Cancer Eye. Pics

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K2011

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My dad didn't sell this cow b/c he and I both felt that she was getting close to calving so we went out there today and she had a bull calf. So what would you do now? sell her and the calf in a month or 2 as a pair?????? she is still in fairly good body condition and so far has enough milk for the calf.....???? Look at the calf, he has such buggy looking eyes do you know what causes this? or does he just have really bad eyes?

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CALF
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Here in Australia we wouldn't be allowed to send a cow like that for sale. In fact, we can be prosecuted for having it on our property.
They must be destroyed. Hopefully she can get the calf to three or four months for you and then you can dispose of her.
 
jilleroo":39fyk46s said:
Here in Australia we wouldn't be allowed to send a cow like that for sale. In fact, we can be prosecuted for having it on our property.
They must be destroyed. Hopefully she can get the calf to three or four months for you and then you can dispose of her.

If we hauled that cow to the sale barn her she would be condemned. We can still have them on our property though but why would you. I agree jilleroo, let her raise her calf as long as she can and the put her down. The calf looks like he has normal baby eyes as far as I can see.

Do not even think about selling them as a pair..
 
i would let the calf get bigger and then sell the cow and calf seperate. if you sell the pair they will split them and you won't get as much.
 
Depends on your sale barn.

Here the cow would bring about 25 cents a pound and the calf $125 - $150 split off the cow. If the cow gets any worse she may not bring a 10 cents.
 
The other option is to take the cow to the vet and have the eye removed, let her raise the calf then ship her in the fall. They will pay for cows with removed eyes as long as she is in good body condition.
 
If you went thru the expense to have a vet remove the eye, why would you sell her? A cow can get along with one good eye. I've never had any experience with cancer eye. If she has it in one eye, is there a big chance she will develop it soon in the other eye?
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":68kpua0n said:
If you went thru the expense to have a vet remove the eye, why would you sell her? A cow can get along with one good eye. I've never had any experience with cancer eye. If she has it in one eye, is there a big chance she will develop it soon in the other eye?

Yes its likely that she'll have more cancerous growths and it isn't neccesarily limited to the other eye.

I'd have the eye removed and let her get on with raising this calf and sell both when the pasture quality starts to go downhill. Get rid of her before she looses condition as it might be very hard to put it back on her.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":10hkzbqn said:
So, if a cow has her eye removed - than later sent to harvest - is the carcass automatically condemned? because she had cancer?

That would depend on what they find in the lymph nodes or if there are other visible growths in the carcass. Atleast that is how it happens here in the 3rd world.
 
That would depend on what they find in the lymph nodes or if there are other visible growths in the carcass. Atleast that is how it happens here in the 3rd world.

That's how it is here too. The vet always feels the lymph nodes before removing a growth or giving a works certificate (she needs a certificate to be slaughtered if there's an evident problem) but he can't guarantee that when they open her up they won't condemn the carcass anyway.
I asked mine about the likelihood of cancer returning (following eye removal), because I'd read somewhere that it invariably does. Not in his experience.
 
Is it attached to the lid or the tissues around the eye? Somtimes the mass can be "debulked" inexpensively and get you thru the fly season. Will come back. Otherwise remove the eye and hope it hasn't spread.
 
Jeanne - Simme Valley":2w0k6sdg said:
So, if a cow has her eye removed - than later sent to harvest - is the carcass automatically condemned? because she had cancer?

Not necessarily. Like TB mentioned, it depends on the salebarn. When I had my brothers cow treated for cancer eye, the vet said it would most likely come back. And it has. The calf was saved, was healthy, and has since been sold.
 
bward":3qxdom5n said:
The other option is to take the cow to the vet and have the eye removed, let her raise the calf then ship her in the fall. They will pay for cows with removed eyes as long as she is in good body condition.

We had a cow with cancer in an eye years ago..... had the vet remove it and sew it up. She lived that way for several more years before she finally had to go due to age. That's what I would suggest doing as long as the cancer hasn't spread too far.
 
How much do yall think it will cost to have the eye removed??? I know it's gonna be different in places but for those of yall that have had cow's eyes removed...
 
Half the year's profits from a dairy cow and three vet visits.
You might find your vet goes around things differently. Mine started with sedation and about an hour's op, that day was $NZ5 or 600. Then the vet turns up a week later to start removing the packing, and I pull a bit more every second or third day till it's gone - four or five pulls. Then the vet removes the stitches when he's onfarm doing something else and the eye is all healed up.
Get a quote from the vet before you start and ask about follow-up care/visits. Sometimes they'll only be thinking about the immediate time and cost when they tell you what's involved.
 

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