Chronic foot problem. Suggestions?

[TCRanch]

Have a 9 year old cow that has developed a chronic foot rot problem in her left hind foot. It started with a rock wedged deep between the toes; got it out, cleaned the infected area with betadine & Kopertox, LA300 & she was good to go. Except about 2 months later she started limping again & this time we took her to the vet. He found/trimmed dead tissue, another round of LA300 and Sustain III. All good. Until she started limping again. Took her back to the vet; trimmed more dead tissue & this time he gave her Draxxon with Sustain III because of the shorter withdrawal - he suggested we sell her because it had segued into chronic foot rot (also confirmed appx 60 days bred). As (bad) luck would have it, she was almost walking "normal" by the end of the withdrawal but the Sale Barn wasn't open for another 4 days, hubby in hospital, Sale Barn closed for Christmas & ice storm . . . . Basically, we missed our one chance because she started limping yet again the beginning of Jan & we have since been practicing benign neglect. Got her to the barn (prison) this morning and since she's now 5 months bred I'm thinking about Plan B, which is to treat her again, possibly using hoof blocks & moving her to another pasture that's relatively flat. So, has anyone ever used hoof blocks with any success? Or even just wrapping the foot? Anything else? I realize there is no magical cure & we are most likely going to have to slaughter her if she's not mobile enough to ever make it through the Sale Barn but hopeful we can at least get another calf out of her (because until now her lineage has been amazing).

 

[Aaron]

Had same issue all last winter. Never had an animal I pumped so much antibiotics into. She was also bred and while nothing special, did a top notch job on her first calf - so I wanted to keep her. Had torn her dewclaw badly in late fall, healed up and 2 months later swelled up to size of a football, continually discharging pus. Very likely was in the bone and a short step from gangrene. The only product that worked was Resflor Gold through the vet. 3 full 100 mL bottles into her at separate times. Had I known it would work so well, 2 bottles consecutively would have done it, so a full 28 day treatment. I kept hoping that LA 300 would work, but even at double the dose, there was no response. Tried a few rounds of penicillin and that was a joke as well. I'm sure in the end, I put $600 worth of antibiotics through her. Thought for sure she would calve out some kind of retarded abomination from all the drugs, but she had a very nice heifer calf that I have kept.

 

[regolith]

Difficult for antibiotics to penetrate far enough to treat a chronic hoof condition effectively.
Without actually seeing the animal: lame cows can continue to eat/rear calves effectively as long as they don't have to walk long distances. Some conditions are time limited as they'll progressively get worse, but a good rest really helps.

Hoof blocks are effective at allowing a bad claw to heal with the cow remaining relatively mobile. They are *not* suitable for use when both claws on one foot are compromised. And from your description, it sounds like your cow might have an infection that has reached the bone and there isn't an effective cure for that - if it's only one claw, amputation of the claw is indicated but the cow isn't going to run back to work straight after and if anything ever goes wrong with the remaining claw you might as well shoot her.
However, vets have been wrong before and if the infection hasn't run that deep, you may find that regular trimming of sloughed off hoof will eventually bring her back to rights.
In any case, I think if she's at all mobile, then even if she does have a deep infection you could keep her for this last calf as long as she doesn't have to walk for grazing and water and isn't chasing the calf around several acres all day.

 

[Son of Butch]

Excelnel is labeled for acute foot rot. Not sure how good it is for a-ugly foot rot.
http://www.leedstone.com/excenel-reg-rtu-ez-16389.html
100 ml bottle $90
Recommended treatment for 1400 lb cow is 3 days at 28 ml per day (84 ml) so 100 ml would do 3.5 days for $90

 

[dun]

Excelnel is labeled for acute foot rot. Not sure how good it is for a-ugly foot rot.
http://www.leedstone.com/excenel-reg-rtu-ez-16389.html

That was what we used with one cow that had recurrent footrot. Finally just waited for the withdrawal period and hauled her to the sale limping.

 

[Son of Butch]

And from your description, it sounds like your cow might have an infection that has reached the bone and there isn't an effective cure for that

:nod: :nod:

 

[Stocker Steve]

Very likely was in the bone and a short step from gangrene. The only product that worked was Resflor Gold through the vet. 3 full 100 mL bottles into her at separate times. Had I known it would work so well, 2 bottles consecutively would have done it, so a full 28 day treatment.

Cured her, or just the most temporary improvement ?

 

[TCRanch]

Thank you for the responses - a lot of great info! We have had great success with Resflor Gold for BRD; never tried it for foot rot but because it contains Banamine I can see where it would expedite recovery (we'll need a lot; this girl clocks in at a good 1900 lbs). I am concerned the infection has reached the bone, mainly because all previous treatments have been temporary.

Re: the Sale Barn - a few years ago if they could walk off the trailer they would sell. Not anymore. The buyers for slaughter are now primarily from NE & OK and won't purchase a lame animal, which I understand.

 

[Aaron]

Very likely was in the bone and a short step from gangrene. The only product that worked was Resflor Gold through the vet. 3 full 100 mL bottles into her at separate times. Had I known it would work so well, 2 bottles consecutively would have done it, so a full 28 day treatment.

Cured her, or just the most temporary improvement ?

Cured her. Didn't happen overnight. Took a full 5 months to fix it right. Nearly every other day doctoring. Most people would have shot her. Only reason I didn't was due to her being a very good patient. She never gave me any grief getting her into the corral/chute and never made a fuss about the needles. Had the roles been reversed, I would not have been so nice. She still walks around with a slightly enlarged foot from all the scar tissue.

 

[TCRanch]

Just talked to the vet AGAIN (bless his heart) & while he agreed Resflor Gold would probably work, it is off-label & in her case he believes our goal should be to get her walking/not limping just enough to sell her & not risk waiting for her to have/raise a calf. Draxxon has the shortest withdrawal (18 days) and if we time it right & work her later this week we would be able to sell her Mar 9th. He's had mixed success on hoof blocks & in her case doesn't think it would be much of a benefit.

Aaron, that is true dedication and I'm glad it finally paid off!

 

[Stocker Steve]

Cured her. Didn't happen overnight. Took a full 5 months to fix it right. Nearly every other day doctoring. Most people would have shot her. Only reason I didn't was due to her being a very good patient. She never gave me any grief getting her into the corral/chute and never made a fuss about the needles.

Can banamine become addictive ?

 

[TCRanch]

Cured her. Didn't happen overnight. Took a full 5 months to fix it right. Nearly every other day doctoring. Most people would have shot her. Only reason I didn't was due to her being a very good patient. She never gave me any grief getting her into the corral/chute and never made a fuss about the needles.

Can banamine become addictive ?

Like any NSAID, it's not intended for daily use because of the potential for renal failure &/or gastrointestinal complications (similar to the warnings on Aleve or Advil). Have no clue if it's possible for cattle to become addicted to anything, except possibly cubes

 

[Aaron]

Cured her. Didn't happen overnight. Took a full 5 months to fix it right. Nearly every other day doctoring. Most people would have shot her. Only reason I didn't was due to her being a very good patient. She never gave me any grief getting her into the corral/chute and never made a fuss about the needles.

Can banamine become addictive ?

Not sure. I've never shot myself up with it.

In the case of this particular cow, it never even crossed my mind. I know the alternative, a bullet, is not addictive.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Have no clue if it's possible for cattle to become addicted to anything, except possibly cubes

Had a chronic that was on banamine and antibiotics. After a couple days in the sick pen he would not get up when I walked in - - so sometimes I just gave him his shots while he was laying down. Then he started walking over to me to get his hit ... :nod:

 

[skyhightree1]

tcr that stinks I hope it works out for you,

 

[M-5]

I have read that constan foot rot problems can be controlled with feeding Aureomycin in their feed. I know from years in the hog business Our pig feed was medicated with auremycin

 

[TCRanch]

I have read that constan foot rot problems can be controlled with feeding Aureomycin in their feed. I know from years in the hog business Our pig feed was medicated with auremycin

We already have medicated mineral with CTC. From what I understand, Aureomycin will also fall under the VFD next year.

We did move her to another pasture that is relatively flat & this time she has responded to the Draxxon/Sustain combo. The withdrawal period is up next week & even though she's doing great I still think we're going to take her to the Sale Barn, mainly because we really have too many cows but also based on her history; it's probably only a matter of time before it happens again.

 

[Nesikep]

I had a cow last year that cut her foot between the toes... infected and swelled up a bit. I cut about 6" strips of rag and put 50% tetracycline powder on it (this stuff was for medicating a water supply), wetted it to a paste, and then wrapped it up (I did clean as best I could first, but that was kinda hard)... I put a new rag on any time she managed to rip that one off, and in a couple weeks she was fine again... you may want to consider something like that on top of injected treatments... I did all this in the field, if I had brought her to a pen and been able to soak her foot in hydrogen peroxide that would have been better, but it worked anyhow.

 

[TCRanch]

Well, no Sale Barn for now; she had a nice heifer yesterday. She is getting around better & it just goes to show that even preg-checking by a vet is still just an estimate. That fat girl is a prolific breeder!

 

[True Grit Farms]

Foot problems are hereditary, and easy to prevent through culling. If it was me someone would have a nice pair to graze through the summer.
The cow upped her value considerably with the addition of the calf. :banana: