Cow down /need ideas

[JRM]

Went out to check cows Friday and had one down. Basically she was on a slight slope and had her feet in air acting like she was trying to get a toe hold to get up. Rolled her over and she immediately tired to get up but her rear legs would not get her all the way up, hoof was buckling under her.
Went to Vet and talked to him, he gave me a shot to give to help with swelling, and said let him know what was going on Monday, and said if I had some hip huggers to try to raise her that way.
Had friend come over and we used his and got her rear raised but she would not stand on her front 2, though every time I go out to check on her she could get up on front 2 legs, not the back 2. We put a sling under her front legs as well and left her up but when we started to get her close to being up high enough she starts to pull all 4 of her legs up towards her stomach.
Friend thought it might be hardware in her and suggested maybe trying a magnet. Went back to Vet and talk to a different vet as one I talked to on Saturday was gone. He felt the magnet would be a waste of time and basically said to keep trying to get her up with the hip huggers and gave me another shot to help with swelling.
Cow is very feisty, tries to knock me down every time I get near her and is eating good and drinking water., She is an old cow though, but as usually she raising some of the best calves I have, you never have your sorriest cow go down it always the best one.
Has anyone had any luck with magnet. Any other ideas, she is probably 7 to 8 months breed.

 

[bigbull338]

my first thought was that she got her feet out from under her.but if your lifting her an she is keeping legs folded under her.that has me stumpedhave you moved an got her on level ground.im still thinking she layed down on unlevel ground an got her feet out from under her.an couldnt get up.

 

[Avalon]

Did the vet by chance give you Dexamethozon?
If so he may have assumed that she has some limited paralysis fom carring a heavy calf and being old. If this is the case it may be a while before she gets up. A few years ago we had to build a sled for a cow. Pulled her up to the barn and played nurse maid for about two weeks until she just gat up and started walking out of the blue. If you do have a hardwere problem it is probably to late for a magnet. I'm under the impression that a magnet is used as a preventative to keep objects from lodgeing in to intestinal tissues... Good luck. If the vet says wait her out thats what I'd do.

 

[milkmaid]

I would hope that you told your vet the cow was bred at the beginning... if he gave you dexamethasone that cow may very well abort.

IMO I'd continue to keep getting her up every day, if not twice a day, and just park the tractor and let her stand. The hip lifters will keep her up, no worries there. I've seen cows carried, all four legs off the ground, with hip lifters. No damage to the cow. Get her all the way up but not so far that she can't put weight on her feet. You said she can pick up her back legs when she's being lifted, which is a good sign. Kinda doubt it's hardware; more than likely just a cow that's spent too much time down. Cows are rather finicky creatures when they end up as downers for even a short time. Seems sometimes it's just as much psychological as physical.

 

[JRM]

Thanks for all the replies:
Not sure what it was the vet gave her, but he knew she was 7 to 8 months bred and said he could not give her what he really wanted to because it would cause her to loose the calf and have problems etc.
Going to try to make a homemade device so I can get her into a lot by her self. I stood out for an hour this morning chasing the other cows away as she ate. The oter cows think her hay is better than what they are getting, so they all come and try to help her eat.
The ground she is on has a very very slight grade to it, I do not think that is the problem now, when I first found her that may have caused the problem, but it is in area where they cows always bed down for the night. She has moved about 50 feet on her on trying to get up
My friend had one down for 10 days, then on 11th day she got up like nothing ever happened, but just wish mine would have stood up on the front legs when I raised her back.
I will keep lifting her up, lucky it is very close to house and barn so not much trouble to go check on her.
Thanks again for all the help and suggestions

 

[TexasBred]

If your cow was laying with her feet and legs on the uphill side of the slope she probably just bloated but lay there long enough that her legs have some temp. paralysis. Hopefully she'll get up for you soon. AT least she's trying.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I went through a similar thing two weeks back. Cow was about 7 months bred. Flat ground, no broken bones, no bullet holes, no explantation. She had to be put down. I fired up the hoe and planted her right there where she lay. Hard thing to do, especially when you are short on cattle. But she was angus, got her in a trade a few years back, and she was not one of the better cows. If I had to lose one, this was the one I would have chosen.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Sounds like you would know to check, but you didn't actually mention it - is there any sign of a broken bone or similar injury that would be preventing her from wanting to put her weight down?

Other than that, carry on - as long as she is trying and eating you have a good shot - sometimes it takes time.

 

[randiliana]

Could be that she just ran out of energy. If she is about 8 or so months along, the calf is putting a large drain on her, as it is growing so fast. And older cows sometimes just don't have the ability to do well on poor roughage as young cows do, or their teeth are gone and they just can't chew their food well enough. Some grain may help her in this case.

We had a cow with a set of twins in her last year that went down for that reason. The calves were taking more out of her than she had to give, and in the end she went down. We babied her for a while, until we figured she was far enough along to induce (had a breeding date on her) and then we induced her. She had 2 80+ lb bull calves. Both healthy, and once they were out, she got up and took care of them. Raised one to 650 lbs.

Or, as someone else mentioned, she may have lain down wrong, got her feet too high above her and couldn't get up. In that case, just keep helping her up, and she will probably be OK in a few days.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Went out to check cows Friday and had one down. Basically she was on a slight slope and had her feet in air acting like she was trying to get a toe hold to get up. Rolled her over and she immediately tired to get up but her rear legs would not get her all the way up, hoof was buckling under her.
Went to Vet and talked to him, he gave me a shot to give to help with swelling, and said let him know what was going on Monday, and said if I had some hip huggers to try to raise her that way.
Had friend come over and we used his and got her rear raised but she would not stand on her front 2, though every time I go out to check on her she could get up on front 2 legs, not the back 2. We put a sling under her front legs as well and left her up but when we started to get her close to being up high enough she starts to pull all 4 of her legs up towards her stomach.
Friend thought it might be hardware in her and suggested maybe trying a magnet. Went back to Vet and talk to a different vet as one I talked to on Saturday was gone. He felt the magnet would be a waste of time and basically said to keep trying to get her up with the hip huggers and gave me another shot to help with swelling.
Cow is very feisty, tries to knock me down every time I get near her and is eating good and drinking water., She is an old cow though, but as usually she raising some of the best calves I have, you never have your sorriest cow go down it always the best one.
Has anyone had any luck with magnet. Any other ideas, she is probably 7 to 8 months breed.

Keep trying to get her up as long as she is fighting you do the same I wrestled with one for 13 days once before I got her up. If she gets the look draw an imagenary X from the left ear to the right eye and one from the right ear to the left eye place bullet hole there.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

She's over the hill. Cows get old and get down just like people and every other critter. If she gets up before she wears the hair off her rump, ship her. If not, X marks the spot like Burno said.