2/B or not 2/B
Well-known member
Hi CT friends, I haven't been around much so I'm not sure what I've missed. We had some excitement a couple of weeks ago and I have photos so I thought I'd come by. To any beginners out there, the only reason we "tried this at home" was because we called our vet first and she advised us to. If you find yourself not knowing what to do in any situation. Call and ask. Have the number ready in advance. I was fully prepared that she'd come over and we'd be paying for a farm call. If you have cattle, you should expect it.
We had calves born in March and at two weeks old, a steer cut himself very badly somehow. From far away it looked like a surface scrape but he wouldn't let me anywhere near him and he was acting distressed. I had a scope with me and realized how bad it really was. My stomach sank knowing it was almost dark, I was home alone, he'd have to be caught, the vet would have to come, he'd need stitches etc.
I called her right away and after she heard everything, she advised that we should clean it up, dry it off and superglue it. Ourselves. :shock: Or, if it couldn't be glued, use a darning needle and fishing line to stitch it. Ourselves. :shock: :shock: She knows us and she knows we can do the basics. It's not the first time she's advised us by phone (free). But I was perfectly willing to pay her to come. Considering how bad it seemed, I think I would have preferred it. It's a modern world, and I was able to text photos to her. She didn't change her mind about the superglue, so we did it.
The first photo is what it looked like after I sponged it with soapy water. The top edge had rolled up under itself making the opening appear wider. The lower section of hide was not attached to the body at all. I had to be careful not to let soapy water pour inside of him :frowns:
The second photo is what it looked like after I'd cleaned it as much as I could and toweled it dry. After unrolling the top part, the opening looked a little smaller. We were in the field and it was impossible to remove every hair or speck of dirt in the wound, but I did my best. After that, I trimmed down the hair around the edges. An inch at a time, I dried and glued and held the sides back together. The glue fused the skin as well as the hair and the last photo shows how it looked at the end. To me, it looked miraculous. He instantly became more calm and seemed to feel better.
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The big concern was watching it for infection. He got a shot of LA200 that night and the vet said to watch for discharge and puffiness. Here are some pictures of how he looked within four days. There's some minor swelling that's difficult to see. Obviously he's feeling just fine. That cow isn't related to this story. She calved yesterday and that photo is from 2 weeks ago. She spent a lot of time stretching like that and using the hill for gravity.
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We had calves born in March and at two weeks old, a steer cut himself very badly somehow. From far away it looked like a surface scrape but he wouldn't let me anywhere near him and he was acting distressed. I had a scope with me and realized how bad it really was. My stomach sank knowing it was almost dark, I was home alone, he'd have to be caught, the vet would have to come, he'd need stitches etc.
I called her right away and after she heard everything, she advised that we should clean it up, dry it off and superglue it. Ourselves. :shock: Or, if it couldn't be glued, use a darning needle and fishing line to stitch it. Ourselves. :shock: :shock: She knows us and she knows we can do the basics. It's not the first time she's advised us by phone (free). But I was perfectly willing to pay her to come. Considering how bad it seemed, I think I would have preferred it. It's a modern world, and I was able to text photos to her. She didn't change her mind about the superglue, so we did it.
The first photo is what it looked like after I sponged it with soapy water. The top edge had rolled up under itself making the opening appear wider. The lower section of hide was not attached to the body at all. I had to be careful not to let soapy water pour inside of him :frowns:
The second photo is what it looked like after I'd cleaned it as much as I could and toweled it dry. After unrolling the top part, the opening looked a little smaller. We were in the field and it was impossible to remove every hair or speck of dirt in the wound, but I did my best. After that, I trimmed down the hair around the edges. An inch at a time, I dried and glued and held the sides back together. The glue fused the skin as well as the hair and the last photo shows how it looked at the end. To me, it looked miraculous. He instantly became more calm and seemed to feel better.
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The big concern was watching it for infection. He got a shot of LA200 that night and the vet said to watch for discharge and puffiness. Here are some pictures of how he looked within four days. There's some minor swelling that's difficult to see. Obviously he's feeling just fine. That cow isn't related to this story. She calved yesterday and that photo is from 2 weeks ago. She spent a lot of time stretching like that and using the hill for gravity.
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