Heifer found dead

[Limomike]

To limomike -- liver abcesses; pulmonary (lung) abcesses; acidosis; bloat; botulism; choking; plant, mineral, chemical or metal poisoning; and quick pneumonia for starters. Pretty well anything that involves a rupture of an abcess internally instead of externally, anything that causes the rupture of a major vein or artery internally, anything that involves bacteria that emit toxins, and anything that changes the normal function of the animal's organs in a major way (like acidosis or poisoning) can cause a sudden death.

I wasnt saying that blackeg caused this particular death, because they had already found an abcess on the liver. Just agreeing to what was said if they even tested for blackleg.
But, Milkmaid, Thank you for that list. I wasn't saying that blackleg was the only thing that caused sudden death, its just that I just really have never experienced any of those in my 20+ years of being around cattle. Glad you cleared that up for me.

 

[Keren]

Limo, I may not have been around cattle as long as you, but an interesting comparison:

I have never had a sudden death due to blackleg
I have however had sudden deaths due to:

- asymptomatic pneumonia
- E.coli toxicity in the brain
- lung abcess rupture
- barley grass head in the lungs (I guess you could liken that to choking)

 

[milkmaid]

I haven't been working with cattle near as long as you, limomike, but working on a dairy I've seen cows die for some really weird reasons. Haven't seen blackleg yet but I've seen 4 of the other reasons I've listed and was out of town when rupture of a pulmonary abcess killed one of boss's cows.
I didn't think that you were disagreeing with the liver abcess diagnosis, btw.

 

[Limomike]

Limo, I may not have been around cattle as long as you, but an interesting comparison:

I have never had a sudden death due to blackleg
I have however had sudden deaths due to:

- asymptomatic pneumonia
- E.coli toxicity in the brain
- lung abcess rupture
- barley grass head in the lungs (I guess you could liken that to choking)

That is interesting....
Guess I can consider myself fortunate to not have had many problems with illnesses or death, in my cattle.

 

[TheBullLady]

I've also had them die for really strange reasons. You have to remember, they are also like people, in that they probably have certain tendencies towards certain diseases when they're born.

I have unfortunately heard of other steers /heifers on feed (in a feedlot) that have gotten liver abcesses. It's just one of those things unfortunately. I don't think that they can actually tie it into anything specific as a cause, but just "one of those things".

Very sorry for your loss.. why do we always lose the best ones?? I've got five in the barn now that I'm getting ready for the majors, and I swear I worry about them constantly. You'd think I was too old for that crap.. :cboy: