Contracted Tendons/Knuckling Over

[renerice]

Our neighbors gave us a bull calf last week with contracted tendons. (they didn't want to deal with it and said we could have him for free if we wanted him) It is in the joint just above his hoof on both front legs. He could barely stand the first day (we got him when he was three hours old), but by day two he was getting around just fine (and still is), but he can only walk on the joint, not on his hooves. We had the vet out to look at him on day #3. He gave him a shot of LA-200, and told us the best thing to do is work on physical therapy four times a day. (the calf also had pneumonia, so he got a shot for that as well). We are keeping him in a small pen with a shelter and very soft footing. I have read all the information I could find on this board, and other places, and almost everything I read says that they almost always come out of it on their own within 6 weeks.


Now here's my question. He is now 7 days old, and even after we've been stretching his legs four times-a-day all week, he has hardly improved at all. He still walks on the joint. The only improvement is that he occasionally will put his legs way out in front and stand on his toes for a couple seconds, and with each step he actually starts out on the hoof wall, and then rolls onto the joint. (before he didn't even walk on the hoof wall) Is it normal to see such little improvement after this long? Since he isn't much better than he was on day #2, should we consider splinting his legs? Or is this normal and I should stop worrying about it? I know that if done wrong, splinting can do more harm than good, and I have never put a splint on before, so I'd be worried I would do it wrong. I guess I'm just worried that if I continue letting his legs correct on their own, they never will. Am I just over-reacting? Here are a few pictures...

This is how he stands...

This is as far as he can straighten his hooves.

 

[turklilley]

I've had some that took a month to begin walking normal. He will get over it. Cute fellow

 

[Isomade]

I'll bet you see a lot more improvement in the next 7-10 days.

 

[dun]

Conventional wisdom says that if you splint them they can be 100% in 6 weeks, if you don;t it can take a month and a half
BTW the common name/term for it is bumble foot

 

[hillsdown]

Keep stretching them and let him walk as much as possible, when he stands try to really help him stretch them out and put weight on them for short periods. I am sure that soon you will never have known he had them. Best of luck and he is a really nice looking ,chunky fella


I have found that if you catch a calf as soon as possible after they are born with contracted tendons (twins are notorious for this) help them stand and stretch the hooves out right away before they have a chance to really "set" in that position it makes a world of difference on how fast they recover and stand normally .

I have never heard of the term bumble foot before Dun, always heard them referred to as contracted tendons .

 

[dun]

Keep stretching them and let him walk as much as possible, when he stands try to really help him stretch them out and put weight on them for short periods. I am sure that soon you will never have known he had them. Best of luck and he is a really nice looking ,chunky fella


I have found that if you catch a calf as soon as possible after they are born with contracted tendons (twins are notorious for this) help them stand and stretch the hooves out right away before they have a chance to really "set" in that position it makes a world of difference on how fast they recover and stand normally .

I have never heard of the term bumble foot before Dun, always heard them referred to as contracted tendons .

Contracted tnedons is the proper name, bumble foot is the common name. Years ago I made a lot of good money with bumbly claves. No one would buy them at the salebarn because they were crippled so I'ld buy them for a dollar or 2. A month later would sell them and get top dollar. They were all Brown Swiss from one dairy. Probably raised 30 plus a year like that.

 

[renerice]

Thanks for all the advice! I guess we'll just keep working on stretching them out and helping him stand correctly, and wait & see what happens. I feel much better about it now. I have very little experience with cattle and just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.

 

[Katpau]

I had one very similar to yours born 2-22-2009. I went back to look at my old notes and photos. On 3-1-2009 he was 7 days old and looked very much like the photos of your calf. By 3-11-2009 he was almost completely recovered. I remember he first started going short distances using one toe, than both toes. At about 2 weeks one foot seemed to be much better and within a day the other improved. When he was 3 weeks old you could barely tell him from the other calves. By the time he was 6 weeks there were no signs of the problem.

 

[Lucky_P]

I've never seen or heard anyone refer to contracted tendons in calves as 'bumblefoot' anywhere except here on this board; have been around cattle all my life, and in veterinary medicine for 35 years in 4 different states.

Bumblefoot is a common name for foot abscesses in birds - usually caused by a Staphylococcus species - I see them in laying hens from time to time, and used to see them in raptors in our rehab program.
But I also see, from the page linked below, in the Merck Veterinary Manual, that some refer to heel abscesses by that moniker.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... /90902.htm

 

[renerice]

Katpau, that is great to hear! Thanks for sharing your experience with this. It's always encouraging to hear success stories of calves similar to ours.

 

[renerice]

I have one other question about the calf. We had not seen him poop at all for a day-and-a-half, then he did one very small pile that looked like dog poop in consistency. That was two days ago, and I have not seen him go since. He's in a pretty small pen, so I'm pretty sure I'd see it if he went. He is still very active and happy, and is eating really well (he gets a quart of milk four times-a-day) We have been mixing plain yogurt into his morning and evening feedings to see if that would help. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[renerice]

Here's an update on the calf. Today is day #13. First of all, his constipation is clearing up really well and he's almost completely back to normal. Also, we have seen a lot more improvement on his hooves this week than we did the first week. He actually walks on his toes a little bit now, and he starts every step on his toes and then rolls forward onto his hoof wall or joint. He seems to be getting a lot stronger and can stay up on his toes better every day. Yesterday I actually saw him standing still and lifting himself up onto his toes, then back down, then up on his toes and back down. It looked like he was doing his own physical therapy! Hopefully he'll just keep on improving. Anyway, here are a few pictures and a video from today.

You can see in this one how he's getting closer to walking on his toes.

And here's a video of him walking around the yard. This was after he had been running around for awhile, so he was a little tired out and not walking around as much. But it shows how he's starting to use his toes more. Last week he only walked on the joint and almost never even used his hoof wall.

 

[novatech]

Cut a piece of PVC pipe down the center. Cut a notch a couple of inches from the bottom. Tape it to the forarm and pastern with the notch acting as a spring loaded hinge.

 

[moodacow]

I've had some that took a month to begin walking normal. He will get over it. Cute fellow

Still not the best way to look at it IMO just in case there is an issue. No way we can make assumptions in our industry...

 

[KNERSIE]

I splint both legs with 2" poly pipe and take one splint off after about three days or so, wait two days before taking the other one off. Stupid as it may sound, but the more they move around the sooner they get back to normal.

 

[A6gal]

I'm certainly no expert but about a year ago I had a calf born with severe contracted tendons on both front legs. I got so many different opinions (spint, surgery, put him down) on what to do but the best advice I received was to not do anything. Splinting could cause other issues such as rubs which get infected, etc. I left him with his mother and the rest of the herd. It was heartbreaking to watch the little guy following the herd on his joints but he did it and it took about one month and he had finally stretched and strengthened those tendons to walk on his hooves. After a few more months you could not tell he had ever had a problem. When I sold him at auction he brought more than any other calf in the pen.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I wonder what the latest is on Ole Bumblefoot?

 

[KNERSIE]

I'm certainly no expert but about a year ago I had a calf born with severe contracted tendons on both front legs. I got so many different opinions (spint, surgery, put him down) on what to do but the best advice I received was to not do anything. Splinting could cause other issues such as rubs which get infected, etc. I left him with his mother and the rest of the herd. It was heartbreaking to watch the little guy following the herd on his joints but he did it and it took about one month and he had finally stretched and strengthened those tendons to walk on his hooves. After a few more months you could not tell he had ever had a problem. When I sold him at auction he brought more than any other calf in the pen.

Only if you don't know what you're doing

 

[A6gal]

An older gentleman and lifelong cattleman who spent time as a vet assistant for many, many years was the one who told me that it is generally better to let nature correct the problem. He had done both splinting and left them alone and preferred the latter treatment. I find it beneficial to listen to advice from my elders, i've learned a lot that way.

I was just sharing the fact that not splinting is a valid option.

Of course each person needs to analyze all the options and choose the treatment that best fits their own situation. The more information you have the better you feel about the decision you choose to make.

 

[Sir Loin]

renerice


I didn't read all the other post so this might just be repetitive.
I agree with your vet, at least this far.

told us the best thing to do is work on physical therapy four times a day

Well, he got the physical therapy" part right. It's the "times a day" I have a problem.
Three times a day, ½ hour each, should be plenty.

You should exercise the joint for 5 or 10 min then while he is lying down on his stomach, stretch his front
Legs straight out in front of him with hoofs on the ground. then apply pressure to the joint and hold it that way.
By now I am sure you have been told to do nothing and it will correct itself.
That is true. Only the most sever cases need a little therapy.
.Believe me about 90% will.
Here is a more radical method for the most sever cases.
After 2 weeks of therapy with no improvement I tried this method.
I keep the splints on for 1 week, then some more therapy for 1 week and he was just fine.

The only reason they die from this is that they can't keep up with mom and starve, or she simply abandon's them..
SL