blood worms or something

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Just had a one year old heifer (long horn cross) diagnosed with, anaplasmosis sorry about spelling. I would like information and suggestions about keeping her alive. On Sunday the 8th our landlord called and advised that it looked like a cow was dead. I went out and found our heifer lying on her side not able to raise her head and letting out a poor sounding groan. I called a local foreman and he came out and gave her three shots and wormed her. We got her up and walked (carried) her to the pens and under a shed. placed hay and fresh water and sweet feed for her. Later that night she still had not eaten or drank so we forced her to. The next day our vet was called and diagnosed her with a blood sucking parasite and ran a blood count showing 16 out of about 40. She was diagnosed with being anemic. The stool sample he took back showed numerous parasites but looked like the wormer worked and she just needed some blood cells. We have been giving b-complex and penicillin daily and rolling her twice a day. she still doesnt want to eat and drink like I would like her to. I force her to eat and then she will start for a while. The vet advised that the blood cells will reproduce from marrow but is slow process, transfusion is not feasable because of cost. Is there anything else that I can do to keep her healthy? Does anyone recommend I try to get her up with straps and tractor or let nature take its course. Will she get up on her own if she has a waiter bringing her food, water, medications, and rolling her?

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There are some good articles here:

<A HREF="http://vetgate.ac.uk/browse/cabi/detail/993c880d980a304b23cffff6c8144138.html" TARGET="_blank">http://vetgate.ac.uk/browse/cabi/detail/993c880d980a304b23cffff6c8144138.html</A>

Anaplasmosis is not a disease caused by the usual parasites. Worming does not cure this disease, and I would be wary of worming any animal that is so severely ill. That just puts an extra load on the animal. Worm them when they're well and worm on a regular schedule.

It seems the parasite is passed mostly by ticks, but also by other blood sucking insects. Also can be passed by dehorning tools, contaminated needles, etc.

Be very, very cautious about handling or moving your heifer very much. Anaplasmosis is a disease that destroys red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen. Without enough red blood cells to carry oxygen, the heifer can die from lack of oxygen if she is forced to exert herself even a little, or if she becomes excited. Either of those things puts an extra load on a heart that's not getting enough oxygen to begin with.

She will get up on her own when she is well enough. Caring for her by providing shelter, food and water will not "spoil" her.

If she cannot eat or drink, IV fluids may be a better choice than forcing fluids down her orally.

Her red cell count is pretty low and she is in danger of dying of lack of oxygen.

From the articles I have skimmed on this subject, it seems there may be better drugs to give her than penicillin. There are drugs that work specifically on the rickettsia organism that is causing this problem and penicillin may not be one of them. Talk to your vet about this.

The red blood cells will be replaced by the bone marrow if she is not way too sick. It takes time to replace the cells.

I'm glad you called your vet and are following his advice. Good luck to you. Do a search for this disease on Google or another search engine and learn all you can. There are varying schools of thought on how to treat or even whether to treat, so see if you can find articles that are written for the layperson.

It sounds like the primary thing to pay attention to is not to push her while she is in the worst of the crisis. Don't try and make her get up; don't get her up with a tractor.

Good luck to you and to your heifer.

> Just had a one year old heifer
> (long horn cross) diagnosed with,
> anaplasmosis sorry about spelling.
> I would like information and
> suggestions about keeping her
> alive. On Sunday the 8th our
> landlord called and advised that
> it looked like a cow was dead. I
> went out and found our heifer
> lying on her side not able to
> raise her head and letting out a
> poor sounding groan. I called a
> local foreman and he came out and
> gave her three shots and wormed
> her. We got her up and walked
> (carried) her to the pens and
> under a shed. placed hay and fresh
> water and sweet feed for her.
> Later that night she still had not
> eaten or drank so we forced her
> to. The next day our vet was
> called and diagnosed her with a
> blood sucking parasite and ran a
> blood count showing 16 out of
> about 40. She was diagnosed with
> being anemic. The stool sample he
> took back showed numerous
> parasites but looked like the
> wormer worked and she just needed
> some blood cells. We have been
> giving b-complex and penicillin
> daily and rolling her twice a day.
> she still doesnt want to eat and
> drink like I would like her to. I
> force her to eat and then she will
> start for a while. The vet advised
> that the blood cells will
> reproduce from marrow but is slow
> process, transfusion is not
> feasable because of cost. Is there
> anything else that I can do to
> keep her healthy? Does anyone
> recommend I try to get her up with
> straps and tractor or let nature
> take its course. Will she get up
> on her own if she has a waiter
> bringing her food, water,
> medications, and rolling her?
 
What is the big deal on giving her a blood transfusion. When I lived out west, it was the treatment of choice for anaplas. Just got a health cow into the chute - drew a gallon of fresh blood from her and then gave it to the sick cow. Took maybe half an hour and the vet did it without any trouble at all. Seems your vet maybe just didn't want to take the time. If you can catch it before they go down - a couple of treatments with tetracycline(LA200 for one) seems to work also but after they get pretty anemic seems the transfusion with the antibiotic works pretty good. Also, I have fed them with a good bit of molasses which is rich in iron. Helps build the red blood count back up.

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Thanks for the advise. When I checked on her on her this morning (sunday) it looked as if she had been working her back legs a lot throughout the night. I am sure that nothing could have gotten to her (coyotes or other dogs) because of where she it. I thought maybe she was trying to get up. We used two straps about 1foot wide and placed them behind front legs and in front of the back legs. then used a come-along to lift her up. We then straightened out her legs and she looked to be standing on her own. we removed the straps and chains and she stood on her own for approx. 1 hour. She looks good and with her standing she appears to have lost a lot of bloat the we did not notice was there. We are going to repeat this again this evening and then tomorrow. She has even tried to walk on her own but she is either to weak or disoriented because she looks like a newborn just starting out (stumbling). Thanks for all of your help.

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>Update on sick heifer. It's been two weeks since we found her in the pasture. for the past week she has been stood up using come alongs and two large straps. re-drew blood on thursday and showed count of 23. After we get her up she will walk slowly and eat and drink very well she also stays up for four or five hours before she lays down on her own. But she still wont get up on her own. she tries but cannot get the back side up. We are still waiting patiently but now we feel hopeful of her surviving. Thanks for everyones help. any other suggestions are always appreciated.

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2 anecdotes about toughness. One of the dairys had a cow calve down in a swamp and she couldn't get up, weather was getting nasty so they had to get her to the barn. They hooked a chain to her back legs and dragged her out of the samp and up a hill for a couple of hundred yards, then used the bucket to push her under shelter. Each day they got her up with a set of hip grippers, she'ld eat and lay back down, in the afternoon they would roll her over. They had finally decided to go ahead and put a bullet in her, this was after a month. The next morning she was up and waiting to get into the milk parlor, she peaked in production at 65 lbs a day. Same dairy, cow calved ok but started going off feed a couple of days later. She had a displaced abomosum, vet cut her open, replaced it but didn't stitch it, sewed her up and all was dandy. Couple days later she went off feed again, displaced abomosum again, vet opened her up put it back and stitched it, sewed her up. A couple of weeks later she went off feed again. Vet opened her up and about lost his lunch from the stink. They removed two five gallon buckets of pus from inseide of her, this time they left her opened up so it could heal slowly. A couple of days later she was tearing down the sick pen to get back in the milk string. Open hole and all she went into the string, ater milking they put her back in the sick pens cause she had already started cycling again. She didn't milk all that well, but it didn't matter cause they bred her back on her next heat, still with the open hole almost healed, and she settled. Those are the kinds of cows I like, fight like hell and don't give up. At another dairy saw a cow step on one teat, she never got sick but went off feed and went dry, went down the road to the killers. She had already been fresh almost 6 months and never bred back They be some amazing critters, cows is.

dun
 
It finally happened it only took 18 days but my sick heifer stood on her own this morning. As I approached the pen she is in I went in the gate and turned around to latch the chain like every morning and when I turned back around there she was coming at me. We feel very confident that she will pull thru now. Thanks for all the help that everyone gave. Now that it is all over what does everyone think about keeping her and try to get some of my money back with a calve or two? Or cut my losses and sell her? Thanks again.

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