Hardware disease symptoms?

[Onthebit]

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with hardware disease. I have a cow whom I suspect might have it. She just isn't thriving like she was. Her calf still looks great but the cow, who is a first calver, is looking shaggy and thin. Everyone else looks great! She is either wormy or has hardware disease IMO.

 

[cfpinz]

We've had a few cases over the years, more than I care to admit. Some of the farms we rent have not been "well-kept" in the past. Shoved a magnet down the throat of every cow/bull we own this past spring.

The ones I've seen are usually unthrifty looking as you describe with a poor coat and lose weight quickly. They will often stand with an arch to their spine and walk gingerly as if something is hurting them inside. Ours have also had the squirts to the point it looks like brown water with a foul smell. Hardware disease is one of the cruelest ways for an animal to die in my eye.

 

[LoveMoo11]

It can't hurt to give her a magnet while you are waiting for a vet diagnosis/fecal sample results.

 

[dun]

Besides being humped up, they tend to grunt when they walk, stand up or lay down

 

[angus9259]

Is it just looks or actions as well? I hate stating the obvious, but that first calf can be hard on cow too. If the heifer is thriving, maybe the cow is a heavy milker? I can have two first calf cows standing side by side and look like entirely different animals.

 

[TheBullLady]

I agree with Baxter, unfortunately it shows the same symptoms as Johnes. The only difference would be that a cow with hardware would get symptoms anytime, whereas a Johnes cow generally shows symptoms after stress.. ie: calving, or weaning a calf.

Give her a magnet, it's not hard to do, and see if that makes a difference. I would also wean her calf if you can.

 

[Onthebit]

going to drop a magnet in her tomorrow and treat her for worms. She doesn't act in pain or hunched up. Just looking poor and bushy haired. She is a heavy milker and maybe she just needs a little feed on the side.

 

[dun]

going to drop a magnet in her tomorrow and treat her for worms. She doesn't act in pain or hunched up. Just looking poor and bushy haired. She is a heavy milker and maybe she just needs a little feed on the side.

Sounds typical of a milker that puts all of the extra she can get into her calf. They don't have to be a heavy milker, just one that milks more then her genetics allow her to keep condition.

 

[hillsdown]

http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/a ... g07700.htm

Clinical symptoms and diagnosis
You may notice that the cow has a poor appetite, is somewhat depressed, and is reluctant to move. Cattle seem to have indigestion and show signs of pain when defecating.

If perforation of the heart has occurred, fluid, due to infection, may accumulate around the heart and produce abnormal heart sounds. The brisket may be quite flabby due to a large amount of fluid in it.

The cow may also be bloated. These symptoms may subside or disappear within one to seven days, but may reoccur shortly afterwards.

If the cow is slaughtered and the reticulum and heart carefully examined, it may be possible to find a nail or wire protruding through the wall of the reticulum into the heart. However, the hardware may have been completely digested over a period of months and thus not be present.

Sometimes abscesses or adhesions may be present between the reticulum and diaphragm, indicating a perforation had been present. Normally, the reticulum and diaphragm are not bound to one another.

I hate saying the Johne's phrase willy nilly but the last cow I thought had hardware and I treated her as such did in fact have Johne's, so to be on the safe side I would test a fecal sample. More than likely though it is probably what Dun has suggested..

Good luck with her.

 

[kenny thomas]

I agree with cfpinz and dun's quotes. Also in advances stages many have a large swelling in the brisket.