a hole in I took a piece of PVC pipe big enough that the hose fits thru , they can chomp down on that pretty hard too and it saves the hose , it's easy to wash up and clean between use

that sound like a good idea too..

jt

 

[katethefuturevet]

my cow was laying down. when i went out to do chores i noticed she was acting weird. then i noticed that she was way to big so i got my mum and we agreed that it was bloat but we didnt know what to do so my mum called her cousin who is a cattle raiser and asked him what to do and we gave her thae baking powder which did work before, to make her burp but she was throwing up (for real, actually vomiting) so maybe it didnt stay down or something but my mum got the phone and brought it with her so she could get step by step directions from her cousin. we did what he said and he said to let her be for a few so i went up to do the chores in the other barn. i was only gone for about 3 mins and i went back to get some potatoes for the other cow but i found her lying down with her rear end elevated. i ran up to get my mum and she called her cousin bck and he said to poke her with a 14 gauge needle and let the air out. we tried doing that but she died less than a half an hour later. there was no change in food, no excess eating, and she didn't get into anything. she ate normaly so the cause is still unknown.

 

[milkmaid]

Wish mine had lasted that long. I lost a cow to bloat a few months ago...twenty minutes from the time I noticed her just starting to bloat to the time she went down and quit breathing. I didn't know what to do then, and by the time my neighbor came over it was too late. He said if he's been only one minute earlier... If I ever lose another animal to bloat, it won't be because I don't know what to do.

 

[jerry27150]

vet used to have us tube them & put a half cup of kerosene or diesel down the tube. now we are crossing with santa-gertrudis, they are not supposed to bloat ( knock on wood ) ouch, hurts on my head

 

[Medic24]

We have lost only one to bloat, and one really close call. Lost several to the nuts off of those darned ol bambug trees.

The first one was an older cow who was about 3 months pregnant, and found her way into the feed room, spent all nite munching. No amount of work would have saved her. my fault.

The second close call was last fall, when one of our heifers bloated, and the vet made a 2 am farm visit( gotta love that guy), hit her with a twist in trocar/cannula, and gave relief, but over the next few days she was not able to eat or drink without it coming right back out again. His second trip we realized that she had something stuck in the throat still, and finally after working almost 30 minutes, and him warning us that this last push would either clear it or kill her, we got lucky once again, and pushed the offending apple into her stomach, the trocar 'healed' it's way out over the next few weeks. we have yet to find it out there some where in our pastures. Wheww! :cboy:

 

[UnionFarms]

my cow recently died because she bloated. she was in a stall so it wasn't pasture bloat. we called mums cousin and he said to poke needles in her side behind her ribs and we did that. he also said to give her a baking soda mix to make her burp but neither worked. what do you have to say about this isue should it come up again with my other cows. also he said NOT to use a nife to poke the holes. what is your opinion on that?

I have a cow that gets bloat just about every spring.you need to keep bantamine on handand bloat oil you can purchase from nasco. don't let her lay down,keep her up and walking to get the gas out. its alot like colic. Too bad you lost her. it seems that certain cows are prone to it. My other moos never have any problems with it and are fed and on grass the same.

 

[polledbull]

I use the pvc shunt and feed the hose through it . I use clear rubber sprayer hose and a 18" long 1/2" pvc . It works good . CAUTION once I had my finger chewd up some while treating a cow for bloat and it got the worst infection I have ever seen . My finger nearly rotted off. It took it 6 weeks to get well with 2 trips to the Dr. .and 3 weeks of antibotics. The crud from thier rumen is full of bacteria , so if you get a cut during the bloat treatment , be sure to dissenfect if and wash up very good. I nearly lost my finger over it.

 

[milkmaid]

I have a cow that gets bloat just about every spring.you need to keep bantamine on handand bloat oil you can purchase from nasco. don't let her lay down,keep her up and walking to get the gas out. its alot like colic.

I wish walking 'em really did help. I kept mine up and moving...right as my neighbor arrived she literally dropped like a ton of bricks. Picture one of your kid's plastic toy animals standing on the counter that topples over. It was like that - she didn't lay down, she fell over.