eye cancer/cataract

[mind235]

NO I HAVE NOT HAD A VET OUT SO BEFORE YA FLAME ME PLEASE READ ON TO SEE WHY .We have two different animals and maybe similar eye problems. I have this bull born April. I keep my animals in pastures with guy I rent from. Mid summer he had a 3-4 month old black heifer that had this brown patch along the outside eye lid. I asked him what it is and he said something like either it gets it from the sun or I thing he really said the sun will make it go away. It has just about disapeared. Then he has this red steer and it got something almost looks like it but his runs across the outside top eye lid and his has gotten real bad. Now I have a black bull born April same as other 2 and all of a sudden I see he has the same or similiar thing going down the side of his eye None of them seem to be bothered from it not rubbing it orshowing any signs tat it bothers them. lid.Mine is doing fine otherwise he is packing on the weight and growing fast as can be. HE SAYS NOW TODAY THEY ARE PROBALLY RUB MARKS (no no no), EARLIER THIS SUMMER HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT THE SUN OR SOMETHING.
They have all been on the outside of the eye lid , they don't seem to bother them.He runs the farm wild so you can't get them any closer than maybe 15-20 feet to get a good look. He says every year seems like 1 or more will get the same thing He says the sun gets rid of them usually and was kinda supprised when I told him said usually the sun keeps it away.

Here where this gets let's say differernt. It is his land and buildings but he lets me run my animals on his land since I take care of things around the farm.
I have wanted to bring a vet in to vac's and do overall health check on mine. He never vac's or worms or ever had a vet on the property.The place is a mess. One barn was a milking barn but no dairy here for 5 years but the barn would take 3 full spreader loads at least to get at the floor. The heifer barn has 2 feet deep manure. All the pastures have twine, wood, you name it it is out there. I understand his father and him were very good farmers but this year he moved down the road and I took the farm house. So situation is I mentioned about getting a vet to look at mine and he kinda cringed and since I had cleaned out a stall in the calving barn to keep him in this winter he said after much hesitation that could get a vet out if I get him in the stall. He doesn't want the vet anywhere since what she will see might start some problems with the conditions the animals are kept in.

NOW THE REAL PROBLEM. ALL THE GUYS WHO KEEP CATTLE AROUND THE AREA HAVE SEEN MY BULL AND ALL HAVE SAID IT IS A TOPNOTCH ANIMAL AND I GOT A GREAT ANIMAL.I WANT TO KEEP HIM SINCE I ALREADY HAVE 2 GUYS THAT HAVE MADE OFFERS TO RUN HIM ON THEIR LAND FOR 60 DAYS NEXT SUMMER. I also want to breed him to my hefs next summer if he is in good condition. What is killing me is there are the fall feeder sales which I guess are the best sales of the year here. He is in really good shape he has just been putting on the weight like crazy last few weeks. He keeps getting out into the next pasture which you could not ask for a better one and everytime I go get him he got a big old mouthful. So everyone likes him, he is in great shape, have opportunties already for him next summer.But know the other side of the coin. I sure would hate to keep him and find out that is something that will get worse and affect his health.So it's a I need to try to figure out what it is in a few days and determine to keep him or sale barn.
Of course today this guy come to pick up his bull that we were using and he really knows cattle his dad used to be a cattle trader and he has 4 bulls at his place .He tells me he sees my bull a couple times a week when he goes by and my guy has jumped the fence. He said every 2-3 years someone gets lucky on one of the farms and gets a bull that is really a great bull for the kind of cattle everyone is running here and he said I was the lucky one this year.(There are like 6 farms everyone chats and lends/borrows etc)I WANTED TO HAVE HIM LOOK AT THE EYE BUT BULL WAS OUT WAY OUT BACK ESCAPED AND HE DIDN'T HAVE TIME.

So can't get a vet out, well can if I can get bull cornered into the other barn and into a stall and then there is the chance of her (VET) getting mad if she looks around and sends someone like SPCA or something).No the cattle are not starved or anything I rotate them through pastures and watch over his and mine. It is more of a gee 3 years of manure in the barns where they sleep and nurse, and like I could probally buld a tractor by using all the parts that are laying around in the pasture and everywhere.

so then I have to decide weather to keep what everyone says is a good bull and hope he doesn't get sick from it or sending him to the sale which I am sure I won't get anything even close to what he is worth. These are the sales everyone comes to buy/sell their heifers so bulls aren't big seller right now am told.
So if anyone knows of anything might be like he said something about the sun healing it.

For the heck of it if you were selling a good bull (I take the word of the othere farmers) 2 questions

how would you sell it , sale barn or advertise in paper?
next question bull April 30 2007 estimate weight well actually 2 guys have told me what they think this week.

one said 575-600
other said 500 give or take 25

 

[ga. prime]

Fascinating post, mind235. I'm anxious to see what responses you get.

 

[MrBilly]

There are at least two types of cancer eye. One is that which most here refer to - in the lids surrounding the eye. The other is cancer of the globe which is a cancer within the eyeball itself. We had one of these last year. Had to vet see her, said choices are: surgery or put down. She also said I could not take to the sale barn since it would be rejected and would have to bring home. I knew it cost about $100 to bury, so how much, I asked, is the surgery? "$125," she said. "Let's go for it," I said.

We did it, I assited, it was a messy procedure and the cow woke up in the middle of the procedure throwing instruments into the dirt, but it was successful once we got her sedated again. No infection, no recurrence. Cow was pregnant at the time and gave birth to a great calf and Mom is pregant again and will deliver in two months.

PTL

Billy

 

[milklady]

I have heard that eye cancer is more common in cattle that have white coloring around their eye. Like the herefords... Does anyone else believe that?

I worked with alot of different breeds. The reason Herfords get pinkeye more is that the hair around the eyes are white. I do not know if it attracts flies more? The red animal in the picture is probably a Salar. Was the eye watering?

 

[mind235]

Thanks,
Glad it worked out for you. It never was a issue with $$. Anyways good news one of the guys that said he was a excellent animal came and looked and he thinks it is something minor. He offered me a good trade he gets the bull and I get my choice of a heifer or one of the older cows that has been bred. So I think I take one of the cows and make part of the deal is a positive preg check and we haggle to the amount of extra cash if any for the bred cow. The other part of the deal is I can use the bull for free for 5 years. So everything gets solved the bull will get medical attention he can have the vet at his place he does not have the problem I have with a vet coming here. He gets a good bukll, I get a bred cow so calve in spring and the fall breed back the cow.

Happy for the deal and MOST ALL IS THE BULL GETS TO SEE THE VET AND ANY TREATMENT HE MAY NEED AND I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MY LEASE PROBLEM.

 

[SF]

Pinkeye is a virus. Has nothing to do with breed or color. It is much more noticiable on cattle with white faces, such as herefords, charlais, etc....

I have heard that eye cancer is more common in cattle that have white coloring around their eye. Like the herefords... Does anyone else believe that?

I worked with alot of different breeds. The reason Herfords get pinkeye more is that the hair around the eyes are white. I do not know if it attracts flies more? The red animal in the picture is probably a Salar. Was the eye watering?

 

[MrBilly]

Pink eye is primarily a bacterial disease, not viral. Do a google search for pink eye cattle and read.

Billy

 

[SF]

Pink eye is primarily a bacterial disease, not viral. Do a google search for pink eye cattle and read.

Billy

Opinions do vary on this one Billy. Talk to 10 different researchers and you will get 10 different answers, but I will concede and stand corrected.

Here is an interesting thought that I read from one source.

"Causes of pinkeye
There is controversy among researchers about the cause of pinkeye. Some consider pinkeye to be a syndrome, rather than a specific disease entity caused by the bacterium Moraxella bovis. This is because many different environmental factors as well as a number of different kinds of bacteria, viruses, mycoplasmas and even worm parasites of the eye appear to play a role in herd outbreaks of infectious pinkeye. Tear secretions in cattle appear to be deficient in an enzyme that kills bacteria (lysozyme). Recent work has shown that infected carrier animals may be of major source of infection. A carrier is an animal that may or may not have suffered from pinkeye in the past and may show no outward signs of disease. Nevertheless, in the presence of a number of predisposing factors, this animal is still able to spread the M. bovis bacterium.

However, whether it is a virus or a bacteria is irrelevant to the point I was making. It will affect bos taurus cattle primarily in the same manner with little regard to color. Bos indicus cattle seem to be resistent to pink eye in comparison to bos taurus cattle.

Greg

 

[MrBilly]

SF, no need to stand corrected, I was probably to emphatic with my original statement. Although it is primarily a bacterial disease ( and there seems to be a couple bacteria that can cause it), there is indeed some evidence for a viral etiology. We're both right!

Billy

 

[3rdgeneration farmer]

From that pic, it's definitely not an advanced case of cancer eye. I think you have two different problems. You have to figure out why shes loosing weight. If you're seeing discharge or watering from the eye, treat for pinkeye! It wont hurt her if she dont have it. Cancer eye is a nasty looking event, I've seen it look like chicken liver coming out of the eye. This also could be that she has had pinkeye and developed the white film over the eye. Perfectly normal after advance case or pinkeye. If you dont want to have the vet come out, or buy an antibiotic, put some table salt in the palm of your hand (about a quarter size) and throw it in her eye. I know it sounds barbaric, but it cures faster than any medicine. Salt kills bacteria, but not cancer eye. Also if this is too tuff for ya, treat with an antibiotic, you could luck up and treat whats causing her to lose weight.

 

[3rdgeneration farmer]

my experience is that yes, herefords do get pinkeye worse. Also, I have NEVER been told pinkeye was anything but a bacteria. Salt, will not cure a virus and I have fixed pinkeye more than i can count with SALT. Ive had them be almost swelled shut to where i thought the salt didnt get in the eye and it worked. You may have to do it more than once though. I did this because my grandfather has raised angus for 60 years (hes 86) and he suggested to try it because I was in a hurry on a particular day and it was faster than getting her up to work on her. Lazy way to treat but success rate is beyond belief.

 

[SF]

...Cancer eye is a nasty looking event, I've seen it look like chicken liver coming out of the eye....

How would you treat cancer eye?

...put some table salt in the palm of your hand (about a quarter size) and throw it in her eye. I know it sounds barbaric, but it cures faster than any medicine...

I would deduct from your reasoning then, the bacteria is on the outside of the eye, where the salt can get to it. What does your vet say about this? I don't think it necessarily sounds barbaric, I'm just not convinced that this treatment method works. When we treat with antibiotics we do it with subc injections in the neck, not squirting it into the eye.

JMO

 

[SF]

my experience is that yes, herefords do get pinkeye worse. Also, I have NEVER been told pinkeye was anything but a bacteria...

How does the bacteria know that it is a hereford? What about black baldies, tiger stripes, or any other hereford cross. Are they more succeptable than other breeds? If it is the white face that makes them more succeptable, then what about Charlais and others, are they more prone to pinkeye than Angus or other colored breeds?

 

[dun]

The old theory is that the sun refelcting from the white face tends to make the eye water or the un-pigmented skin to sun burn and attract flys. The flys pass the disease.
We won;t keep a heifer that doesn;t have pigment around the eyes, not dark hair, dark pigment.
We had one cow that had both eyes fully pigmented except for about an 1/8 inch wedge on the bottom of her left eye. The flys would line up in that unpigmented area.
But that's just anecdotal and probably doesn;t have any provable bearing on the pinkeye issue.