Choked cow

[ichwite]

We have a older cow that seems to have something stuck in it's throat, it's tongue is hanging out and can't seem to eat. We tried calling the vet and they said it probaly had something hung in it's throat. He said if she was not better by Monday bring her in. The vets around here will not make house calls- we got to bring her in monday they don't work on Weekends. How do you dislodge something in her throat - is there something we can try ? Can you damage their lungs ? Has anyone ever had this problem before ?

Thanks in advance !
IC

I appreciate everyones comments, but I am not going to sue anyone. First of all I am a small time part time farmer 10 cows, have used this vet about 4 times in the last couple of years. The day we noticed the cow's tongue hanging out we called our vet (left a message on the answer machine). Called 3 other vets in the area (with only one of those answering the phone) and they put us on hold and never picked up and then recalled them to tell us they only handled small animals. With that being said... We went back to the cow and pened her up. The only vet that called us back was the one we use and he was the one that told us that sounded like something was in her throat. I "appreciate" him calling back - the other vets did not - and some of you are right (they don't know us from Adam). I can't blame the vet , I only blame myself for not knowing what to do in this situation. That is why I joined this fourm - to learn more about my cows and their health. There seems to be tons of info here . Back to my original question on this . Can you damage their lungs by trying to dislodge something in their throat ?

IC

 

[MikeC]

Check for "Wooden Tongue".

 

[TheBullLady]

There's no telling.. could be a twig or small branch or plastic. If you've got a chute, it wouldn't hurt to put her in there and see what you can find. It's only going to swell up and get worse by tomorrow unless you can dislodge it.

Aren't vet's getting pathetic?

 

[cattleluvr18]

no offense or nothin but that vet is pathetic. if your cow is choking or watever they should come and look at it!!! or atleast be able to bring it in. put her in the chute and take a look. that shouldnt hurt her. do you have anyone with experience or more knowledge to come help you??

 

[Beefy]

i would probably get her up and maybe try to put a hose down her throat (though depending on what is stuck in there you could do more harm than good). my vet would probably give her some dex to combat any swelling.

 

[ichwite]

I lost her, got her in a head catch and did not see anything in her throat , her tongue seemed swollen at the back and she was panting (short quick breaths). Her tongue did not seem to be very hard just rough. After that her tongue seemed to go back in i thought she was getting better but she started to lay down and then she rolled around and died. It was quick she had to have suffocated. Her belly seemed to be swollen - now I am wondering if she may have been bloated. Will their tongue hang out when bloated ? This cow was always been large and short legged, even after she had her calf she would still look pregnat. Anyway it's been a rough day, the wife and I have been with her and watching her yesterday and all day today

Thanks to all !!
IC

 

[TheBullLady]

Sorry for your loss.

That sounds like she could have been bloated... the same symptoms, and she would have died quickly.

 

[angie1]

I read on here a lot about people who can't get vets out to their place when they need them. How awful! We can have a vet at our house 24/7. Emergency calls cost more but they are a whole lot cheaper than losing an animal Sorry about your cow...

 

[tryinhard]

Sorry for your loss, and also want tell what happened with a neighbor once, his relatives came over and picked some corn, they shucked, silked n the whole thing, when finished they threw the corn cobs over the fence. In just a little while neighbor had a cow in the head gate and used a broom handle to push a corn cob farther down the throat of a cow, and she lived, I have fed cows corn on cob, but never fresh, and didn't know that would happen, but, "live n learn". He stated that it happened because it was green, or fresh, I would have never expected it.

tryinhard

 

[buckwheat_87]

Sorry for your loss. If it was me I would be consulting with an attorney in regards to the vets negligence. You might have a possible lawsuit at least for the value of the cow.

I will agree that the vet is pathetic but come on, when you buy a cow she dont come with a drive train warranty or pasture side assistance. Theres no paper work that says the vet has to come out. I can understand being upset but a lawsuit thats even more pathetic.

 

[3MR]

Sorry for your loss. If it was me I would be consulting with an attorney in regards to the vets negligence. You might have a possible lawsuit at least for the value of the cow.

I will agree that the vet is pathetic but come on, when you buy a cow she dont come with a drive train warranty or pasture side assistance. Theres no paper work that says the vet has to come out. I can understand being upset but a lawsuit thats even more pathetic.

I think so too. Unless your state is different there is nothing to say a vet has to see your animal. I think your best recourse is just to find a new vet.

 

[Alice]

Even if an attorney could be found to take the case, suing a vet for this would be a waste of time and money, not to mention a cause of real frustration. Do the next best thing...let everyone you know how what happened...spread the word. And, lodge a complaint with the state veterinarian board. The complaint would probably go nowhere, but there would be a papertrail.

Alice

 

[gulfso]

We are almost in the same situation here. To my knowledge we have one set of vets (female) that will even do a farm call. All the others won't leave there damn pooch/kitty office to even look at a large animal. What really burns me is that they ALL go to a state vet school usually on tax payer dollars and come out to only work small animals. I really think that the cattle associations and Farm Bureaus, etc should cut off the scholarships unless they do large animal work when they graduate, at least for a few years. I know it is hard especially after they get older to handle the large animals but they sure as hell don't mind talking the scholarship/grant money.

Just my two cents worth and I will try an stay off the soap box, unless they IDIOTS in congress do something ....lol

 

[3MR]

The Farm Bureau and Cattle Associations there give veterinary scholarships without a livestock treatment specification. How do you know this? Im not trying to be argumentive, I am just curious and want to check on it some more. It seems counterproductive for them to do that.

 

[sidney411]

I had a calf choke on a cube once. When he went down I rolled him over and tried to do the hymlec on him - didn't work - he died. Sorry for your loss. I can't really think of much you could do except trying to push the obstruction down into the stomach. I couldn't think fast enough to try anything else.

 

[Vicky the vet]

We are almost in the same situation here. To my knowledge we have one set of vets (female) that will even do a farm call. All the others won't leave there be nice pooch/kitty office to even look at a large animal. What really burns me is that they ALL go to a state vet school usually on tax payer dollars and come out to only work small animals. I really think that the cattle associations and Farm Bureaus, etc should cut off the scholarships unless they do large animal work when they graduate, at least for a few years. I know it is hard especially after they get older to handle the large animals but they sure as be nice don't mind talking the scholarship/grant money.

Just my two cents worth and I will try an stay off the soap box, unless they IDIOTS in congress do something ....lol

Well, as a large animal vet, I disagree with you totally. When in vet school, there is usually something called "streaming" where you are in a large animal, small animal or mixed animal stream. If you're in a small animal stream, you learn very little about large, and vice verse. Thus there is no reason for a small animal vet to want/need/or care about large animals, it's not what they learned. If you took away all subsidies etc from large animal, there would be little or no change to the grads. Frankly, at the university I went to, the subsidies went to the FARMERS who brought in food animals, not to the college, nor the students, to encourage them to have animals for the students to work on besides horses in large animal.

And why should someone be forced to look at your cattle when you decide they need to be seen. You may or may not be a good client, you may always cry about the cost of the vet....your facilities may be worse than bad.....

If you develop a working relationship with a good vet, they will respond favourably when needed. If you don't have one, why are you blaming the vet????

 

[AngusLimoX]

Sorry for your loss. If it was me I would be consulting with an attorney in regards to the vets negligence. You might have a possible lawsuit at least for the value of the cow.

I am thinking of suing Macon for making me read your trash.

Maybe a few of us get together and make it a class action suit!

:lol: :lol:

ALX

 

[CowpokeJ]

Maybe it has something to do with the Benjamins on large vs. small animal vets.

 

[Keren]

We are almost in the same situation here. To my knowledge we have one set of vets (female) that will even do a farm call. All the others won't leave there be nice pooch/kitty office to even look at a large animal. What really burns me is that they ALL go to a state vet school usually on tax payer dollars and come out to only work small animals. I really think that the cattle associations and Farm Bureaus, etc should cut off the scholarships unless they do large animal work when they graduate, at least for a few years. I know it is hard especially after they get older to handle the large animals but they sure as be nice don't mind talking the scholarship/grant money.

Just my two cents worth and I will try an stay off the soap box, unless they IDIOTS in congress do something ....lol

Well, as a large animal vet, I disagree with you totally. When in vet school, there is usually something called "streaming" where you are in a large animal, small animal or mixed animal stream. If you're in a small animal stream, you learn very little about large, and vice verse. Thus there is no reason for a small animal vet to want/need/or care about large animals, it's not what they learned. If you took away all subsidies etc from large animal, there would be little or no change to the grads. Frankly, at the university I went to, the subsidies went to the FARMERS who brought in food animals, not to the college, nor the students, to encourage them to have animals for the students to work on besides horses in large animal.

And why should someone be forced to look at your cattle when you decide they need to be seen. You may or may not be a good client, you may always cry about the cost of the vet....your facilities may be worse than bad.....

If you develop a working relationship with a good vet, they will respond favourably when needed. If you don't have one, why are you blaming the vet????

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Well said.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

If you develop a working relationship with a good vet, they will respond favourably when needed.

That has certainly been my experience.

Katherine