Cow out flat

[gulfso]

Suggestions please. Had to pull a calf this morning. The cow got up and was up several times. Checked her again and she was out flat on her side. Any inovative ideas about ways to get her onto her stomach without causing a hernia. Vet was here and pumped her full of stuff so she shouldn't have other problems

 

[sidney411]

Roll her on her stomach by hand. If she won't stay in the sitting position by herself you have a big problem.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

if you get her on her stomach prop her up with some hay bales or some old tires to keep her sittin up. it dont sound good her laying on her side though. how hard a pull was it anyway?

 

[gulfso]

It could have been worse. She was up for 4 hours off and on and walking some and then went back down. The hard part is rolling her by myself. May have some help coming which should make it possible

 

[C HOLLAND]

It may be a calcium deficiency, the demand from calving and producing all the milk for the calf can kill them.

I had one give birth on Nov 4th and on the 5th she was laying flat on the ground and could barely open her eyes. I had the vet out and he gave her an IV of calcium and she was ok within 30 minutes. I held her head up with my knee as he gave her the IV and as she got stonger he said smack her and make her get up. I slapped her a little to soft and he said hit her a good one and make sure I have an escape plan before she gets up (Brangus Cow)

she popped up and I took her baby back to her and all was fine then.

I was told to make sure my free choice minerals had calcium supplement in it from now on. I use chicken litter for my pastures and that is one negative in them getting enough calcium.

learn something new all the time.

 

[gulfso]

Its Thursday and she is still down.

Borrowed a cow lift from a neighbor yesterday and we got her up twice. Also have put two tubes of calcium in her. Going to try and get her up again about midday. First time using this cow lift but have saw it done one time many years ago. Not sure if it is going to work but have so much invested in her it is worth the effort for a few days. ABout to kill my back trying to scoot her up enough to get the clam around her hips though

 

[ALACOWMAN]

try some therapy on her and ol timer told me about. set a downer on the side of a fifty five gallon drum and roll her back and forth a few times. to adjust her sort of like intersegmental traction. like a chiropractor he said he done it and the end resulted in her runn'in em out of the pasture. it would be worth a shot to me as dumb as it sounds ;-)

 

[gulfso]

She is able to move the feet some. Actually the front feet seem to be less responsive than the back..Yesterday she actually put some weight on the back legs. We picked up the front ones and she stay with some weight on the for maybe 5 minutes. I let the cow lift on her today at lunch. Hoping she will get pissed wqith that thing clamped to her hips and try to move some...She did drink water and eat a bit of hay.

 

[milkmaid]

Also try a shot of vitamin B12 complex and perhaps dexamethasone. Vitamin B helps for nerve damage, dex will help with any inflammation, which she may have if there's been nerve damage from her being down.

If her ears are cold, and/or if she's part dairy, and/or if she's a heavy milker and/or middle-aged (5yrs+), another tube of calcium gel might not be a bad idea. Meds given orally are not absorbed or used as efficiently by the body as meds given IV or systemically, so if she has a calcium deficiency, two tubes may not be enough. In cases of milk fever, my vet says he's done as many as 6 500mL bottles IV -- not something I'd chance, but it goes to show that on a downer due to calcium deficiency you can put a lot of calcium into them without causing problems.

 

[gulfso]

Thanks for the advice. It appears that she has just given up.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

sorry to hear that. but it didnt sound good usually with milk fever they go down aright but not flat on their side at first just down. what is her eye's tellin you? you can tell alot from that. if she's ready to make her pilgrimage to the other shore