Lifting a Down cow

[Workinonit Farm]

As far as euthanasia, I've seem a few animals put down using chemicals and they don't always just "go to sleep". I've seen some twitch and shake and look like they were suffocating. I think the most "humane" way to put an animal down is a well placed gunshot.

With any cats and dogs I've seen chemically euthanized, they have just gently 'stopped', gone limp. Large animals is a different story. I've seen many horses put down with the chemical method, it's not alwyas 'pretty'. Only 2 went the way small animals do. The rest not at all. I have found that a well placed/properly placed bullet works better on the large animals.

Good luck with your cow. Hopefully she'll get up soon.

Any ideas yet as to what caused her to 'go down'?

It may be worth the effort to try and 'encourage' her to get up soon.

Katherine

 

[Cowdirt]

Yes her eye is completely better and she can see out of it now , may just have gotton dirt in it from laying on her side before the neighbor found her. Me and my sister had flushed out the eye with water and after that it started to improve. She is eating and drinking good still. I still have yet to find anyone with a tractor willing to help us lift her. Best I can do is we put her on her side and I grab each leg and work them so to speak. I take them and I pull them out and push them in and rub with my hands and squeeze her legs and muscles. When she seems to be laying on one leg too long without shifting weight we move her to the other one . At this point its all I can do. Its really sad with so many people around that have tractors that not a soul would help. Ive been on my knees praying for this one. As far as the euthanasia shot were not really worried about the dog thing or contamination. I don't live on the land so there are no dogs there and we have always buried our girls in the past. I guess it would give me comfort thinking she would just go to sleep. We lost a few of my older ones but it was like they just died I've never had to even think about making this kind of decision and they were elderly so it was there time. Shes so young it seems so unfair

Animallover, I just can't get my brain wrapped around the fact that no one with a tractor will help you. That's really sad. You need to start right now working on a better relationship with your neighbors. With regard to putting down a sick cow: I've shot a few but one old cow I had my vet to stop by and help me. He put a solution in her jugular vein. When I tried to pay him he said, "all I did was put a soap solution in". She did not have a violent end. Guess you can see by now I've cultivated an excellent relationship with my vet. He gets garden veggies and other treats quite often.

 

[Animallover82]

Well we have very few neighbors around where my cattle actually are. I live 45 minutes from where our land is. The few neighbors we have are Hispanic and most pretend they cant speak English when you talk to them. There was a guy behind us (another Hispanic man) who's bull tore down our fence 2 years ago and impregnated a few of my cows, which is something I didn't want. Like Ive said my most of my cattle are elderly and I'm trying to not have any more cattle after this. This actually caused me to loose the mother of the cow that's down right now. She ended up having a prolapse and the calf died inside her and she ended up passing away shortly after. This man had left his cow in my pasture for 3 weeks before he came and got him. I tried to run the bull off but every time I did he would put a new whole in my fence and even dented our new truck at one point. I ended up in an argument with this man and my husband called the sherrifs dept. Ever since then someone has been intentionally cutting my fences. And coincidentally the day my girl went down my fences had also been cut and all my cows were out on the road. When the vet told me it sounded like she took a blow to the head Ive been wandering if someone did something to her. We still don't know what happened to her probably never will. I don't know what I'm going to do either. I don't think at this point I can put her down when she seems to be fine cept she cant get up. So I am going to give her time. It made me cry today when we pulled up in the truck and she was stretching out her neck and looked so happy to see us. I was pouring her some more water in her bucket and she was trying to lean foward on her front legs to scoot towards me. I'm really worried about her back legs though. Is there a way to tell if they have that problem that there muscles can get? Is there any kind of therapy you can get them for that. Does that happen in days or weeks?I would spend everything I have to get her better. I am going to try and call the local college ag program and see if they have any ideas or any means for her. And I apologize for all the questions I'm just trying to cover everything for her. I just don't want to give up and I don't want to put her down when she doesn't seem to be in pain and seems so alive and well. The two guys we buy hay from all the time don't want to help. I think they are afraid they will get there tractor stuck cause we have had alot of rain. But it kinda hurts my feelings with as much buisness I give them that they wont help me. I am going to try and get a camera and take some pictures tomorrow of her to post so I can give you guys a better idea of where shes at and how she looks and is sitting. For now I wont give up unless she does.

 

[alisonb]

I suggest you forget about the tractor and start moving on getting a gantry/tripod. Can you hire one or can hubby make one(have a simple plan of one if you need)?
What is the cows footing like if she gets up? You don't want her slipping and injuring herself more. When she gets up she will have to be supported as the chances are great that she will collapse again.
She will have to be 'urged' on soon otherwise they tend to accept that they cannot get up and stop trying.

 

[Animallover82]

She is sitting on dirt she is just in the pasture basically. Your probably right though she seems so content just sitting there knowing she is getting hand fed. Someone suggested using a cattle prod but I kinda want to hold that as a last resort. I have tried to think about a device to lift her without a tractor. I guess maybe I'm just not that creative Do you have any ideas on how to make one. I looked at the plans posted on here previously but that seems like its more complicated and would take a long time and I don't want to run out of time. I was half joking and half being serious with my hubby earlier saying maybe we could make a wheelchair for her :lol: I know they can for dogs! Anyways any ideas would be appreciated on how we could make something to lift her. Ive been searching the internet for anything useful but most people wouldn't put the effort into there cows that I would and don't really think outside the box. Again I will try and post some pics to give yall a better idea of how she is doing.

 

[alisonb]

Can you hire one

???? Its getting rather urgent now.

Someone suggested using a cattle prod

Yes, thats what you are going to have to do.

 

[Lucky_P]

I don't mean to sound like an old flintheart, but if this cow's been down for over a week without having been lifted, or at least bedded on a thick layer of straw and turned from side to side several times a day, it's unlikely that she's ever going to get up. Yes, I've seen one or two that were down from obturator nerve damage during calf delivery for a month before they finally were able to stand, but those are rare as hens' teeth - and they were managed fanatically(and fantastically!) by the owners; usually, if they're down for 3 days or more without being able to stand - even in hiplifts, I consider them a lost cause.
Cows & horses are so heavy that if they're down on one side - even if they can sit upright - for more than 6-8 hours at a time, the sheer pressure of their weight causes muscle necrosis in the 'down' limbs due to diminished blood flow to the tissues.

It's hard for some folks to accept the not-always-so-pleasant realities of life and death and the toughness of making adult decisions, and I don't fault you for wanting to 'save' this pet, but I'm not holding out much hope for a rosy outcome. Sorry.

 

[jilleroo]

Animallover, do you have access to a cattle prod? If not, a smart smack or two on the rump with a polystick or something that will give her a noisy surprise, not hurt her. It's the surprise element you're after. Maybe your hubby could do it while you stayed behind the vehicle! I'd have done that before now, you need to assess the level of her mobility. Last year we had one down for two weeks after having ephemeral fever. She lay round as long as we fed and watered her. One little pop from the prod and she got up, very wobbly, but she was up. She needed care until she could walk into the watering point but that was only a couple of days. Somehow I doubt we will be as lucky in the current case, but we can hope.

 

[dun]

First for my soap box: What you are talking about aren;t neighbors, thy're just poeple that life around there.
Now to tthe jist of it. How do you bury a dead cow? If you have a backhoe come in to dig the hole, have him use the bucket to connect to a sling setup to lift her to see if that helps. If you dig the hole by hand, you probably should start digging now.
You have to decide if it's your emotions for the cow or for the cows good that you're keeping her going.

 

[Anonymous]

Go to the local rental place and rent an engine hoist. Put some steel plate under the wheels put a sling on it and lift her up. But you gotta do something more than what is being done now

 

[Beckett]

I also asked him about euthanizing and he said you can do it the same way they do dogs and cats. Has anyone had experience with this method?

I had my 24 year old mare put down (for health reasons) by a vet a couple years ago. If i had it to do over again i would have done it myself. Very heart wrenching experiance.

 

[dieselbeef]

4 days now...


okay so when does it become in the best int of the animal and when do you stop cryin and do what is best..i dont know what that is not being there....maybe what yer doin is best

but all the cryin and carrying on about not havin any way to help or get help isnt makin the situation better.

many things have been said here about tissue dmagae/nerve damage.loss of bloodflo..etc

the vet hasnt been out yet..in 4 days...shoot him when he shows up cuz hes sorry...

ive had to put down many animals...out of mercy..out of anger....by my own heartbreak...and im not sayin you should do this but...


its been 4 days...

gary

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I haven't been around here in a while but I'm wondering what is going on here? If these are show cattle I'm gonna assume (yeah, I know dangerous) that you know something about body scores and condition. If the cow is in good shape and bright eyed, moving herself around a bit she may come through - I'd be willing to giver her a full 2 weeks as long as she was otherwise healthy. I have seen one get up after a longer period, but the vast majority that I've seen down haven't got back up if they didn't in a day or two.

Could she be bred?

One way to get them up takes a strong back and the willingness to be a little mean. The physically strong person takes a hold of her tail and if possible gets it over a shoulder and just LIFTS. The emotionally strong person does something abrupt to startle the cow. That can be anything from slapping her in the face, back, side, to using a whip or a hot shot. Even suddenly shouting or yelling. You want to scare her enough to get the flight response/instinct to kick in. What you are wanting is to get her to generate a little adrenaline and fear to give a physiological boost to the get-up attempt. Do all of this after the turning/massage procedure so her circulation is kicked back in and it will be a good surprise in the middle of the current routine.

IF it works the person doing tail duty needs to stay with her as she will more than likely be wobbly. Just back off and let her stand. She may try to take a step or she may fall down again - either way you will know she can do it - let her rest a bit then do it again.

Another thought about getting her motivated - you mentioned she is leaning towards feed and water - well, make her crawl a little - it's all good for the circulation and motivation.

Good luck - I don't think you need to give up on her until she gives up on herself or is in obvious pain or distress.

 

[Animallover82]

I just thought id check in with those of you that wanted to know how she was doing. She had a very good day today and yesterday. Yesterday I had put the food and water away from her and she drug herself to it. I had consulted another vet on Sat that said to give her time and keep giving the Dex. When I came out today she had moved all the way around , not just a little. I had some people that came out today to bring hay and we all rolled her over and over to a spot that was more dry. She did not like being rolled and tried to get up as she was fighting us. She was kicking those back legs like crazy. I actually have someone with a tractor that is willing to come out and lift her tomorrow and this new vet has a hip lift (although I'm kinda worried about that as opposed to a sling since I hear its harder on them) The only thing I'm not sure about yet is what we want to rest under her so her legs can dangle and get circulation. I have not and will not give up yet , she wants to live as much as I want her too! On a side note I had a sad day today ..... When we went out to take care of them today one of our 9 month old calves was up against the neighbors fence with her neck broke , her head was completely under her stomach. This has shocked me to the point I don't even know what to say. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. My hubby thinks one of the bigger cows did this but my god I don't see how. It seems impossible. Has anyone ever seen anything like this ?

 

[dun]

We have a December born calf that decided to start harassing a calf that was born yesterday. The younger calfs mothr had the older calf on the ground beating the crap out of it and finally nailed it against the ence and tossed it over a 4 foot fence. Cows are powerfull critters that can really damage one another. Just as likely that another animal bashed your calf around as it is anything else

 

[novaman]

I use hip lifts all the time with no problem. I usually life them high enough so their feet are on the ground and they are supporting some of their own weight. I think this is better than having them completely off the ground as it forces the cow to do a bit of work to exercise her muscles. I have to admit I didn't read the entire tread so I might not have the whole story but is it possible she split herself? You said she can crawl around but can't get up. It sounds like a split.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Most of the time you are not lifting the whole cow. They'll do a lot of it on their own they just don't have the strength to do it all. You need something strong enough to support their whole weight and the lifting gurney will distribute things out. Plus if they wobble you'll be able to add some balance. It is always best to put a clamp in their nose just in case they go nuts. You don't have to pull the nose clamp but rather just snub them, just in case.

The hardest part of everything for me is getting the gurney underneath and positioned.

 

[showmomof2]

I wish you all the luck in the world. We just went through this with my daughters heifer that she showed last year. She had just calved and somehow fell down a steep slope. When we found her she was down. We have no idea what happened, but don't believe it was due to calving as the calf had nursed. After a couple of days, we had a neighbor with a tractor help us move her to our house under a covered shed. We used hip lifts and a horse girth to support her. We finally gave up on her and had her put down, but she was never crawling. She did kick alot but we couldn't get her up. To make matters worse, we lost the calf after feeding him for 2 weeks. I wish you the best of luck with yours and if you can keep her dry and comfortable and eating and drinking, it's worth a try.

 

[Animallover82]

As far as her splitting I don't know. She has always seemed to be sitting in a normal position. I have not seen her legs on either side of her body like yall have described. Although I guess she could have been that way at some point when I wasn't there. When she was found she was layed out on her side and they neighbors helped her sit up. If this were to be the case do they recover from something like that and what exactly does that do to them? Again I haven't seen her in this position but it would be nice to be more informed on that either way. She has been trying to stand up on her own i can see her trying to push her back end up but just cant quite get there. I can even see the dig marks in the ground from where she has tried when I haven't been there. We were rolling her tonite and she kicked me really hard , with more force than she has had in a while. I think she is improving cause she is trying more every day but then it may just be me hoping. I had another vet look at her on Sat and he said she looked like she wanted to live and give her the time as long as I could keep up the daily care. I'm still really upset about that calf though. I didn't get out and really look at it that much but hubby did and has been disturbed ever since.

 

[Katpau]

I am confused. Early in this post you said "none of my cattle are bred. They are just me and my sisters show cattle from school so they are my pets and were just trying to let them live out there lives. We don't breed cause we are not wanting to have any more cattle after these pass."
Than more recently you said "When we went out to take care of them today one of our 9 month old calves was up against the neighbors fence with her neck broke".
Why do you have 9 month old calves? :???: