LUMP ( photos )

[CowCop]

~

Good Morning,

This 5 month old heifer came up to the home field yesterday with this lump above her hoof. ( right rear )

She was treated for foot rot in July in the opposite foot.

Does this kind of lump look familiar to anyone ?

What is it and how did you treat it ?

Thank you.

Vet is coming Nov 3rd.

 

[dun]

Is she limping or favoring that foot?

 

[rockridgecattle]

Vet nov 3 too late. An absess such as this coulds ruin the leg. Get, borrow, rent, a trailer if you have non and a trip to the vet if you don't know how to treat. LA 200 and anti inflamatory or best when you call the vet get his/her opinion. Best bet

 

[CowCop]

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She is not limping, but not exactly keeping up with the rest of the calves when they frolic.

I blew up the photo and I can see where it could possibly be draining on its own.

I want to get her up to the barn so I can treat her, but as of yesterday the herd has been moved to a dryer pasture 1.5 miles away.

My first thought was that I wanted to lance the absess.
Anyone else ever try that ?

I have another phone call into my vet.

He's the only cow vet within 50 miles.

 

[dun]

Do you have means to restrain her? Have you taken her temp? A localized infection may not raise her temp enough to be noticable though.
If it's draining on it's own I tend to leave them be but I check to make sure there isn;t something in there that's causing the problem. Had a heifer pic up an old rusty fence clip just above the hair line on her foot once. Removed it and she healed fine.

 

[CowCop]

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She is now in a 200 acre open field. No handling facilites there.

Will lure her to feed buckets and rope and tie her to a tree--if need be.

Our vet is a calf roper from Canada.

I initially thought it might have been an old barbwire snag as there is so much buried wire on this farm and occasionally the cows get snagged.

Never seen an absess like this.

I'll be up in the field checking on her again tomorrow and getting her to come to a feed bucket...just in case.

This is one of my "keeper " heifers.

Times like this I wish I had bought the tranquilizer/med rifle after the 5 day training I had.

 

[rockridgecattle]

if this is one of your keepers and unless i missed something treat now!!!
From expereince if you do not treat it will get worse and then chronic foot problems and big expenses. Been there done that..cliche i know. We waited on a bull with an absess, treated 2x with LA200, poor results and then vet couple of times then 2" rain, limping, absessed bull, more vet only to ship and get 600 dollars on the rail. Cost to treat, cost of delayed breeding because of one bull down...over... i'm embarassed to say so needless to say we lost money

 

[milkmaid]

It doesn't really look like an abcess... from the location you'd presume she'd either be lame, or else short-strided on that leg if it were an abcess. And she's bearing a decent amount of weight on the leg as she stands there. Also, unless I've totally lost my marbles, that's not footrot and it's unlike any case of footrot I've ever seen.

I'd suspect a growth of some sort... which you aren't going to be able to treat with antibiotics or anti-inflammatories. Maybe a huge wart or an injury that went overboard when healing. Dunno, it's hard to say, really, just looking at a picture. I could be completely wrong too. Wouldn't be the first time.

Some more pics when you catch her would be great, as well as an update on what you discover when you examine it more closely.

 

[cfpinz]

I'd bet there's a piece of a stick or some other foreign matter in there. Do what you feel comfortable with but I'd cut it open for my own curiousity.

cfpinz

 

[Jogeephus]

Could be a snakebite. Dunno. Had one get bit in the leg and it swelled up like that then burst and drained. Didn't do anything and all was fine with time.

 

[KNERSIE]

That looks like scar tissue that you'd typically get when a thorn or other foreign object got stuck there.

I'd definately investigate closer and try and remove some of the scar tissue if I can't see what caused it straight away.

 

[CowCop]

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I went out to the field this morning and took some photos of the lump and the heifer.

I also watched her walk, lope and run.

She doesn't seem affected by it.

Right at the 11 O'Clock area on her bulge, there looks to be a puncture or drainage area.

I enlarged the photo for a closer view.

It may be an absess, but right now it looks like some gosh darn wart.

Swelling seems to have gone down.

Tell me what you think.

 

[gabby]

I'd watch it for a while and save a vet call unless it blows up.

 

[sidney411]

I wonder if it might be a hairy heel wart forming? She wouldn't be putting any pressure on the front of her hoof like in the back so it may not be hurting her.

 

[Beefy]

i wouldnt be real concerned about it. its definitely not footrot. i dont think its an abcess either but it might be. i would lean toward scar tissue type thing.

 

[TheBullLady]

It does look like a huge wart.. or a callous, but a very strange place for that.

I don't think I'd worry about it if she's walking fine. Just keep an eye on it and see what it does.

 

[CowCop]

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I was thinking about Hairy Heel Wart as well, but have never seen it in this location or in beef cattle..

The dairy up the road has a serious problem with it.

My vet still can't come out any earlier than Nov 3rd... so we will see then what it is at that time.
Hope it doesnt rain on that day. We are weaning, worming, tagging and preg checking.

I will keep you all informed.

Thank you for your comments,

 

[sidney411]

I had one cow (hereford) with it, but it was on the back of the rear leg, between the dewclaws. Looked a lot like that, blackish and crusty. The vet cut it off and it bled worse then anything else I've ever seen on a cow. There was a pool of blood as least a foot in diameter before they got it to stop. It was really gross.

 

[3rdgeneration farmer]

This looks bad. You could take 3 coral gates and a trailer and alot of patience and catch her. I just did this same senario tuesday. Anyhow, you must get her up where you can work on her or take her to a vet.

 

[tytower]

I once had a stud Hereford Bull go down with something that looked similar but was weeping pus. A piece of rusty steel from the steel mesh on a carriers truck floor bed had broken and stuck him just at the top of the hoof .

Vet scooped it out and injected him and packed it etc but he never did get back up. $1000 down the drain -so heavy couldn't even get him to slaughter.

Herefords seem to be a bit foot tender, British breed on soft soil . Breeds coming from rockier locations have probably evolved to hardier feet. Like goats.

Yours does not look like this but I'd try find an experienced cattleman to have a look-buy him a beer ,or her a wine perhaps