Brandy

Help Support CattleToday:

All I have to go by is the photos and what you've written. It appears from the photo that you are blessed with Carolina thistle
which lead me to inquire about the spray. My concern is she would try to eat the blossoms off the thistles and ingest some
chemical in the process. She is still in the learning process about knowing what to eat so she may try anything at least once.
Otherwise I would separate her and insure she had at least a minimum of calcium , magnesium and zinc, heat and time
not withstanding. good luck
 
Does anyone upwind of you use neonicotinoid insecticides, especially imidacloprid? Neonicotinoids have been shown to cause neurological problems in mammals, especially if the animal is also exposed to the glyphosate in Roundup. Those two work synergistically to cause more cellular damage than either alone.
 
All I have to go by is the photos and what you've written. It appears from the photo that you are blessed with Carolina thistle
which lead me to inquire about the spray. My concern is she would try to eat the blossoms off the thistles and ingest some
chemical in the process. She is still in the learning process about knowing what to eat so she may try anything at least once.
Otherwise I would separate her and insure she had at least a minimum of calcium , magnesium and zinc, heat and time
not withstanding. good luck
Also, to help her cells uptake the minerals, you could go to a health food store and get a small bottle of the Homeopathic Cell Salt called Calc. Phos. 6X or 30X. Give her one tablet every three hours or at least three times a day. Don't give 4 tablets at a time like it says on the bottle, that just wastes 3 tablets. Cell Salts are electrolytes that stimulate the cells to uptake the minerals the cells need to function properly. The cell stimulating effects run out in about 3 hours if it is Calc. Phos. 6X and in about 6 hours if it is 30X, so one tablet has to be given several times a day for best results. If Brandy has a neurological problem from pesticide exposure, the Calc. Phos. should help.

Since Covid hit two years ago, it has been difficult to find the 30X for some reason, but the stores still have the Calc. Phos. 6X or you can get it from one of the places on the internet that carry homeopathic products, like Luckyvitamins.com. I don't know if the Calc. Phos. will help Brandy. I never knew what it would help with until I gave it to an animal with a problem. I was totally amazed at what conditions it did help the animal recover from. For example, several years ago, I had an older quarter horse mare. When I went to feed her and my milk goats one morning in the spring, the mare was lying on her side and I couldn't get her to even try to get up. I gave her a Calc. Phos. tablet stuck in a slice of apple, which she ate even though she was lying on her side. I did my chores and about 45 minutes later went to see how my mare was doing. She was still lying down, but when I pulled on the halter I had put on her to try to get her up the first time, she got right up. I continued to give her the Calc. Phos. tablet in a slice of apple three times a day for a couple of weeks. She never had a problem getting up again and lived several more years. So, like I said, I only know what the Cell Salt electrolyte tablets will help with if I try them to see. Sometimes there was no observable effect on the condition.

I do know that when given to a newborn with contracted tendons in the front legs, the tendons loosened up and the youngster, whether deer fawn or domestic calf, could walk normally in about three days or less, but we had to try the Calc. Phos. on the youngsters to find that out. Also, as I already said on another post, when a newborn mammal or bird with an underbite was given the Calc. Phos. tablet at least three times a day, the underdeveloped facial bones grew to be normal in size in two days for hatchling birds and 13 days for mammal young, like horse foals, deer fawns, elk calves, beef calves and goat kids (also worked on human children with underbite or overbite according to the parents of those who tried it - saved them thousands in dental bills too). I only tried the Calc. Phos. on one newborn with an overbite, a goat kid, which is the only critter with an overbite I ever had to try it on because unlike in eastern U.S. there aren't many critters here in Montana born with an overbite. The goat kid's short lower jaw grew to normal length. All of the newborn mammals I tried it on had a normal bite in about two weeks. I will repeat, I had to give the Calc. Phos. tablet to animals with problems to find out what things they helped with! Naturopaths nor veterinarians had used Homeopathic Cell Salts to do any of the things I found they helped with by giving them. I hope that Brandy totally recovers and does not have permanent damage.
 
Well guys...
Brandy is having a small issue. She's been having a difficult time getting on her feet from laying down.
I don't know if it's heat related or something else. Grass is getting pretty dry. 100's most days now. But they all have plenty of shady spots.

She does finally get up. But it's like she can't get her rear legs to muster up enough strength to lift herself. Like her rear legs are weak maybe??

Any ideas guys n gals?
Based on her history, I'd be surprised if it's not lymphoma. Bovine leukosis virus (BLV) is pretty common in dairy cattle, and it will cause some cows to develop lymphoma. The spine is one of the more common places for tumors to grow, resulting in gradual paralysis. Unexplained weight loss and decreases in milk production can be signs of the early stages of the cancer.

If you want to be sure, a blood sample can be used to test for BLV or leukemia.
 
Based on her history, I'd be surprised if it's not lymphoma. Bovine leukosis virus (BLV) is pretty common in dairy cattle, and it will cause some cows to develop lymphoma. The spine is one of the more common places for tumors to grow, resulting in gradual paralysis. Unexplained weight loss and decreases in milk production can be signs of the early stages of the cancer.

If you want to be sure, a blood sample can be used to test for BLV or leukemia.
Makes me sad to think about. But thank you!
For the information
 
Does anyone upwind of you use neonicotinoid insecticides, especially imidacloprid? Neonicotinoids have been shown to cause neurological problems in mammals, especially if the animal is also exposed to the glyphosate in Roundup. Those two work synergistically to cause more cellular damage than either alone.
Idk what was used but the field north of us was sprayed recently. Killed everything in preparation for no till planting. However. She is the only cow out of a dozen having any issue. No issues before with my regular herd.
Give her a tube of CMPK to cover what VanRoss told you.
Possibly available at atwoods?
Another name to look for?
Give orally?
 
Atwoods...maybe. TSC will sometimes have it. A lot of feed stores carry it. It works best in a IV but most folks use it out of the tube. The applicator is like a caulk gun. You put it in the corner of their mouth as far as you can to get it to the back of their throat. Squeeze away and hope they don't spit out much. Its a good product with a long shelf life so you can keep a couple tubes on hand for downer cows.
 
Atwoods...maybe. TSC will sometimes have it. A lot of feed stores carry it. It works best in a IV but most folks use it out of the tube. The applicator is like a caulk gun. You put it in the corner of their mouth as far as you can to get it to the back of their throat. Squeeze away and hope they don't spit out much. Its a good product with a long shelf life so you can keep a couple tubes on hand for downer cows.
Thanks!
She's a chow hound. I bet I I can get her to eat whatever I put in a bowl and mix it up for her 😏
 
Makes me sad to think about. But thank you!
For the information
Probably 10 years ago I had a cow go down. Vet came out & gave her IV calcium and took blood to test for BLV. In her case, the calcium didn't help and she tested negative for BLV. Got her up with a hip lift multiple times a day but she never could stand on her own and we eventually lost her. That said, one of the first clues of a BLV positive cow we had was lameness in her back legs because it was affecting her spine and lymph nodes.

Good luck with the CMPK!
 
Probably 10 years ago I had a cow go down. Vet came out & gave her IV calcium and took blood to test for BLV. In her case, the calcium didn't help and she tested negative for BLV. Got her up with a hip lift multiple times a day but she never could stand on her own and we eventually lost her. That said, one of the first clues of a BLV positive cow we had was lameness in her back legs because it was affecting her spine and lymph nodes.

Good luck with the CMPK!
I'm at the store now.
I'm really just hoping Ward was a lil hard on the beaver...

Anybody??

Really before my time anyway... 🤣😀🤣😀
 
Idk what was used but the field north of us was sprayed recently. Killed everything in preparation for no till planting. However. She is the only cow out of a dozen having any issue. No issues before with my regular herd.

Possibly available at atwoods?
Another name to look for?
Give orally?
It is not uncommon for one animal to be sensitive to chemicals like pesticides that don't appear to bother the other cattle. That works the same with humans. Breathing the pesticides in the air has damaged my lungs to the point of my having pulmonary fibrosis (according to my lung doc, since I never smoked - being near cigarette smoke makes me vomit and has since I was 3 years old). Cigarette smoke didn't make any other 3 year old kids vomit as far as I know and breathing pesticides obviously doesn't make everyone's lungs become so inflamed that they get pulmonary fibrosis. Each animal is different with regard to chemical sensitivity.
 
Just got done hauling her.
Now I gotta get 2 of her 3 kids caught and get em on feed.
Lil 'Nuf robs from everyone. I'll just leave her be and let her 3 other mamas raise her up. The other 2 don't seem to steal tho. May just go ahead and sell em soon. We will see.

Aside from a bullet, best outcome possible I think. Least she got to raise a few babies in her short lifetime.

O! She appeared to have an overbite...
Strange enough. Only 5 years old roughly
 
Just got done hauling her.
Now I gotta get 2 of her 3 kids caught and get em on feed.
Lil 'Nuf robs from everyone. I'll just leave her be and let her 3 other mamas raise her up. The other 2 don't seem to steal tho. May just go ahead and sell em soon. We will see.

Aside from a bullet, best outcome possible I think. Least she got to raise a few babies in her short lifetime.

O! She appeared to have an overbite...
Strange enough. Only 5 years old roughly
"Hauling her"???
"short lifetime"???
Did you put her down?
 
"Hauling her"???
"short lifetime"???
Did you put her down?
Noooo.
But her getting up from a laying down position wasn't improving. And this drought is forcing me to sell anything that has a problem. And she was causing me worry. 5 years to me is short for a cow. She never got to raise a baby where she came from. I'm sure she will end up "slaughter only"

I've still got more to decide on. Pretty much everything else is trouble free.
 
Noooo.
But her getting up from a laying down position wasn't improving. And this drought is forcing me to sell anything that has a problem. And she was causing me worry. 5 years to me is short for a cow. She never got to raise a baby where she came from. I'm sure she will end up "slaughter only"

I've still got more to decide on. Pretty much everything else is trouble free.
I think you made the right call. Five years isn't particularly short for a dairy cow.
 
I think you made the right call. Five years isn't particularly short for a dairy cow.
Five years seems a short life to me because when I was a kid we milked the same dairy cows for 12 to 15 years. I haven't been around dairy cows recently though, so don't know how long they live now.
 
Five years seems a short life to me because when I was a kid we milked the same dairy cows for 12 to 15 years. I haven't been around dairy cows recently though, so don't know how long they live now.
They certainly can still live that long, but it's not common. Modern dairy cows are highly productive, but that production comes at a cost.
 

Latest posts

Top