Downer cow

[Silver]

So I've had the odd downer cows over the years. In my experience once (if) they get up they are away. Well, back on April 3 I came across a second calver having some difficulty calving so I lent a helping hand. I pulled the calf to its hips by hand, but as we know it gets hard to pull by hand when they are out that far. So I tied it off to my quad. I didn't pull. Just waited and after a bit the cow tried to stand and the calf plopped out. No big deal. Except the cow couldn't get up. For two days. But then she did, and within a day she was moving okay so I walked her and her calf (which I had been feeding) down to the barn and put them together for a few days. Things were going well so I walked them over half a mile to where the rest of the pairs are. Well, she seemed to start regressing to the point she ended up getting down over the side of the hill in the trees and could no longer rise. I've been packing feed and water to her for over a week. Pulled the calf off yesterday to look after it. Today she started getting up and standing again but her hind end is still wonky, I think she has little to no control over one leg. I had been giving her Metacam, today I was going to try Dex but thought we'd have a wreck if I tried to give it to her while she was up.
Anyone ever had a downer cow get up and relapse later?

The cow, standing today:


The calf, happy to be getting fed:

 

[Lazy M]

Weird, never had one go back down after they become mobile again. Not familiar with metacam, is it an anti-inflammatory?

 

[uplandnut]

Have had them pinch a nerve while calving. That usually give the look of having minimal control over a leg, usually you can see it tremble a little. Does seem weird that she got better and made a half mile walk without problems, and then relapsed? Maybe laid on it wrong again once she was moved and pinched it again?

 

[Silver]

Weird, never had one go back down after they become mobile again. Not familiar with metacam, is it an anti-inflammatory?

Yes, Metacam is a commonly used NSAID up here. Not sure if you have access to it down there.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Calf looks half grown!!

If I were a cow, I'd have a hard time walking too.

Is she still on her feet?
Any plans for a reunion?

 

[Buck Randall]

It's pretty common for cows that have some calving paresis to end up slipping and injuring themselves. A set of hobbles would help keep her wonky leg from getting away from her.

 

[Silver]

Calf looks half grown!!

If I were a cow, I'd have a hard time walking too.

Is she still on her feet?
Any plans for a reunion?

If she shows vast improvement in the next day or so I might reintroduce them to each other and see what happens. Idk.
It is a nice sized calf for sure, especially seeing as she's had a tough time getting groceries. I'd like to see her get raised up by her mother, but we'll see.

 

[Silver]

It's pretty common for cows that have some calving paresis to end up slipping and injuring themselves. A set of hobbles would help keep her wonky leg from getting away from her.

Hobbles are an interesting thought. I know guys have used hobbles to good effect on cows that have 'split' themselves on ice.

 

[PSMCL]

Have had them pinch a nerve while calving. That usually give the look of having minimal control over a leg, usually you can see it tremble a little. Does seem weird that she got better and made a half mile walk without problems, and then relapsed? Maybe laid on it wrong again once she was moved and pinched it again?

Obturator nerve. Usually bilateral, often with one leg more badly affected. Affected cows usually recover, but it helps to tie the hind legs almost together (about three feet apart) to prevent the splits. Metacam, or a cheaper generic, helpful.

 

[wbvs58]

The hobbles sound like a good idea and "the tincture of time".

Ken

 

[Silver]

Obturator nerve. Usually bilateral, often with one leg more badly affected. Affected cows usually recover, but it helps to tie the hind legs almost together (about three feet apart) to prevent the splits. Metacam, or a cheaper generic, helpful.

Interesting. And welcome to the board.

 

[TCRanch]

Weird, never had one go back down after they become mobile again. Not familiar with metacam, is it an anti-inflammatory?

Metacam is Meloxicam for human consumption. Vet prescribed it for a bull but was out, so called the RX into a local pharmacy. Had to hand feed that bull 63 pills every day for 3 days, then every other day. That was fun

 

[TCRanch]

Good luck, Silver. I've never had one relapse.

 

[farmerjan]

Have seen a few dairy cows do that, relapse, and sometimes just get better. Sometimes they just don't and always have one leg worse than the other. If she laid just wrong or another cow might have jostled her it could easily put the pressure back on that nerve. We always put hobbles on the cows. If she can get it a little better, then might be able to raise the calf but you would do well to keep her close and not let her in with other big cows where she could just get bumped off balance. Most all dairies have wound up shipping the cows when they are "walking better"... but she might make you a good beef once the calf is big enough to wean. The calf will often give them more of an incentive to "try", so might be to your best interest to try to get her back home if possible.
Had one dairyman here with a cow that would swing back and forth from better to worse... lifted her for a couple weeks several times a day (purebred show cattle) and one day it seemed to get jiggled a bit and seemed better. Then he had a vet that did chiropractic care work on her every other week and she wound up getting alot better and they flushed her for a couple years after that. So, I think that it is as @PSMCL said.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Metacam is Meloxicam for human consumption. Vet prescribed it for a bull but was out, so called the RX into a local pharmacy. Had to hand feed that bull 63 pills every day for 3 days, then every other day. That was fun
View attachment 15954

It can cause depression in people and animals

 

[PSMCL]

Metacam is Meloxicam for human consumption. Vet prescribed it for a bull but was out, so called the RX into a local pharmacy. Had to hand feed that bull 63 pills every day for 3 days, then every other day. That was fun
View attachment 15954

I live in the EU where meloxicam is available for large animal injection under several brand names: Metacam, Loxicom, Rheumocam, and Meloxidyl are four and there are probably more. The dose rate is 2.5ml/100kg given subcutaneously.

 

[Silver]

Well, she was laying down when I got to her this morning so thought I'd give her a shot of Dex. Turns out she can move pretty fast. Got the needle in but before I could inject she turned, knocked me down and rolled me a little.
Sooooo…. Doesn't look like she'll be getting hobbles or anti inflammatory drugs any time soon lol

 

[Silver]

I live in the EU where meloxicam is available for large animal injection under several brand names: Metacam, Loxicom, Rheumocam, and Meloxidyl are four and there are probably more. The dose rate is 2.5ml/100kg given subcutaneously.

It is one of the few drugs here in Canada that our vets actually encourage us to have and use.

 

[GoWyo]

Metacam is Meloxicam for human consumption. Vet prescribed it for a bull but was out, so called the RX into a local pharmacy. Had to hand feed that bull 63 pills every day for 3 days, then every other day. That was fun
View attachment 15954

I like the name of that patient LOL

 

[Lucky]

Had pretty much the same exact thing happen last year but the calf didn't make it. Cow got up after an hour and seemed weak but fine. A few days later she laid down and never got up again.

Earlier this year my neighbor spent every afternoon for at least 2 weeks using hip huggers to pick up a downer cow with the tractor. I wouldn't have bet $2 that she'd ever make it. Slowly but surely she got stronger and finally pulled through.