Cow has lumpy jaw? Ship now or 3 mos after hopefully calving

[hevmando]

Had the vet out today to look at our almost 3 yr old Angus cow. She has a lump on her jaw about 8-12 inches long, and 2-4 inches wide. On the lower part of the lump, the hair is worn off, and it is scabby but not draining. The vet poked the lump numerous times and locations with a syringe to see if there was any puss present, there was/is none. She only bled some from the needle pokes. This lump started about golf ball size 4 months ago, went to baseball size in 2-3 days. I gave her some penicillin at that time and it shrunk back to golf ball size and did not grow significantly until this last month. At the time, the vet said she probably ran a blade of grass through her jaw and the penicillin would stem off infection until the abscess would rupture and clean out. Today we did not lance it due to the lump being hard. I gave her 40 cc of penicillin and the vet suggested 60 cc more in 2 days. I have searched lumpy jaw, (her suspicion) on this site and cattle today and cattle.com and read that sodium iodine can be effective if not pregnant. She is 6 months along now, and was 2 months bred when first noticed the lump. No whipping needed about why I waited so long, done that myself, but always thought it was an abscess and would take care of itself. Never heard of lumpy jaw until today. My question today, after reading the other posts and research, is should I risk contamination of the other 4 cows she is with and hope for a calf in three months or should I ship her today? I can supplement her stalks/hay,protein and mineral with a complete feed to help her maintain condition. She comes up to eat and I see her eat, but I think she has lost some weight the last couple of weeks.

 

[tsmaxx47]

what was the vet's diagnosis today?

 

[hevmando]

Vet did not want to lance it due to no puss/liquid when poked with needle. Thinks lumpy jaw but not sure as it responded to penicillin initially. Recommended the penicillin today and again in 2 days at 60 cc and see what happens. Cow weighs about 1200#. She is newly out of vet school, not a bad thing, just a rookie as we all were at one time. She said the Senior vet would probably ask her why she did not lance it when she got back to the office.

 

[Dave]

Beings as you already shot her full of penicillan shipping now is not an option.

 

[dun]

Beings as you already shot her full of penicillan shipping now is not an option.

Pen has a withdrawl of 10 days. Wait 2 weeks and ship her.

I thought tetracyclene was the treatment for lumpyjaw.

 

[Dave]

Beings as you already shot her full of penicillan shipping now is not an option.

Pen has a wighdrawl of 10 days. Wait 2 weeks and ship her.

I didn't have the withdrawl period in front of me but you are right. Get her past the withdrawl and get her gone.

 

[dun]

didn't have the withdrawl period in front of me but you are right. Get her past the withdrawl and get her gone.

It may be out of date but this is what I use:
http://www.nmpf.org/files/file/old_prod ... _chart.pdf

 

[milkmaid]

Lump that size she'll be pretty well condemned when she goes through the ring. If she's on schedule to calve with the rest of the herd, I'd calve her out and plan on grafting the calf on to someone else, and then put the cow in the freezer.

Oxytet and sodium iodide are the standard treatments for lumpy jaw. I have seen one cured - not with oxytet - but with repeated doses of sodium iodide. You would have to wait until she calves or you'll lose the calf.

 

[hevmando]

I think milkmaid is right on that she will get massacred/condemned at the auction barn with the size of the lump. She is due March 22 with the rest of the cows. I think I will load her up with Oxytet, supplement feed to her, and hope for a calf in March. If she only brings $400-500 now, I'll gamble that for the calf. Also going to ask the vet what they think of a 1/2 dose of sodium iodide. Thanks for all the input.

 

[Nite Hawk]

If it responded with penicillin, maybe you quit treatment too soon instead of continueing on with treatment??
Had a cow with a lump on the jaw long time ago, think i gave her Trivetrin or oxytetryclin, she got over it and never lanced it either. Maybe an abcessed tooth instead of classical lumpy jaw?

 

[Black and Good]

What is "Lumpy Jaw"? What causes it? Does it spread to others in herd?

 

[Chris H]

Lump that size she'll be pretty well condemned when she goes through the ring. If she's on schedule to calve with the rest of the herd, I'd calve her out and plan on grafting the calf on to someone else, and then put the cow in the freezer.

Oxytet and sodium iodide are the standard treatments for lumpy jaw. I have seen one cured - not with oxytet - but with repeated doses of sodium iodide. You would have to wait until she calves or you'll lose the calf.

mm, I really respect your posts, but this one bothers me. We shipped 2 old cows on the rail, and both were condemned. 1 had a swelling in her jaw, but the vet said it was not lumpy jaw. The 2nd was a cow that had cancer eye. If the federal inspector said the meat was not fit for human consumption, I wouldn't put it in my freezer.

 

[milkmaid]

Chris- it comes down to knowing what's wrong with the particular cow. For instance, downers can't be slaughtered at a USDA plant, but if I knew the cow had been paralyzed during calving the day before, I wouldn't have a problem putting her in my freezer. I'd be reluctant to eat a cow with a bad case of cancer eye; it's likely spread and there's growths in other organs. (That said, metastatic growths would be in lungs, liver, spleen, kidney... things you don't usually eat...) There is no indication that eating cancerous tissue would affect a human, however, as cattle producers we have enough trouble getting the population to eat normal beef; allowing a cancer eye cow into the food chain would be economic suicide. The federal inspector condemns anything that's not normal- as s/he should. Lumpy jaw though, is a bacterial infection in the bone, only invades adjacent bone, can be very unsightly (misshapen skull, draining tracts, etc), but there's no indication it would affect the rest of the carcass. We don't eat the head. Vegan and animal rights folks would have a hayday if a cow with lumpy jaw went to human consumption (can you picture the newspapers???) - but it doesn't mean it's wrong/dangerous/unhealthy to eat a cow with lumpy jaw.

 

[Chris H]

Chris- it comes down to knowing what's wrong with the particular cow. For instance, downers can't be slaughtered at a USDA plant, but if I knew the cow had been paralyzed during calving the day before, I wouldn't have a problem putting her in my freezer. I'd be reluctant to eat a cow with a bad case of cancer eye; it's likely spread and there's growths in other organs. (That said, metastatic growths would be in lungs, liver, spleen, kidney... things you don't usually eat...) There is no indication that eating cancerous tissue would affect a human, however, as cattle producers we have enough trouble getting the population to eat normal beef; allowing a cancer eye cow into the food chain would be economic suicide. The federal inspector condemns anything that's not normal- as s/he should. Lumpy jaw though, is a bacterial infection in the bone, only invades adjacent bone, can be very unsightly (misshapen skull, draining tracts, etc), but there's no indication it would affect the rest of the carcass. We don't eat the head. Vegan and animal rights folks would have a hayday if a cow with lumpy jaw went to human consumption (can you picture the newspapers???) - but it doesn't mean it's wrong/dangerous/unhealthy to eat a cow with lumpy jaw.

Thanks for that explanation, that makes sense. Our cow with the swollen jaw also had pustules of infection throughout her lymph system, if it had been contained to her head she wouldn't have been condemned. At least that's the message we got back from the slaughterhouse.

The other thing I was thinking about, is where to have an animal like that butchered? Our butcher is not federally inspected and he is not allowed to butcher anything over 24 months(could be 30 months), and a federally inspected facility would also condemn it, wouldn't they?

 

[hevmando]

Here is an update on the cow. Since my last post we gave the cow 3 lbs grain/day as she was losing some body condition. Also topdressed 1 1/2 # sbm as some of the hay was poor quality crp, and 1 # Aureomycin 4G crumbles, with 1 oz iodized salt each day. Her body condition improved and after about 30 days had the vet out again. She noticed that the lump/abscess or whatever it is went down some since her prior visit. I thought so also but was not sure when you see them everyday. We have continued that feeding regimen and last Thursday, March 21, she gave birth to an 85# SAV Final Answer bull calf. Her lump/abscess/infection has continued to go down and is now about half the size it originally was. Since it has responded to the 4G, we are pretty sure it was not lumpy jaw. Will talk to the vet again as to how to proceed now. We have not mouthed her to see if it is a bad tooth, and may need to attempt that. Will try to get a pic of the calf and the cows jaw posted.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Having delt with a lot of lumpy jaw, ship her at weaning unless she is assessing again.
If the absess moves around, not connected to the jaw, it is what it is, an absess. However, if it does not move and is connected to the jaw, lumpy jaw it is.
The condition will subside then flare up. It will honeycomb the bone and eventually get into the sinus cavities. When ever it breaks open and when ever it drips she becomes a source of contamination spreading it to other cows. How? By leaving behind the drippings in and around the water tank, salt feeder, mineral feeder and in the hay or grass. Another cow comes along, eats, drinks, and ingests the bacteria. Now if that cow does not have a poke in the mouth from hay or straw, or a tooth problem, no problem. But, if she has a sore in her mouth tha anaplasmosis bacteria gets into the sore and then infects the jaw.
Now why do I say get rid of...first off can only ship if there are no open sores or temp or infection, otherwise she should be condemned. Our vet and I tore open a cow we put down with a bad case...not pretty. I would not eat.
We decided to keep a cow who would heal and then break out. Eventually by the time all was said and done, we had 6 cows with it and learned some hard valuable lessons....one of which, there is no shortage of good cows, get rid of the crappers.
Next if you are seeing cases of lumpy jaw, woody tongue or foot rot, evaluate your mineral. Lack of iodine is a primary reason why their bodies can not fight off the bacteria. Since we have started to add extra iodine, on the advice of the vet, our cases of all three have stopped. Hubby got complacent this spring and now we have a cow who will be railed this fall if she does not break out.
We notice it seems to take hold in the younger cows because they are teething. In years when the alfalfa hay is more stick like we see problems as well because they get mouth punctures.
Finally we did do an iodine on a very pregnant cow..2x. Yes there is a huge risk. We chose to take the risk and we did not loose the calf...next time could go south. It was a risk, we knew it we did it...go with what you are comfortable with but know the risks and know that it will not always result in a positive outcome.