Cow won't eat anything

[Anonymous]

Earlier this year we had a cow refuse to eat anything. We tried three kinds of hay, two kinds of range cubes, two kinds of creep feed, horse feed, sweet feed, etc. and she wouldn't eat a bite. She normally had a very good appetite. After several days of this, I knew we were in for trouble. After church one Sunday evening an older man told me that when he was a boy, his father would drench cows that were off their feed with epsom salts. I figured that if something didn't change, she would die. Maybe it would be worth trying this. We mixed 2 tablespoons of epsom salts with water and drenched her with it. By the time I had cleaned the drench and put everything away, she had already started eating. This sounds strange, but I guess some of the "oldtimers" had knowledge that's not getting passed down to younger generations. I thought this might be of interest to someone. Best regards, William Parris

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[Anonymous]

> Earlier this year we had a cow
> refuse to eat anything. We tried
> three kinds of hay, two kinds of
> range cubes, two kinds of creep
> feed, horse feed, sweet feed, etc.
> and she wouldn't eat a bite. She
> normally had a very good appetite.
> After several days of this, I knew
> we were in for trouble. After
> church one Sunday evening an older
> man told me that when he was a
> boy, his father would drench cows
> that were off their feed with
> epsom salts. I figured that if
> something didn't change, she would
> die. Maybe it would be worth
> trying this. We mixed 2
> tablespoons of epsom salts with
> water and drenched her with it. By
> the time I had cleaned the drench
> and put everything away, she had
> already started eating. This
> sounds strange, but I guess some
> of the "oldtimers" had
> knowledge that's not getting
> passed down to younger
> generations. I thought this might
> be of interest to someone. Best
> regards, William Parris

William,

your new found, (old fashioned) remedy sounds interesting to me. I have never had the problem but it is nice to know about a solution. I am curious though as to just how you administer the "drench". Is it given internally? Two table spoons hardly seems like enough to do any thing if drenched externally. I would appreciate more details. Thanks,

Mack

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[Anonymous]

> William,

> your new found, (old fashioned)
> remedy sounds interesting to me. I
> have never had the problem but it
> is nice to know about a solution.
> I am curious though as to just how
> you administer the
> "drench". Is it given
> internally? Two table spoons
> hardly seems like enough to do any
> thing if drenched externally. I
> would appreciate more details.
> Thanks,

> Mack

Mack, I just assumed everyone understood the term "drench". Use a drench gun (like those used for liquid wormer) to administer orally. William

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[Anonymous]

> Earlier this year we had a cow
> refuse to eat anything. We tried
> three kinds of hay, two kinds of
> range cubes, two kinds of creep
> feed, horse feed, sweet feed, etc.
> and she wouldn't eat a bite. She
> normally had a very good appetite.
> After several days of this, I knew
> we were in for trouble. After
> church one Sunday evening an older
> man told me that when he was a
> boy, his father would drench cows
> that were off their feed with
> epsom salts. I figured that if
> something didn't change, she would
> die. Maybe it would be worth
> trying this. We mixed 2
> tablespoons of epsom salts with
> water and drenched her with it. By
> the time I had cleaned the drench
> and put everything away, she had
> already started eating. This
> sounds strange, but I guess some
> of the "oldtimers" had
> knowledge that's not getting
> passed down to younger
> generations. I thought this might
> be of interest to someone. Best
> regards, William Parris

William,

My problem is a little more serious, but maybe this could be the answer. We have a Holstein calf, that's approx. 8 wks old, when we received him he had shipping fever, we've been doctoring him with antibiotics since he was one week old. He seems to get better then we're back to square one. The vet said to give him 3 bottles a day, that worked for about a week, then he just refused to eat. I've had to almost force 2 bottles down him. Now he won't eat any grain, and very little hay. He looks like he's dying from malnutrition. He's had this congestion from day one, I can't seem to get this resolved either. He isn't scouring, that's under control. I just need to get some weight on him. Any other suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks Jackie

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[Anonymous]

> William,

> My problem is a little more
> serious, but maybe this could be
> the answer. We have a Holstein
> calf, that's approx. 8 wks old,
> when we received him he had
> shipping fever, we've been
> doctoring him with antibiotics
> since he was one week old. He
> seems to get better then we're
> back to square one. The vet said
> to give him 3 bottles a day, that
> worked for about a week, then he
> just refused to eat. I've had to
> almost force 2 bottles down him.
> Now he won't eat any grain, and
> very little hay. He looks like
> he's dying from malnutrition. He's
> had this congestion from day one,
> I can't seem to get this resolved
> either. He isn't scouring, that's
> under control. I just need to get
> some weight on him. Any other
> suggestions would be very helpful.
> Thanks Jackie

Jackie,

We lost calves several times in the past even after trying to force feed them. I hadn't heard of drenching with epsom salts so we didn't try that with them. I don't know if it would have helped or not, but based on the response I got from the cow, I'll try it if the problem ever comes up again. It's the strangest thing I ever saw. We had a calf that wasn't doing well on the bottle and our vet recommended that we add liquid vitamins (the kind given to dogs) to the milk replacer. I hope you have good luck. Let me know how it comes out.

Several years ago we were having calves die every few days. We contacted one of the two available "large animal" vets in our area and he recommended LA200 at a higher than label dosage. We followed his instructions and all our patients died. We then went to another vet and he recommended penicillin again at a higher than label dosage. Again, all our patients died. When another one started to have symptoms, we didn't have enough left to follow his dosage. We figured that she would die anyhow so we just gave her what penicillin we had left. She's the only one that lived. After that experience, I only followed the label directions. All others lived.

Good luck, William

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[Anonymous]

> Jackie,

> We lost calves several times in
> the past even after trying to
> force feed them. I hadn't heard of
> drenching with epsom salts so we
> didn't try that with them. I don't
> know if it would have helped or
> not, but based on the response I
> got from the cow, I'll try it if
> the problem ever comes up again.
> It's the strangest thing I ever
> saw. We had a calf that wasn't
> doing well on the bottle and our
> vet recommended that we add liquid
> vitamins (the kind given to dogs)
> to the milk replacer. I hope you
> have good luck. Let me know how it
> comes out.

> Several years ago we were having
> calves die every few days. We
> contacted one of the two available
> "large animal" vets in
> our area and he recommended LA200
> at a higher than label dosage. We
> followed his instructions and all
> our patients died. We then went to
> another vet and he recommended
> penicillin again at a higher than
> label dosage. Again, all our
> patients died. When another one
> started to have symptoms, we
> didn't have enough left to follow
> his dosage. We figured that she
> would die anyhow so we just gave
> her what penicillin we had left.
> She's the only one that lived.
> After that experience, I only
> followed the label directions. All
> others lived.

> Good luck, William William, Thank you for your response, unfortunately, we lost our calf, soon after I posted. Vicki the Vet asked me if he was grinding his teeth, which he was doing from the time we got him, I never paid much attention to it I just thought cows did this. Well turns out that grinding of the teeth indicates pain, usually gut pain. It's usually a sign of abomasal ulceration. I was treating him for upper respiratory infection, so the medications I was giving him was adding to his distress, he probably died of a perforated ulcer. I just wish I would of known sooner, I probably could have saved him. Live and learn, unfortunately sometimes to late. Thank you again for your reply. Jackie

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