We had a heifer cut her leg on a bale feeder 11 days ago. The vet came out right after it happened, and cleaned it out. The cut went down to the bone in the leg. We put aeseptic paste and wrapped it, with LA-200 medication. She would get up and eat and drink but would not stand up for very long because it was painful to put pressure on it. She is in a shed by herself on corn stalks. She does not seem lethargic or running a temp. We had the vet out again yesterday because she didn't seem to be improving at all. Her appetite has always been good. He told us that she now has an infection in her joint bone. Treatment would be expensive and it would be best to put her down. Thoughts? It seems hard to believe that there is not other treatment. She is due the middle of March, would have like to see if we could keep her going till then. She lays down 95% of the time, when she gets up its only for a very short about of time. Has anyone else every treated a joint infection in a heifer.
joint infection diagnosis
- Thread starter davisba67
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
The only way I've heard of is to open up the joint, scrape the gunk out of it, sort of pack it with antibiotics and kept her shop up with antibiotics for a while. Joint may need cleaning additional times. Had to get rid of one of my favorite big ol pet cows because of that a couple of years ago.
Which joint? Have a picture?
I see a lot of injuries... the guy who treats leg problems at the hospital is better than I am (and I have no problem admitting it!), but I do see enough of the bandage changes that I can usually tell what will be OK and what's a game over condition.
But yes... injuries that extend into most joints are a game over condition. I do take claws off occasionally with excellent success, but anything above the fetlock is typically SOL.
I see a lot of injuries... the guy who treats leg problems at the hospital is better than I am (and I have no problem admitting it!), but I do see enough of the bandage changes that I can usually tell what will be OK and what's a game over condition.
But yes... injuries that extend into most joints are a game over condition. I do take claws off occasionally with excellent success, but anything above the fetlock is typically SOL.
If I recall correctly the problem with treating joint capsule infection is there is no or maybe it was insufficient blood to the area so that antibiotics can't reach it. That was the deal with the scraping and infusing the joint idea.
An update to this heifer with the joint infection. We did treat her with injections of Naxel for a week around Christmas. Stopped any treatment the first of the year, although there was evidence of infection. We knew we would never get all of the infection out but it bought us enough time. Her joint ended up freezing up. She could get around very slowly and always kept a good appetite. The vet performed a C-section yesterday and we now have a healthy heifer calf. We then had the vet put the heifer with bad joint down. We were glad to be able to get her through far enough along to have a calf, but still hard to loose one.
Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
Thanks for the update! Glad you were able to keep her going long enough to get the calf.
