Mother says SELL

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knowknews

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My mother was visiting and saw my calf, which I've posted about her contracted tendons before. She said she couldn't bear to watch her walk and struggle and that I should butcher her and shoot the guy that sold her like that. LOL How long should I let her go, she still has trouble with the front legs and prefers to kneel to graze. I saw someone post that their calf with CT was up and running with the others by 8 weeks but she is almost 9 weeks.
 
As long as she is continuing to improve, even gradually, just don;t let your mother see her.
 
dun":scr2ko0k said:
As long as she is continuing to improve, even gradually, just don;t let your mother see her.

ROFLMBO :lol: She doesn't come visit so far very often; maybe by the next time she visits the calf will be all better.

Thanks
 
Dun's right. As long as she is improving, there is no reason to sell her. You'll just lose money by selling her while she looks like this. Give her some time. Your mom is just seeing how the calf is now and is overreacting. She hasn't seen how the calf has progressed.
 
KK-i had a calf that had tendon complications for a good 3/4 months but only on the one leg. In desperation i designed a brace for it.What i did was cut a thin plastic pipe(must not be too rigid-50mm diameterX250mm length) longways. I then wrapped cotton wool around the leg/joint to prevent caffing and strapped on the two halves of pipe-not too tight obviously. I would brace the leg a couple of times a day.It took appr 1 week before i saw an improvement.The calf walked normally eventually.
You have had such patience with your one, i hope she comes right.
 
Is she improving or are her legs basically in the same condition? Is she struggling to get around?
The more she kneels, the chances of the tendons lengthening decreases. Is there anyway you can hang her water and feed buckets so that she will be encouraged to stand more?
You will know in your heart what you should do. You have to look at her with unbiased eyes (which can be difficult to do when you get attached.)
Been there, done that. You do your best to be fair to the animal.
Good luck.
 
wow, ive never seen one with contracted tendons go that long. mine always straighten within a week or so. less than two weeks for sure. do you think she had some kind of mineral deficiency or other complication?
 
Beefy":1m0vdxe1 said:
wow, ive never seen one with contracted tendons go that long. mine always straighten within a week or so. less than two weeks for sure. do you think she had some kind of mineral deficiency or other complication?

It was suggested that she may have selenium (sp?) so I searched rickets and her legs didn't look like that cow's did. At the auction she was two days old and we thought her legs were just not sturdy yet. I gave her a mineral/salt block but have not seen any signs that she is licking it. I gave her an entire tube of ProBios. I am totally open to vitamin/mineral suggestions. Have you seen my pics of her legs? Can you tell if it is something else?

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/k ... 091526.jpg

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/k ... 090909.jpg

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/k ... 090906.jpg

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/k ... 90906a.jpg
 
8/5/09

0805090909.jpg


8/20/09

0821091526.jpg


I think that she has more problems than just her front legs. Looking at your pictures, it appears that she may have a deformed back too.

This may sound cold hearted, but if she is struggling to get about and appears to be in pain, it may be best to put her down. Her problems will increase as she grows and gains weight.

To me, she looks miserable.
 
she does appear to have some skeletal deformities throughout her front end, for whatever reason. if it was was vitamin/mineral deficiency related i dont think it would be correctable at this point. as she gains weight i would imagine her front legs will give with her even more so than they are now. (some genetic deformities result in calves with no cartilage in their knee joints but they usually cant stand). and that depression in her spine right behind her shoulders is no good either. she just appears to have a lot of abnormalities from her spine all thru her shoulder area and down to her knees. could be a deficiency, something the cow ate during gestation, or genetic. no help here.
 
Well....hell...i gotta show this to Tim. He isn't going to like this much-he and i have put a lot of time and $ into her and the barn for nuttin. :( Ahh Live and learn. We have a lot to think about. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.
 
kk - I am so sorry we didn't "catch" the deformities of this calf in your original post about the hair loss.
When I saw these pics, I thought, how did we not realize how bad this calf was? then I went back to your other post - all your pics were kind of "bits & pieces" of the calf. The deformity never really showed up in the pics.
Your calf is just going to get worse (IMO). I'm not one to say "give up" but this calf is pretty bad. Sorry, I know you put a lot of effort in it.
 
Knowknews,
We had a little bull calf born who had wonky contracted front legs. They were not as severe as your heifer. He was a big boy and the cow had to have a caesarian section to get him out. He was a lively fellow, however as he grew his legs did not improve. One day he could hardly get up to move around.
The decision was made that quality of life was more important than quanity of life.

My husband said that putting him down was one of the hardest things he ever did. The calf was so happy to see him thinking that he was bringing him some food and water.

It's tough, but sometimes doing what is right is not what you really want to do.
 
I called the farmer up the road and asked for a huge favor. I asked if he could come down and take a look at her. He was kind enough to check her out. He is certain that she has rickets. He suggested that I call the vet and see if she's not too old to be fixed from the rickets. If so, go ahead and call him out, if not then put her down. I don't have a prob w/that so much as I do with my son crying about it. He got too attached, tho he was warned not to.

Has anyone seen what rickets looks like? Can you tell me if this could be rickets?

Now when you all say put her down, do you mean just shoot her or take her to slaughter. If you mean to shoot her, what do we do with the carcass? We don't have a backhoe. We do have a small pick-up truck to haul her with.

This year just keeps getting better and better. :roll:
 
My husband shot the calf and buried him in the back pasture.

I second your neighbor's advice about consulting your vet. I would have the vet look at her and tell me what her prognosis is.
 
chippie":2i826byu said:
My husband shot the calf and buried him in the back pasture.

I second your neighbor's advice about consulting your vet. I would have the vet look at her and tell me what her prognosis is.

He didn't call me back yet, receptionist said if he didn't call tomorrow I was to call back. I have to run my dad up to the Cleveland Clinic and probably wont get back with him until Monday at the latest.

But I will keep you posted. Thanks.
 
The vet is coming out monday. He says that rickets is rare and doesn't think she would have them because of the milk replacer I had her on. So more on that later. Thanks for all your help that posted.
 

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