Heifer with Blood In Solid Stool

[dhayes105]

Hey everybody. I have a 2 year old should be just-bred limflex heifer. She's in good condition, maybe a little fat. Anyways, I was out with the cows and noticed blood dripping from her rectum. Looked on the ground and also saw blood on a recent normal cow pie (definitely hers.) A few minutes later another spurt of blood/water came out.

Worried about salmonella, but a couple thoughts/facts...

1. We have had ridiculous amounts of rain this year. My hay isn't in great shape. Could mold cause this? I'm almost out of hay anyways and I've got a pasture that's almost ready. I could turn out early if I had to.
2. We had some lice so I hit everybody with cydectin and cylence on Monday. They hadn't been dewormed since August and that was with ivomec.
3. In with my new bull.
4. Fully vaccinated with tri10, vis 7, and lepto/vibro.

We are in upstate South Carolina and we've been getting ridiculous amounts of rain since summer. I've got the cows on hay in a sacrifice area in a stand of trees where there is no grass to keep from destroying pasture.

Everyone else looks pretty normal. Including two small calves in the group. I'm going to try to get her in the chute and get a temp after work.

Any ideas?

 

[Farmgirl]

Probably coccidia.
Corid is one drug for treating it.

Good luck.

Farmgirl

 

[Silver]

If the blood is still bright red and dripping out I'd guess it's a wound fairly close to the exit. Perhaps your bull has bad aim.

 

[dhayes105]

Checked temp. 101.8 so no fever... looks like coccidiosis. Thanks for the help! Picking up corid on way to work in the am.

 

[kenny thomas]

Checked temp. 101.8 so no fever... looks like coccidiosis. Thanks for the help! Picking up corid on way to work in the am.

Why do you think coccidiosis if she has a normal cow pile?

 

[dhayes105]

Anybody have any other ideas then?

Now another cow has the same so doubting the poor aim option.

Everybody is up alert and looks normal otherwise.

I have them out on grass even though i don't want to in case the hay is the problem and i'm going to dose water with corid. There's so much water on the ground I am concerned they're not going to the tanks though. My plan is to poly wire them in on a spot with no puddles this afternoon and dose tanks then. We've been getting 5" a week all fall/winter it seems. Wettest year in 100 years or something like that. We worked hard all winter to keep pastures from getting damaged and didn't get to use a lot of stockpiled fescue but now running out of options.

Anyways, summation: corid, green grass. Nobody looks dehydrated still peeing a lot. If its the hay, coccidia, or the wormer we should be improving.

 

[Ebenezer]

Corrid for other species around here is ineffective.

 

[alisonb]

Digested blood would be dark indicating a problem before or inside rumen, undigested fresh blood indicates a problem after the rumen in the lower intestines through to the anus.
It could be salmonella as you suggested but I would be more concerned about mycosis. Mold is dangerous, I don't think many of us realise just how. An intestinal infection can cause hemorrhaging of intestine amoungst other things.

You putting them out to grass may have been a good thing.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Are you sure it is not coming from the vagina from just having a heat cycle? Lots of the time, it "appears' to be coming from the rectom area. That would be bright red blood.
Edit: If they had coccidiosis, they would have runny stool.