help!!! My cow is sick

[lgmann196 4]

Good evening,
Some of my cows have become sick in the past week, one has died
The sick ones have diarrhea, breathing harder, drinking lots of water like they are dehydrated, I have another down and she wont get up....any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,

Lisa

 

[branguscowgirl]

Have you had a vet out? Symptoms fit a lot of different things. Are they running a temp.? Did you start antibiotics? What are they eating? How old are they?

 

[Kingfisher]

Where do you live? Has there been any changes in feed? Any exposure to neighbors cattle?

 

[Nesikep]

You have more than 1 sick at a time, I'd get the vet out NOW... There's far too many things for us to speculate on.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Loose mineral? They gotta have mineral.

We can sit here and postulate all kinds of possibilities. There's simply no way to diagnose what's wrong over the Internet.

Stress will cause cattle to get sick in a hurry. Breathing sounds like pneumonia. They need nuflour now! Viral issues can take the whole bunch. Call a vet. First thing he/she will ask is what their temp is. You didn't tell us.

 

[Nesikep]

The breathing problems do, but the other end is runny too, to me it sounds like something contagious, whether it's bacterial or viral, who knows.

where are you located too? What have the cows been eating? What's the weather been like in the last while?

 

[Son of Butch]

Moldy Feed???

 

[daniel.carver]

What happened?
Two years ago, a friend leased 30 acres of pasture that was heavy w/Johnson grass. He told me he took 10 mama cows there. He said that they tore into the Johnson grass like it was candy. Then they ran down to a pond and drank from it. He was able to get six headed away from the pond. He said the first two walked a short distance and went down. He mentioned labored breathing. In total he lost four cows that day. Johnson grass scares the crap out of me. Every two years or so it comes up in relatively the same spot and I mow it down until it doesn't come back. I hope your cows are good. Good luck. Dan.

 

[branguscowgirl]

The Johnson grass would be a good suspect, if there is any around.......

 

[lgmann196 4]

Thank you all very much for all your help. Im calling a vet right now ..I lost another one this morning. I'm in Arkansas, my cows eat pasture grass, have 3 ponds, they eat hay I bale from the same fields I have baled from for years,. The only change that has been made is I bought a new bull about 3 weeks ago and hes sick now.
Lisa

 

[wacocowboy]

I would have a vet out there asap

 

[torogmc81]

Where's the bull from?

Sale barn?
bull sale?
private?
craigslist?
other?

 

[wacocowboy]

good luck hope the vet knows what it is and can save the rest of your cattle

 

[lgmann196 4]

Good Morning,
I couldn't get a vet out yesterday, because of the holiday. so far no other cows are sick, the bull acts sick, but he's still here and not laying around. He got in one of the ponds Saturday evening and was still in there later that night, but was out later early morning, 1:30am. I did find out that my neighbor (older gentleman) fed them some loafs of breads later last week, he gets from the day old bakery, he has done this several times before and everything was fine, but I'm not sure if he gave them straight bread or other stuff too. I ask him and he couldn't remember, he had his grandchildren helping him. I don't know if cakes and stuff sweet will hurt them, but that worries me. got a call in for the vet to come out 1st thing this morning.
Thanks ya'll
Lisa

 

[Hook]

Moldy bread and aflatoxins maybe

 

[lgmann196 4]

Hey everyone,
The vet said he really didnt know what is workng with the cows but he thinks its something they eat. He bread was moldy the neighbor fed them... I lost my bull, im just sick

 

[Hook]

Don't let your neighbor feed them anymore unless you see what he's giving them. Justin case that was the issue

 

[branguscowgirl]

Wow sorry to hear that you have lost the bull also! That is really a hard hit to loose that many at one time.
I bet your neighbor is feeling bad also.

 

[regolith]

Neighbour shouldn't be feeding your cows... does he dump his lawn clippings over the fence too?

Very large quantities of bread might cause acidosis, esp. if they only get it as an occasional treat and not every day. Just a loaf or two wouldn't do much harm.
btw, if he is offering them garden trimmings there may well be toxic plants mixed in, or toxic moulds in the heap. A surprising number of people are ignorant about how may garden plants and common weeds are poisonous to children and livestock.

 

[Nesikep]

Man that's tough to take. Have the vet do an autopsy perhaps... find out what the cause of this was. I'm sorry we couldn't be of much more help... And I know how it goes,.. cows always get sick on a long weekend friday evening!