Cow down - why?

[Rebekah]

We had one of your pedigree Ayrshire cows down right after calving, 2 weeks ago.

She was in calf to a LBW belgian blue and calved easily ... without a hitch (as have all our other pedigree Ayrshire cows that were in calf to the same bull).

Since she calved, we've poured magic solution (sorry can't think of the products name at the moment) down her throat to stop her from going down with milk fever. Now, I do know what milk fever is since we get it every year with a select few cows. Since using this new product we've yet to have a cow go down.
We've given her calcium enriched molasses to no avail.
Mag is supplemented into the water troughs (there is no other source of water other than the trough).
We've put a number of bags under her skin (bora gluconate(sp) and cal-phos-g) all to no avail.

She is off her food despite putting good quality baleage and other goodies out there for her to eat.
Grass is lush spring grass and she won't touch it.

This cow has never gone down before.
She is aged 8.
This cow is soon to have a nice piece of lead between the eyes.
She is dry (calved down with little milk)
Doesn't seem too keen on walking around. Spends lots of time sitting.

Anyone with any ideas why she is ill? I've ruled out milk fever, calcium and mag as results of this. If any of those 3 were to be wrong with her she'd be well and truly dead by now.

Regards,
Rebekah,
New Zealand.

 

[Vicky the vet]

How is her appetite? Is she running a fever? Any sign of mastitis or metritis? Appetite?

I'd confirm her electrolytes are good--Ca, Mg and P
Take her temp
Ck for the above and do a full physical exam
If you can't find anything specific I'd be surprised!

Good Luck
V

 

[Rebekah]

How is her appetite? Lets just say she isn't eating .... anything!
Is she running a fever? No
Any sign of mastitis or metritis? She isn't in milk - no mastitis.

Its now just a matter of time to get the slaughter truck our here to give her the piece of lead between the eyes.
She is one of our poorest producers, with a shot udder so it was only a matter of time before she was sent on the truck to "The Works".

We are not going to get the vet out to her as I personally think she is too far gone for it now. We did all we could for her as soon as she calved (yes, the day she calved) and nothing we did seemed to help her eat or be interested in anything at all.

Regards,
Rebekah,
New Zealand.

 

[Medic24]

Welcome to the boards Rebekah. Sounds like a cull cow at this time........perhaps a lead bolus will be best for her in the end.

But I would be curious to know what her problem is if you ever do find out, please let us know, eh?


By the way..I can think of no other country that I have ever been to besides America, and Aus. that is prettier then NZ. What a great place it must be to raise livestock there. :cboy:

 

[GMN]

She went down after calving? I got to think its related to calving, maybe temporary paralysis, from the position of the calf in the birth canal, or if it took awhile for her to calve, Dexamethazone (a anti inflammatory) is great for these things.

We've had a few cases like this, and if caught early are curable, depending on the age of animal, 8 really isn't that old, anyways good luck to you!

 

[Rebekah]

This cow in the end made no signs of recovering despite trying our best efforts to keep her alive. She was given a piece of lead between the eyes in the end.

 

[tapeworm]

Good for you!! To be able to do what needs doiong without whining about it. sometimes you jsut have to know when to give up. Better luck to you on the next one

 

[Vicky the vet]

I've ruled out milk fever, calcium and mag as results of this. If any of those 3 were to be wrong with her she'd be well and truly dead by now.

Regards,
Rebekah,
New Zealand.

Milk fever = calcium deficiency
Grass staggers = magnesium deficiency

 

[Rebekah]

Doesnt matter any longer. She was treated asap for MF with 2 bags under the skin (1 each boraglucinate(sp) and calphos-G) , tubed calcium enriched molases and En-cal Plus and she still went down, never got up or ate anything. And Magnesium is supplimented into the water so go figure...

 

[dwatson]

I'd like to know also what was wrong with her. We had similar situation with a couple of our cows, but was when the calves were 2-3 months old that it happened. One cow got down and couldnt get up, she would graze where she was laying, try to get up and fall forward. The other cow could get up but acted weak in the legs and off feed. We put both of them down as vet didnt know what was wrong after giving a calcium bolus which didnt work and we had extra Mg in the minerals.