mystery illness

[cowgirl8]

This is our second cow to do this this year.
Loss of control in back end only. Front end is still strong. Eats, doesnt appear to feel bad. Cow earlier in the year recovered somewhat, but dogs later mauled her and she went downhill and we had to put her down. Both cows have older calves..
Cow yesterday staggered in the back end, we saw her off in the distance by chance. All were out grazing, caught her walking and her back end dipping. When we got to her, she had bulging eyes (one more than the other) and a lump about 6 inches under her ear. Today she has another lump on the side towards the base of her neck.
Our first thoughts were anaplasmosis or iodine deficiency. Treated her for both of those. Today, she's still weak in her back end. She'll eat. Doesnt seem aggressive like with anaplasmosis nor is she jaundiced. Alert, no labored breathing... Will call vet in the morning.
I find it weird that this is the second one doing this. We keep minerals out year round, but whether they eat it is anyones guess.... Might be a coincidence might not be.

 

[Lucky_P]

Prime consideration here would be lymphosarcoma, associated with BLV infection.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/gener ... =&sc=&alt=

 

[cowgirl8]

Thanks, sure sounds like its what it is.

 

[cowgirl8]

It was lymphosarcoma... Poor girl hung on till today, had to put her down. Until a few days ago, she was able to stand and walk. But a day and a half ago, she was unable to stand and i was hoping it was due to her hurting her leg early on when she'd fall on her back end.... I gave her food and water and she'd eat and drink with gusto. But today she refused water. When they do that, its over. We tried in the slim chance she was misdiagnosed. Big healthy cow with a big bull calf. One day good, the next bad....

 

[cowgirl8]

Also, that bulging eye was really freaking me out. To most people it was unnoticeable. But i was taking care of her and saw it every day. The past couple days it was bulging a little more. The other night i had a dream of bulging eyes on all my animals. Woke up really freaked out....

 

[branguscowgirl]

Cowgirl what tests did you run to get your answer?

 

[TCRanch]

I feel your pain! We've been watching one of our best cows for the past week because something just wasn't right; on the fringe of the herd, not eating much, slight limp & literally laying down in the water. She's heavy bred so we figured she was miserable from the heat & no other obvious symptoms. Yesterday was our 1st opportunity to catch her (the herd has been at the lake, can't take the portable corral over the dam), her temp was 105.8 so I immediately called our vet. Her tumor is so big he couldn't even tell much about the calf & there's no way she can deliver it so our only options are a c-section to try & save the calf & subsequently euthanize the cow or just pull a 2-fer & get it over with now. Eyes aren't bulging yet but the limp is because the tumor has spread to the lymph node in her upper thigh. No sleep here either =(

 

[cowgirl8]

Cowgirl what tests did you run to get your answer?

Since the cow could not load up in a trailer, we just called our vet. Symptoms were classic for it. Bulging eye, lymph nodes swollen all over, around neck and as days went, all along spine. Back end paralysis....Did not act sick. And we can suppose it could have been something else, but its not likely. There was no treatment, although we did treat for anaplaz just in case as my husband wanted...but in my opinion it was not anaplaz, looked nothing like it.
We will change what we've done before, use a fresh needle for each cow. I use to change every 5 cows, but now it will be every cow.

 

[TexasBred]

Cowgirl what tests did you run to get your answer?

Since the cow could not load up in a trailer, we just called our vet. Symptoms were classic for it. Bulging eye, lymph nodes swollen all over, around neck and as days went, all along spine. Back end paralysis....Did not act sick. And we can suppose it could have been something else, but its not likely. There was no treatment, although we did treat for anaplaz just in case as my husband wanted...but in my opinion it was not anaplaz, looked nothing like it.
We will change what we've done before, use a fresh needle for each cow. I use to change every 5 cows, but now it will be every cow.

Buy your needles and syringes by the box and they will cost you almost nothing.

 

[branguscowgirl]

TC and cowgirl I am sorry for your losses. Sounds like a bad disease. I hope that you don't have anymore affected.

 

[TN Cattle Man]

Cowgirl what tests did you run to get your answer?

Since the cow could not load up in a trailer, we just called our vet. Symptoms were classic for it. Bulging eye, lymph nodes swollen all over, around neck and as days went, all along spine. Back end paralysis....Did not act sick. And we can suppose it could have been something else, but its not likely. There was no treatment, although we did treat for anaplaz just in case as my husband wanted...but in my opinion it was not anaplaz, looked nothing like it.
We will change what we've done before, use a fresh needle for each cow. I use to change every 5 cows, but now it will be every cow.

Buy your needles and syringes by the box and they will cost you almost nothing.

X2... some of the cheapest insurance out there!!

 

[TCRanch]

For peace of mind, going forward we will either change needles for every cow or buy disposable. That said, the Merk manual states transmission risk via SQ is low, which are the majority of all our shots/vaccines. Our vet tattoos the heifers when he BANGS & changes his glove when he preg checks, we don't AI or use implants so I'm wondering about the horseflies, which have been horrible this year.

Our girl wants out in the worst way and I'm tempted to just let her join the herd & wander off when she's ready. On the other hand, the vet said it could take up to a few weeks, she'll be in increasing pain & she's due to calve. This is the gut-wrenching part of ranching.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Buy your needles and syringes by the box and they will cost you almost nothing.

:nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

Been doing it that way for years and years. Its worth it to me.

 

[kenny thomas]

Check out Air-tite. Good product at a very good price.

 

[Lucky_P]

cg8,
I've told it before, but I'll do it again, as it's pertinent.
We re-started here in 1995 with 4 halfblood SM heifers, a pet Holstein, and three bred Angus-X cows - all of which I'd sent to my dad's while I was in grad school. Kept almost every heifer, and by 2005, were up to around 45 head of females... were losing at least one cow to lymphosarcoma every year. Tested the entire herd in 2007; 40 of 44 mature cows were positive, 1 of 4 yearling heifers, 1 of 9 weanlings.
I'm a veterinarian; I knew better... but i'd been using that same needle, going from cow to cow, in and out of bottles of vaccine... until it was too dull to drive through the skin, before I'd put on a new one. There is no doubt in my mind that I was largely to blame for spreading it so effectively throughout my herd.
Since that time, no female (other than the known BLV-positive animals) gets an injection with a needle that's been in another animal. No in-and-out of vaccine/medication bottles with a needle that's been in an animal. Disposable needles are CHEAP. Yeah, it's a minor PITA to change 'em out between animals, but it's the proper thing to do.
I will reuse needles on steers, and the last few remaining old known BLV-positive cows - but there ain't but about 4 of them left...

 

[branguscowgirl]

I am a fanatic when it comes to sterility. (Nurse, I have to be.) I draw up every cows vaccines with a new needle and syringe, place them in a cup labeled for that cow, then sit them in an ice chest to go out to the corral. I don't have the numbers of cattle that you all have, or I would have the auto syringes. I caught a vet student sticking a used needle back into a bottle at my house one day and came uncorked on her! :lol:

 

[cowgirl8]

I'm working on 'its how things are done' kind of mentality.. When i came into the picture, one needle went a long way. Not only did it go a long way, but then it was boiled for a few minutes and used the next go round. I've been working on these guys to change and finally its working. Some guys dont like to hear what us girls have to say, lol.. Anywho, we've always bought our needles in bulk and over time, i've started chipping down at how many times they get used. I always used a new one when i draw from a vile...but when it came to reusing, its no more than 5 times. But now it will be a new one each time.

 

[TCRanch]

We did put our girl down last Wed. Never easy. Adding to the drama, got her in the bucket of the track loader, my husband backed out of the barn & the loader went kaput. Checked the fuses, had John Deere on the phone, nada. So we have a 2000 lb dead cow mid-air in the bucket, it's 93 degrees & we have to wait several hours for a service call (plus they got lost). Really, really bad day =(

 

[cowgirl8]

We did put our girl down last Wed. Never easy. Adding to the drama, got her in the bucket of the track loader, my husband backed out of the barn & the loader went kaput. Checked the fuses, had John Deere on the phone, nada. So we have a 2000 lb dead cow mid-air in the bucket, it's 93 degrees & we have to wait several hours for a service call (plus they got lost). Really, really bad day =(

It didnt go any better for us....Husband put her down and went to the house to get a tractor. The only one with a bucket was as dead as a door nail. So there the cow sat at the road in full view....I conveniently ran to town while the deed was done thinking that when i returned she would be gone...but nope, there she was bloating in the sun.. Thank goodness PITA isnt anywhere near...lol

 

[TCRanch]

We did put our girl down last Wed. Never easy. Adding to the drama, got her in the bucket of the track loader, my husband backed out of the barn & the loader went kaput. Checked the fuses, had John Deere on the phone, nada. So we have a 2000 lb dead cow mid-air in the bucket, it's 93 degrees & we have to wait several hours for a service call (plus they got lost). Really, really bad day =(

It didnt go any better for us....Husband put her down and went to the house to get a tractor. The only one with a bucket was as dead as a door nail. So there the cow sat at the road in full view....I conveniently ran to town while the deed was done thinking that when i returned she would be gone...but nope, there she was bloating in the sun.. Thank goodness PITA isnt anywhere near...lol

Battery? Deere didn't even have jumper cables - had to use ours. I went back to the house & had a glass of wine. Okay, two. Cheers in your honor & sending good juju for an uneventful week with zero cow drama!