drawn up cow

[jt]

just came in from putting out hay, and while putting it out i noticed one of my cows off to herself... upon checking her out she got up and was drawn up more than i have ever seen one before.

she had her back legs up under her as far as she could and still be able to stand. she was up on the tips of her bacl feet. walked with real small steps. looked like i could have pushed her from the front and sit her down on her rear.

any ideas of what it could be and what to do about it??

thanks

jt

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Hardware?

 

[jt]

Hardware?

thats the answer i was afraid that i might get.. how do you know whether it is or not and if it is, what next? this is a problem that i have never had.

thanks

jt

 

[Beefy]

It seems liek hardware gets suggested an awful lot on this board. what i'm wondering is how common is it? what kind/size of magnet is used to potentially help it?

 

[dun]

I think the reason it's suggested so much is because the symptoms that are reported are pretty much classical for hardware.
We never tried to treat it with a magnet. When we fed hay that was wire tied, all the cows and calves for that matter had a magnet that's about the size of my index finger. (I'm holding my hand up so you can see the size) Magnets come in a lot of different sizes and several types. We prefered the solid stainless ones because we could clean them off and drop them into another animal when we butchered the original owner of it. The type that are interspersed plastic and iron disks never seemed to hold up as well.
If the hardware is big enough and ferrous and you have a good enough metal detector you can sometimes see if they've wored or not. Problem is, what if it's negative? Does that mean that there isn;t something there, or is it none ferrous or is ot too small, etc.
With the symptoms described, we checked for rumen and intestinal function. If it was relatively normal but she was still humped up we shipped her as a slaughter cow.

dun

 

[jt]

i'll admit, last night i thought hardware too, but now am not so sure.. this morning she can hardly get up and if she does and tries to walk she goes right back down.

my thoughts now are that i saw what a downer cow looks like just before getting totally down.

another kicker is.. my vet is out of town until tomorrow.

any suggestions welcomed.

thanks

jt

 

[dun]

My first thought is to wack her and put her out of her misery. My second thought is to roll her to her opposite side a couple of times a day, keep feed and water where she can reach them without getting up until the vet can check her out.
Depends on the cow

dun

 

[Kelly]

Could it be founder? Is the cow on alot of grain?

 

[jt]

Could it be founder? Is the cow on alot of grain?

never had one founder, so i dont know what they will do if they founder... but no she is not on a lot of grain... she gets minerals, protein blocks, a little cotten seed (3# or so every other day or so depending on the weather and how they girls are looking) and hay.

i am leaninig now towards some type deficency, but not sure why she would be deficient in anything.

how does a vet check for calcium deficiency? is this a blood test?

just a curious side thought that probably is nothing, but are some breeds more prone to go down than others...?? this is only my second cow to go down for no apparent reason, and both were herefords??

hope to find out some answers tomorrow when my vet gets back in.



thanks

jt

 

[Dee]

First cow I ever had go down had something wrong with it (liver, kidney?)and had a high Calcium level, and Low Phos (or Potassium), can't remember which now, but, yes, it is a blood test.