Cancer Eye

[Tiffany82]

I have a few questions regarding cancer eye. I have a 13 year old Hereford cow that has been with me since I was a child. This cow is of great importance to me and is a pet not a buisness. She has never been sick not even once since I got her when she was a year old. She is in amazing health with her teeth, body condition, and everything else. I noticed 4 days ago she had a wart like growth about 5 inces away from the inner corner of her eye closer to her nose. It was kinda long and stuck out. This growth was kinda sticking up out of the hair, again not on the eyeball or eyelid more towards the nose. It was kinda pink and fleshy looking but eventually turned black. In the 4 days since I noticed it the growth fell off. Being that she is a hereford cancer eye is always a concern. I led her up to the gate today and tied her head up, I then opened up her eye and saw a tiny brown looking dot on the eyeball itself. I have no experience with cancer eye and it was very hard for me to tell if the brown spot was raised like a growth or just coloring on the eye. The area was too tiny to be sure. It was just a tiny tiny dot. I plan on taking her to the vet sometime this week when I can secure a trailer since we dont have one at this time. In the meantime I was wanting to ask a few questions. First off I want to save this cow if it is cancer, like I said I love her and am not worried about anything else since this cow is not being bred or anything. She will be with me till she passes. What are the chances of her survival or her keeping the eye if it is cancer? This is something very recent and very small in size so I would assume its in its beginning stages. My friend who raises shorthorns has a solid white cow that had her eye removed several years ago and is doing just fine. That particular cow was in the later stages as well. I just would like some feedback on others experiences here as to what her chances will be. I am also curious as to the cost of treatment. Like most vets , he didnt want to answer alot of questions over the phone and would only tell me some of the pricing. I was told an exam is 38 dollars and to lacerate it and send it in for testing is a total of 200, so 250 about all together he said. My friend said her cow was 150 to remove the whole eye. What I dont know a price on is the removal of the growths. Being so small I dont think she needs to loose her whole eye. Does anyone know any kind of estimate for removing just the growths through burning or freezing them off? Sorry for the long post I am not even sure this is cancer just yet but would like to nip it in the bud now if it is.

 

[KNERSIE]

Cancer eye usually shows up at around 8 years of age, the cow being 13 she is nearing the end of her expected life anyway, I would practice benign neglect at this stage and wait and see if it is indeed cancer eye before even involving the vet if she is otherwise healthy and comfortable.

 

[Caustic Burno]

The cancer eye I have seen has come in several forms as the cow going blind in one eye first, also have seen they get a scaly growth on the eyelid in ealry stages. I have also seen a bleeding growth that pop's up overnight.
I have a girl that is 14 and stil holding good BCS that has developed symtoms that is going to the sale barn.
I have had the eye removed and tried everything under the sun to save one when I shouldn't.
I have rarely disagreed with Knersie but in this case I do, cancer eye is a horrible death IMO. I would get her looked at and if she does have cancer, it is time to go to the big pasture in the sky.

 

[Tiffany82]

This isnt a weak old cow she acts the same as she always has. Just this morning when I checked her eye she was chasing me for the bag of feed and knocking the 2 other cows out of the way. She doesnt act like a thing is wrong with her, if I thought she was hurting I would do something about it. I am not even sure that she has cancer yet its so small and not obviously raised. The initial growth I saw was not on the eyeball or eyelids it was more near the nose and has fallen off. The white cow with one eye that I had mentioned is in the neighboring pasture and had the eye removed several years ago and seems like a happy cow.. she is actually due to have a calf this month. She isnt a profit animal shes part of my family and we love her. I will do whatever it takes at this point. Just hoping its some discoloration on the eye, my husband thinks it looks more like brown dots to him.

 

[1982vett]

Pet or not, if it is cancer eye she is only going to get worse. Now or later, it is your decision but sooner is better for the both of you.

 

[westernvendor.com]

I've cut an eye out before and the cow did well. As far as growths, if you can freeze it or burn it off, it probably won't effect a 13 year old cow (i.e. benign growth). If the growth metastisizes, then there isn't much you can do. We have a calf this spring that was born with a growth on his 3rd eyelid. It is benign and will be fine, but it is ugly.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Since you have no idea, call the vet.
Search Cancer Eye on here. I have some pictures out there of a cow with cancer eye.

 

[Tiffany82]

I have tried looking at several pictures on here but I guess the problem is the little spot on her eye is so small I cant honestly tell what it is. I would say its about the size of a pin head. The dots look brownish red in color and right next to the iris part of the eye. The growth that was next to her nose fell off after 4 days and it didnt look anything like the pictures because it wasnt on the eyelid or the eyeball.

 

[Tiffany82]

I have spoke with 3 different vets today and they have all gave me slightly different answers. I have only found one vet semi close to me that uses the liquid nitrogen. From what he was telling me though he thinks I should wait to see if the area gets bigger cause he said he hasnt ever treated any that small. He isnt even sure if it would be cancer since the dots are redish brown and not white like cancer usually is. I am at a loss of what to do. I dont want to wait and it get so out of control that we cant save her or the eye. Thats my main focus is saving her and her eye so she can be with me as long as possible. But I would also feel silly to take her in and nothing could be done cause its too small. This particular vet is an hour and a half away from me. He said it could be months for it to grow larger but this other vet told me it could only be weeks. So I dont know what to do.. Any thoughts?

 

[Isomade]

What others should do and what you should do are completely different answers. I would wait a month or at least two weeks and look at the eye and see if the problem had worsened or was even still in existence. However, due to the fact that this particular cow is more of a pet. And it bothers you as much as it does, I believe the correct answer for YOU is to load her up and take her in to the vet. You will feel better if you take her in. What does it matter if others think you are silly? The important thing is you will sleep better knowing that you either did all you could as soon as you could, or that she is just fine. Now take her to the vet and report back what he says.

 

[Tiffany82]

You are right I will feel better once I take her in. I most likely wont be able to do that till the weekend or beginning of next week since its so far of a drive and hubby cant take off work. I am going to try and borrow a camera from a friend and get some pictures to post on here so yall can see a little bit better of what I am talking about.

 

[Tiffany82]

Would anyone on here happen to live in the North texas area and know of a good vet that is up to date on there practices? I have found a good one but its an hour and a half drive from where I am. I have called many local vets and most dont seem to use the liquid nitrogen.

 

[Tiffany82]

I have yet to get her to the vet, the place we usually get a trailer from have them rented out at the moment. Here is the best picture I can get of her eye so far , tell me what you think it the strip of brown next to her iris that im concerned about

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have yet to get her to the vet, the place we usually get a trailer from have them rented out at the moment. Here is the best picture I can get of her eye so far , tell me what you think it the strip of brown next to her iris that im concerned about

Thw yellow scale on the eye doesn't look good for old Belle. The picture isn't easy for my blind old eyes to see it as well as I would like.

 

[Tiffany82]

What do you mean by yellow scale? Sorry I dont know as many cattle terms as I probably should since they are just pets lol

 

[Amo]

I have no clue what part of Texas your from (rural or urban), but if your vet has to send in a sample to determine if its cancer....Id say hes running up his profit margins. Unless its a pet vet, any large animal vet should be able to tell by looking weather or not its a growth or cancer.

We preged last week. Vet cut some growths off. A couple were cancer. Some others wern't, and I wasn't sharp enough to tell the difference.

I think the "yellow scale" he is talking about is to the left of the iris.

Good luck in what ever you decide.

 

[Tiffany82]

I live close to the Dallas area and have only found one vet that does the liquid nitrogen method for removing growths. All other vets in the area wont do anything else but remove the eye. I dont want to have her go through that with as small as this area is and its something that just showed up so I think it could possibly be saved. Again I have never seen eye cancer and every picture I have found online seems to be only the very extreme cases so its hard to compare. Even the vets that did eye removal insisted on a biopsy and lab of the growth to be sure its cancer. When I spoke to the one I want to take her too that is 2 hours away he told me that he didnt want to put anything on her eye and damage good tissue if it was non cancerous. So it looks like either way I would have to pay that fee which is the most expensive part of it all. The biopsy and lab are 200, the liquid nitrogen applied to the eye is like 22.50.... I am willing to pay this if it will save her and hopefully her eye. Shes my big baby

 

[Caustic Burno]

Looking at that pic, I would have her on the short list. You need a good cow vet, from my experience that yellow scale growing on the lower eye is almost always cancer. The bad news is if she has it her time is short maybe a year. You can have the vet remove it and it will come back. I have even had the eye removed to get the calf and raised before sending the cow to make Wolf Brand. The cancer has always came back. I have been down this road and paid the stupid tax on more than one that I thought was a good cow. Now if they display signs they are gone. That is just the hard facts. Again you need to find a good cow vet.

Left untreated it will turn into a bleeding ulcer, or a blind bulging eye while the cancer is growing behind the eye.
I have seen them go blind overnight one day they are fine the eye has turned blue the next. The yellow scale usually turns into the bleeding ulcer type from my experience.

 

[Tiffany82]

I can understand all the concern but since I have a cow in the neighboring pasture with one eye that has survived for years I will give her every chance I can. Could some please explain to me exactly what yellow scale is and where on the eye it is? I am sorry I guess I just dont know what that means exactly

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have no concern other than someone holding on to an animal that needs to be out of the gene pool if it has cancer eye.