dying cows

[Anonymous]

Help!! Anyone who might know- about 3 weeks ago, one of our cows (she is about 8 yr. old) was found dead, she had always had an easy time with all her calves and she was not nursing or anything, her calf was weened, anyway, as far as we knew she was healthy/she is part red pole/part short horn. we walked into the barn one day and there she lay dead. So, here we are with another 8 yr. old cow of the same kind laying in the barn-she is very thin and her eyes look sunken back in her head and it is just a matter of time before she is gone-we had noticed she had been getting thin for about 2 weeks now. We realize we probably should call the vet but it can get very expensive. does anyone know what this could be? I dont know if the cows deaths (I know this second one is a goner)were related or not. I appreciate the opinions. thanks

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[Anonymous]

Could be hardware disease, i.e. metal object picked up while eating and damaging the intestines, toxicity, either a response to minerals or feed that is toxic, or deficency, mineral or nutritional. Bad teeth could cause them to loose condition also, but not that fast unless they completely quit eating. AQ vet call is much cheaper then a dead cow, have this cow posted if/when she dies. Get the vet out now, it may be something that is easily taken care of, or it could be something that will spread through your other cows/animals if not detected and righted now.

dunmovin farms

> Help!! Anyone who might know-
> about 3 weeks ago, one of our cows
> (she is about 8 yr. old) was found
> dead, she had always had an easy
> time with all her calves and she
> was not nursing or anything, her
> calf was weened, anyway, as far as
> we knew she was healthy/she is
> part red pole/part short horn. we
> walked into the barn one day and
> there she lay dead. So, here we
> are with another 8 yr. old cow of
> the same kind laying in the
> barn-she is very thin and her eyes
> look sunken back in her head and
> it is just a matter of time before
> she is gone-we had noticed she had
> been getting thin for about 2
> weeks now. We realize we probably
> should call the vet but it can get
> very expensive. does anyone know
> what this could be? I dont know if
> the cows deaths (I know this
> second one is a goner)were related
> or not. I appreciate the opinions.
> thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Right. A vet cost much less than another dead cow. It is very possible that your vet could provide the right medication or missing nutrient IV and have your "gonner" turned around in no time. I had a down cow cured in 15 minutes because of a nutrient that was in too short supply in her blood. Only your vet will know what to look for. There are too many possibilities to discus without checking out all the symptoms. Also consider that you may have many other affected cows that are not showing symptoms yet. If you have something spreading through your herd that has to be caught early, now it the time.

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[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

sorry about that above "no message" I am new at this. just to let those of you know who responded to my post (I do appreciate your reply) I did call the local vet and he told me he had been treating alot of anaplasmosis (not sure if I spelled that right) which sounded exactly what our cows had, it is a situation where an infectious insect bites the cows and a parasite gets into the blood stream causing the red blood cells to be ate up causing the cow to weaken, lose weight/appetite and eventually die. he said that in most instances the whole herd would not be affected, usually 3 or 4 of them and recommended we treat our remaining herd with a shot of LA 200 and Ivomec wormer, just to be on the safe side. we did and hope it does the trick. from now on we will call him at the first sign of sickness.

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[Anonymous]

I continually tell people but I'll repeat it again. A GOOD vet is almost a partner in your herd, his/her advice/counsel is darn cheap insurance.

dunmovin farms

> sorry about that above "no
> message" I am new at this.
> just to let those of you know who
> responded to my post (I do
> appreciate your reply) I did call
> the local vet and he told me he
> had been treating alot of
> anaplasmosis (not sure if I
> spelled that right) which sounded
> exactly what our cows had, it is a
> situation where an infectious
> insect bites the cows and a
> parasite gets into the blood
> stream causing the red blood cells
> to be ate up causing the cow to
> weaken, lose weight/appetite and
> eventually die. he said that in
> most instances the whole herd
> would not be affected, usually 3
> or 4 of them and recommended we
> treat our remaining herd with a
> shot of LA 200 and Ivomec wormer,
> just to be on the safe side. we
> did and hope it does the trick.
> from now on we will call him at
> the first sign of sickness.

 

[Anonymous]

> sorry about that above "no
> message" I am new at this.
> just to let those of you know who
> responded to my post (I do
> appreciate your reply) I did call
> the local vet and he told me he
> had been treating alot of
> anaplasmosis (not sure if I
> spelled that right) which sounded
> exactly what our cows had, it is a
> situation where an infectious
> insect bites the cows and a
> parasite gets into the blood
> stream causing the red blood cells
> to be ate up causing the cow to
> weaken, lose weight/appetite and
> eventually die. he said that in
> most instances the whole herd
> would not be affected, usually 3
> or 4 of them and recommended we
> treat our remaining herd with a
> shot of LA 200 and Ivomec wormer,
> just to be on the safe side. we
> did and hope it does the trick.
> from now on we will call him at
> the first sign of sickness.

The vet's comments were ,in my mind a treatment mode! What did he say do for prevention? Since you have cattle that maybe infected this disease could raise it's ugly head every time you stress your cattle! This could be getting cattle up to worm and vaccinate or when weaning/selling calves in the fall! Horse flies are the most carrier and they are darn hard to get rid of!

Some people feed a low dose Auremicin mixed with their livestock minerals for prevention of flare ups on infected cattle! You may wish to ask you vet about prevention of farther flare ups!

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[Anonymous]

>
> Some people feed a low dose
> Auremicin mixed with their
> livestock minerals for prevention
> of flare ups on infected cattle!
> You may wish to ask you vet about
> prevention of farther flare ups!

Auremycin (Chlortetracycline) may help prevent re infection. Cattle treated with LA-200 (Oxytetracycline - my vet recommends two doses 2 - 3 days apart) should be clear of the disease (no longer infected). Anaplasmosis is very sensitive to the Tetracycline drugs. The deer in our area have Anaplasmosis so flies spread is easily from deer to cattle. Some people think Auremycin in mineral, far from buildings, near water and salt, can help clean up the disease in the deer population. I've seen deer at the salt, but not the mineral, so I don't know about that one. Also remember that even when your cows are treated they may be anemic and weak for a while. It takes up to 30 days for the cow to rebuild her red blood cell supply depending on how much of it has been destroyed.

The link below goes to an Angus Journal article on Controlling anaplasmosis. It is written by a vet and is quite thorough.

Controlling anaplasmosis
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