Caught it early

Gather App
TCRanch

TCRanch

CT Supporter
Cattle Today Supporter
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
10,341
City & State/Province
Winfield, KS
Only had one other experience with woody tongue & this was nothing like that; no drooling, hadn't lost body composition, still eating hay but something just wasn't right, mainly because she wasn't eating cubes. Took her temp, hand-fed her bagels (don't judge, she loves them), didn't notice anything wrong with her mouth but watched her for a week. Took her in to the vet this afternoon and sure enough, there's a small sore on the side of her tongue and it's hard waaaaay back, almost to her throat. She's appx 45 days bred but we elected to treat her w/sodium iodide & penicillin, knowing there's a risk of abortion. She should be fine but I'm wondering, how many of you risk the potential abortion & treat with iodide instead of tetracycline? By the way, our only other cow with woody was treated w/iodide, needed only one treatment and did not abort.
 
I think we had one many years ago we treated with iodine.. she would most likely have been heavy bred (I think it happened in the winter), and she didn't abort. Ours was really bad, she stopped chewing cud too, so it is good you got yours treated early
 
Nesikep":2rw5a0xd said:
I think we had one many years ago we treated with iodine.. she would most likely have been heavy bred (I think it happened in the winter), and she didn't abort. Ours was really bad, she stopped chewing cud too, so it is good you got yours treated early
Click to expand...
Nesi, do you know if they're more likely to abort if they're not far along, as opposed to heavy bred?
 
Bump. Taking her in 1st thing Mon morning. Previously mentioned not a classic case of woody tongue . . . Vet initially suggested hardware but she has a magnet & not other typical symptoms other than her brisket is large (not unusual for some of our fat girls) but no swelling of the legs, straining to breath/extending her neck, ect. He checked her out completely w/the stethoscope, internal exam, checked lymph nodes because we lost a cow last summer to lymphosarcoma . . . Nada. She's barely eating; a few bites of alfalfa, brome, prairie hay, calf starter/creep feed. Tried 15% beef feed, the residual powder/small chunks of 20% cubes that was left in a Versa Tote, even tried her favorite breads (whole wheat & honey), bagels, the little glazed Hostess doughnuts & oatmeal (plain & brown sugar). She's still drinking but not a lot, still nursing. Temp still okay, 102 today. Dark mucus plug so I suspect she's going to abort. What's going on??? Any suggestions?
 
Not chewing cud although it looks like either she or her calf ate quite a bit of the prairie hay & cube/15% beef feed/oatmeal mixture. Her manure is dark but not hard. We drenched her with electrolytes this morning & gave her 20cc Vitamin B Complex. Temp was 101.5 but she does have a clumpy snotty nose, most likely due to the sodium iodide & not cleaning it out with her tongue. She's a favorite, have never had to doctor her for anything (she's 9) so thank you for your thoughts!
 
Took her back to the vet yesterday. He found one more small sore on the other side of the tongue & did another thorough exam. Still found nothing other than initial assessment of woody tongue and the swelling has gone down a lot. Her calf is still nursing - kind of - because she has very little milk. Treated with another 50cc penicillin & Banamine for pain (too early for another treatment of sodium iodide). She's been eating a small amount of cubes & hay & is drinking but aborted this afternoon. Bless her heart!
 
Well that sucks... I do know the feeling though.. I had one abort on new years eve.. just saw she had some placenta hanging out.. saw an eagle that day, so he probably found it... she's a 14 year old so who was never exceptional, so she'll be going on the truck at some point
 
Well . . . . now we're pretty sure she didn't abort. Took a pic of the "mass" yesterday, picked through it with a stick & didn't find anything approximately the size of a small mouse but there was the tell-tell blood around her tail; called the vet & he said she did most likely abort. Today I noticed her stool was the consistency & color of tar mixed with blood and a couple of "chunks", even dripping while she was laying down. Not good! Took samples of yesterday's whatever-mass & today's stool to the vet & showed him the pic. We're not waiting for test results because he agrees it doesn't look like an abortion & this is clearly not normal poo. Fire Sweep, the pics of your cow are nothing like ours & nothing like we've experienced with woody tongue: no swelling, no drooling, no appetite, doesn't appear to be in pain, drinks, eats enough to sustain her, not loosing body composition at a rate that is visible, still grooming her calf with her tongue. I have no clue what to think at this point.
 
True Grit Farms":xtp3yed6 said:
Hardware? Might try a magnet?
Click to expand...

Vet did consider hardware the 1st time we took her in but all our cows/bulls/retained heifers have magnets. There is a possibility of hardware from something other than metal (shard of glass, sharp rock, honey locust thorn) but those instances are rare & she's not showing any other symptoms such as swelling, straining to breathe, extending her neck, coughing . . . But thanks for any suggestions!
 
"Caught it early" has now bitten me in the a$$. Test results were all inconclusive/nothing out of the ordinary. What was initially diagnosed as a fairly mild case of woody tongue has segued into such a rapid deterioration we're going to have to put her down. Our vet is as frustrated as we are, nothing makes sense & I'm heartbroken but at least her calf is weaned (zero milk at this point). Not a good way to start the new year =(.
 
TCRanch":2b1726np said:
"Caught it early" has now bitten me in the a$$. Test results were all inconclusive/nothing out of the ordinary. What was initially diagnosed as a fairly mild case of woody tongue has segued into such a rapid deterioration we're going to have to put her down. Our vet is as frustrated as we are, nothing makes sense & I'm heartbroken but at least her calf is weaned (zero milk at this point). Not a good way to start the new year =(.
Click to expand...

Sorry TC.
 
Wow, that sucks! Sorry to hear that.

Is it possible that she consumed/chewed/came into contact with some Blister Beetles in some Alfalfa?

I know they can do a number on horses, and not too swift for cows either. Just a thought.
 
Workinonit Farm":rqc0xunf said:
Wow, that sucks! Sorry to hear that.

Is it possible that she consumed/chewed/came into contact with some Blister Beetles in some Alfalfa?

I know they can do a number on horses, and not too swift for cows either. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

It is possible because the guy that bales our small bales (only one baling of small per year) mentioned Blister Beetles, told us not to sell any to people with horses but is okay for cattle. Will definitely have to research that & call the vet (who is now flagged in red in my contacts). Thank you for the suggestion!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top