Neospora Cow has healthy newborn

[fourstates]

My neospora cow, Diamond, had a healthy bull calf, this evening. 102 degrees in the shade. She delivered 13 months from her abortion, but 11 months from what would have been her last years due date. She raised a rejected calf in the interim. I am glad I didn't cull her. She's a great mother and nurse cow. Last calf til fall!

It's easier to stay up if you sit on mama.

 

[bigbull338]

now thats a cute pic.love the way the calf is keaning against momma as he stands up.an he is a cute calf.

 

[hrbelgians]

now thats a cute pic.love the way the calf is keaning against momma as he stands up.an he is a cute calf.

:nod:
Mother nature sure has it's moments!

 

[sizmic]

Did you treat her with anything or just bred her again?
Mine is due next month, I hope the treatment I gave her worked.

Sizmic

 

[fourstates]

Well, thanks to you, sizmic, I did treat her. 3 big doses of tribissin, and oxytet. Along with 3 doses of Neoguard thru the pregnancy. I had a hard time finding a vet to work with me on this treatment regime. One vet told me, it was a waste of time, because the cattle build up immunity to the disease and rarely abort again. This is the only cow with an official dx of this disease, I have one more suspect, but did not treat her. She is due in Nov. I don't know how I will handle the next pregnancy. But a dose of neoguard seems like cheap insurance.

 

[sizmic]

Congratulations, that is one very cute pic. Even my girlfriend says so, and thats high praise.

I dont know what the vet ment when he said they will develop immunity on their own. Mine aborted 3-4 times before I figured out something was seriously wrong besides being a Gridmaker heifer. I've kinda got a feeling the people in California will have something to say about that too.

Sizmic

 

[LimousinGirl]

He is CUTE! :heart: Just love those beefmaster ears!

 

[Nured]

I'm glad it worked out for you. I also have a cow with Neospora and everything I have read from the internet says there is no cure or the drugs are only available outside the U.S. Do you know of any published material relating to the protocol you used? I think if I could show my vet a study he would work with me on this.

 

[fourstates]

You are right, all the studies are outside of the US. But most of the drugs are available in the US. The disease is very similar to a protozoan disease found in horses called EPM. There is lots of research and money when it comes to horses. Only when the epidemic gets recognized as real cost in losses, will a vaccine be developed for cattle.
I read several studies and came up with using Tribrissin (smz/tmp but injectable) and oxytetracycline. In retrospect, I could have used the tablets, it would have been less expensive. Big doses over 5 days. Than I used Neoguard at standing heat, again when 4 weeks later and a third at the beginning of the 2nd trimester. I knew her heats and watched her closely. I knew she was bred, when she missed her second heat. (Yes I could have palpated her, but I didn't want to jeopardize the pregnancy..

Now please understand, I am not a Vet. You need to talk to your Vet. Tribrissin is not approved usage for cattle. The neoguard is only to protect the fetus and only works <80% (pretty good odds). But unless you treat the cow AND protect the fetus you will continue to have abortions...I don't know if it was the treatment of the cow or the neoguard, but I know I have a healthy calf and will give one dose of the neoguard when she rebreeds. Good luck and let me know your outcome.

 

[Caustic Burno]

My neospora cow, Diamond, had a healthy bull calf, this evening. 102 degrees in the shade. She delivered 13 months from her abortion, but 11 months from what would have been her last years due date. She raised a rejected calf in the interim. I am glad I didn't cull her. She's a great mother and nurse cow. Last calf til fall!

It's easier to stay up if you sit on mama.

Uaually Neospora only causes the abortion in the cow in the second trimester, but she will continue to infect the pasture and off spring. Dogs or coyotes that feed on the afterbirth will spread Neospora and keep the cycle going. Getting rid of or thinking you have cleared up a cow is a long way from having this problem under control.
Neosporosis:
Neospora caninum is found worldwide and is the most common cause of abortion in dairy cattle in many parts of the USA. Neospora abortion is less common in beef cattle, but it is still economically significant. Abortion can occur any time after 3 mo of gestation, but is most common between 4 and 6 mo of gestation. Neospora can be associated with sporadic abortions or abortion storms, and repeat abortions in cows have been reported. Some infected calves survive and are born with paralysis or proprioceptive deficits. Dogs are the definitive host for Neospora and can be the source of infection. The role of wild canids is unknown. Cows are not clinically ill, and placental retention is not common. The fetus is usually autolyzed and rarely has gross lesions. Microscopically, nonsuppurative inflammation is common in the brain, heart, and skeletal muscles. Organisms can be identified in these tissues and the kidneys by immunohistochemical staining. Many late gestation fetuses have precolostral antibodies. Infected calves may be born alive and clinically normal. They remain infected for years and possibly for life. During pregnancy, Neospora organisms can become activated and infect the fetus. This is thought to be the most common source of infection. There is no treatment. Strict hygiene to prevent fecal contamination of feed by dogs may aid in prevention. A commercial vaccine is available. See also Neosporosis: Introduction.

 

[dun]

Getting rid of or thinking you have cleared up a cow is a long way from having this problem under control.

But CB you have to admit that is a cute darn picture!

 

[sizmic]

The way I understand it, and I have had quite lengthy discussions with my "renegade Vet", as well as quite a bit of research on my own part, "COWS cannot infect pastures" or transmit the infection to other cows. The bugs have to mate and the only known place this happens is in canines. There is some other speculation that it happens in other vermin. Cows get infected when they ingest some offspring of the mating somehow; contaminated feed, coyote scat in the pasture. I was kinda puzzled by this, I have seen many dogs eat cow crap but I have never seen a cow knowingly eat dog crap. This whole neospora thing really scared me to the point that I almost put down my trusty stock hound "Cassie" because this started not long after we got her. Thankfully, I had her tested first.

There is a treatment, contrary to popular belief. I don't know what it does by but my vet school nephew has strict instruction to learn all he can about this or he doesn't get a graduation present. :cry2:

Sizmic

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have been to the Neospora rodeo along with several neighbors, we all have the t-shirt.
Holding on to cows that have been confirmed with neospora is playing Russian Roulette with your herd.
These animals should be culled to slaughter along with cannie control with a extreme prejudice.

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedi ... &O=Generic

 

[fourstates]

I know how serious it is, but there is no way to irradicate every dog or coyote in the Texas/Arkansas region. And I don't know how to prevent cattle from grazing where a dog or coyote may have defecated. The cow and her calf are NOT contagious, and never will be... It makes no sense to cull a cow that can deliver a healthy calf. The disease can be treated and the fetus can be protected. To me, that seems like culling a cow just because she needs an additional vaccination every year, is not cost effective. Obviously, if the cow had aborted a second time, she'd be slaughter.

This is not a prion or mysterious virus. It's a protozoan, and it can be treated.

 

[Caustic Burno]

This is the new bangs your cow will continue to be a host animal wandering around the pasture.
These cattle are no different than the ones banging out in the seventies grazing the same pasture,
some got it and some didn't. A cow with neospora should be quaranteened along with the herd it came from no different than bangs, these cattle should slaughtered with an N branded on the jaw versus a B.
ETIOLOGY

Neospora caninum is a coccidian parasite that had been confused with T. gondii until 1988. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and the coyote (Canis latrans) are its definitive hosts and cattle, sheep, goats, horses, deer, and several other animals are its intermediate host. As yet, there is no evidence for human infections. Herbivores likely become infected from ingesting oocysts shed by the definitive host and by subclinical congenital infection from transplacental transmission. Tachyzoites and tissue cysts are tissue stages found in all hosts whereas oocysts are excreted in canine feces. Tachyzoites are 5 to 7 µm x 1 to 5 µm and can occur in many cells of the body. Tissue cysts are up to 100 µm in diameter are found mainly in neural cells. Oocysts are shed unsporulated in canine feces and they sporulate outside the body.

 

[fourstates]

When the neospora cow aborted, she was confined to a 15 acre pasture, with about 20 head, of which 15 were very early bred. Every cow in that pasture had about 2-3 hours with the fetus and afterbirth. They were all sniffing it when I found it. Another cow aborted about 2 months later, but her bloodwork was negative for neospora, but came back positive for a form of lepto not usually found. All the other bred cows have since had healthy calves, with the exception of "Mo", who had joint ill.

Bulls can be infected with Neospora, too. Would you, or did you cull your entire herd?

There is just not enough currently published research, most recent I have read was dated 2005, most dated late nineties, and 2001.

Bangs is a bacteria easily passed from cow to cow. Neospora can only be passed if the cattle consume the egg (oocyst), passed through the dog or coyotes scat. Congenital transmission means the fetus gets the disease, directly from the infected cow. It can not be passed from cow to cow.

 

[Caustic Burno]

When the neospora cow aborted, she was confined to a 15 acre pasture, with about 20 head, of which 15 were very early bred. Every cow in that pasture had about 2-3 hours with the fetus and afterbirth. They were all sniffing it when I found it. Another cow aborted about 2 months later, but her bloodwork was negative for neospora, but came back positive for a form of lepto not usually found. All the other bred cows have since had healthy calves, with the exception of "Mo", who had joint ill.

Bulls can be infected with Neospora, too. Would you, or did you cull your entire herd?

There is just not enough currently published research, most recent I have read was dated 2005, most dated late nineties, and 2001.

Bangs is a bacteria easily passed from cow to cow. Neospora can only be passed if the cattle consume the egg (oocyst), passed through the dog or coyotes scat. Congenital transmission means the fetus gets the disease, directly from the infected cow. It can not be passed from cow to cow.

No but I tested the herd and cull all the positives after an abortion storm, this is no different than cattlemen that hung on to the bangs cows in the seventies until the government had to step in. I have been to the bangs rodeo as well. We were dealing with Neospora eight to ten years ago in this area, the ranchers in this area have taken a very proactive approach to managing infected cattle.
You are trying to justify in your mind a reason for holding on to a cull cow. If you read the latest from the USDA the vaccine holds promise, this has not been confirmed as a prevenative as of yet.
Any abortion here is tested immediately and a positive is shipped to slaughter.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articl ... id=1263819
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080729.htm

 

[fourstates]

I agree with you. And really appreciate the updated links. But, based on your management practice, wouldn't make more sense to test annually and cull the positives before you had an abortion storm?

 

[Caustic Burno]

I agree with you. And really appreciate the updated links. But, based on your management practice, wouldn't make more sense to test annually and cull the positives before you had an abortion storm?

I have only had one abortion in the last several years a set of twins, the cow was immediately tested and showed negative. We got hit with this diesease years ago and tested like crazy and culled. Our problem was dogs.
We were lost for a while until this was identified as no one here had ever heard of Neospora before our abortions showed up. We decided we could arradicate the dogs the coyotes were another issue the way we came to break the cycle was to cull infected cows removing the placentas for the cannines to feed on and start the cycle over again.

 

[CKC1586]

Holy Crap!!!! Well I guess not holy, but DOG Crap!!! Do I need to worry about my dog pooping in the paddocks????