She was really nice!... And I was right, murphy was an optimist,... of course it happens to your best cow!
I lost one of my best to a stroke last spring... I had never heard of cows having strokes, but she had all the symptoms, and her blood tests were textbook perfect... At the end she either laid down wrong, or fell and couldn't get back up, and was bloating, so I put her down... It was hard, but I didn't have to think about it long. I got just one heifer from her, but she's turned out really good... She was going on 9.
I had to put her sister down last fall, and that was a long time coming, which really didn't make it easier, That was Rosie, she gave me 16 calves in 17 years, best mother in the herd, and she was good at making heifers, I have 4 of them, the oldest is 8 and is outstanding... They're crossbreeds, but she's the kind of cow that bull or heifer, you know it's going to be an awesome calf in the fall and don't go too far wrong keeping. Rosie was getting bad teeth, and really bad arthritis... Another winter wouldn't have been good to her.
Here's Rosie, the day I put her down, with her daughter Kama (yes, I still have her!)
Sorry to hear it.. and for going on about it myself... May her daughters do well for you!