Pink Eye?

[runner]

What do you think about sulphur salt blocks. Do you think it helps.

Here, it's said you need to have a working relationship with a vet, ie they know your program and have been to your farm.
We have 2 vet offices that we work with, one local and one about 25 miles from here in a next county over. We have been able to get what we need just by talking with them about what's going on pretty much the same as before, except now we have to do that for our LA 300 or 200.
That would be a big problem to have to take every calf that needed something to the vets.

 

[wbvs58]

Cloxacillin intramamary put between the eyelids works very well, rarely needs a 2nd application.

Ken

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

We were talking with the rancher across the road yesterday about pinkeye. He said it's bad here (face flies) and when they started giving pinkeye veccine every year it stopped. I got some vaccine for my cows today. He also said if you have the cow in the squeeze pull out her lower eyelid making a kind of a cup and squirt some LA200 in there.

Here is their 20+ year old homebred bull The Specimen. As you can see he was blind in one eye but he could always find the cows.

 

[Ky hills]

What do you think about sulphur salt blocks. Do you think it helps.

Some of the older farmers around here swore by sulphur blocks and I used them for a lot of years in the summer.
I don't really know that they help much or not. My thinking is that a good quality loose mineral kept by them at all times is probably more beneficial for them. That said I do have a field without salt/mineral feeders and I use the sulphur blocks for them there, but will still bring some loose mineral and put it in the feed bunks there.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

People used to think sulfur block discouraged ticks.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

The thing about pinkeye, there are multiple causes. Some causes the animals recover relatively quickly with no ill long term effects when the offending condition is removed. Other causes, when left untreated, will result in blindness. It's a game of Russian roulette if you decide to leave it untreated. I haven't ever heard of a good way to determine what the cause is, and if you guess wrong.......My thought would be to treat it.

 

[cowman82]

i take a syringe and fill it up with about 6ml or so.. leave the needle on, that will help it not come out so fast. give them some feed or wait until you can get near them.. give them a big squirt of la200 right in the eye. make sure you get it in the eye. thats all i ever do and its always cleared them up.

 

[gcreekrch]

Cloxacillin intramamary put between the eyelids works very well, rarely needs a 2nd application.

Ken

We like long acting pen under the membrane at the top of the eye ball.

 

[Dave]

We like long acting pen under the membrane at the top of the eye ball.

I have seen that done. Never tried to do it myself, but it really works to clear things up.

 

[farmerjan]

Around here leaving them and doing nothing results in blindness in that eye 90% of the time. We use the pen in the eyelid membrane like @gcreekrch if it is a case that is "further along" like cloudy and looking rough; 2 cc pen with 1/2 cc dex for swelling...
I like to squirt some Today or Tomorrow mastitis medicine directly on the eyeball... it does not sting like the oxytets.. since it is made to use in the teat and not irritate the quarter of the cow.. The thicker "ointment" of the mastitis medicine seems to soothe the eye. We will patch them also; it helps to discourage flies, and it makes them not seek out dark/shaded spots as much.
The eyes get more sensitive to the sunlight when they are irritated for any reason... think about when you get something in your eye, the bright sun just seems to make it "hurt more" , so you squint or try to get out of bright light... same for the cows.
We also give them the "300" version of any brand oxytet (LA, Duramycin, etc).
Usually one treatment does it.
If it is just in the runny, beginning stage, just some Today or Tomorrow directly on the eyeball; usually we squirt it just under the eye lid so it spreads on the eye when they blink, will take care of it.

And let's face it, it is annoying and it "hurts" the cattle for their eyes to be runny and then to get that white color... it makes them often more skittish to work around if they get blind in one side and it is more dangerous for you to work them. Not fair to them to make them "suffer through" doing nothing if you can make it a little more comfortable for them while they have it...

We get a few with the white spots after they get over it, especially if it is a bad case...

Salt in the eye makes the eyes water more which was thought to "flush out" the eye more...

Damaged eyes, like with white spots or blind in one side, will often cause a lower price for the feeder calves. It won't make much difference in a mature cull animal, but the buyers do not pay as good most years for animals that have bad eyes. For that reason alone, treating them makes sense to not lose value of the feeder calf you are going to sell.
This year it does not seem to make as much of a difference with the frenzy of buyers wanting/needing feeders...

We have found that calves out of cattle that do not seem as susceptible to pinkeye here, are also more naturally resistant to getting it. I make notes about which calves would get it, and who they were out of...Nearly 80% of calves that seemed to get it were out of cows that we had bought, or their first generation heifers we kept for replacements. By the next generation, we saw few outbreaks. I think there is a factor of them building up resistance to it somewhat. We did not see anymore problems in hereford or crosses than with the angus... so the pink pigment around the eyes did not hold up here. Just my observations, not a "scientific study"....

We have a couple of bought cows, over the years, that got pinkeye when they came here... treated them and lost most/all the sight in an eye. They make good mothers and we are just considerate of the fact that you cannot try to work them/push them from the blind side. One raises a nice calf and we are very considerate of her when she is worked through the chute and such... some get more flighty when they lose some of their sight, but she is just calm and steady...

 

[ClinchValley86]

I've got a neighbor that treats every single calf that has a runny eye. Full gambit... terramycin in the eye after he washes them out. A patch. Draxxin, and something else. Lol. This thre highland folks. I guess a 5 to 7500 dollar calf can't have a spotty eye.

 

[farmerjan]

I also give a shot of Vit. A when they are in being worked. I am a big believer in vitamins and as much "nutritional support/cure" as possible. We do use the dart gun with Draxxin for pastures where there are not any permanent catch facilities....
Some years it just seems like there are more cases than other years... more flies? taller grasses? who knows....
This year I am being over run with ticks around my house and yard... cats are bringing them in and I have found several on me and some just on random counters .....

 

[Richnm]

Draxxin , LA 200 is not very effective

 

[Lucky_P]

Nutrition is also important, a good mineral mix can help.
I have tried all the remedies over the years, shot of LA 300 in the eyelid, patches, vaccines and others. 50 years ago we threw a handful of salt in the affected eye.
Control flies as best you can, mow pastures and hope for the best. Usually mine recover with few lasting problems, maybe a mild blue eye.
I think cattle with access to good shade i the summer are less affected.

Minerals - with plenty of Vit A, and clipping seedheads are probably two of the most effective things you can do to decrease incidence. Patches, in conjunction with antimicrobial therapy can help diminish corneal scarring.

Just commenting on this for folks who may read it and think it's a good thing to try... LA-300 in the eyelid is a misuse of the drug. Oxytetracycline is quite irritating to tissues... I wouldn't want anyone injecting it into MY eyelid. Additionally, if the only antibiotic treatment you're providing is LA-300 in the eyelid (ouch!), you're seriously underdosing the animal - appropriate dose is 3cc/100lb body weight.
They taught us how to do subconjuntival injections of penicillin in veterinary school, but I think that was a p!ss-poor attempt at treatment, back in the Dark Ages (early 1980s)... within just a few minutes, the needle prick would seal off and the penicillin would no longer leak out. After that point, the 1 or 2 cc of penicillin administered would be no more effective than if you'd injected it in the cow's tail.
The beauty of treating with a long-acting oxytetracycline or Draxxin is that the drug is excreted - in levels comparable to serum and tissue fluids - in the tears, so that the eye is constantly 'bathed' with antibiotics.

 

[kenny thomas]

Minerals - with plenty of Vit A, and clipping seedheads are probably two of the most effective things you can do to decrease incidence. Patches, in conjunction with antimicrobial therapy can help diminish corneal scarring.

Just commenting on this for folks who may read it and think it's a good thing to try... LA-300 in the eyelid is a misuse of the drug. Oxytetracycline is quite irritating to tissues... I wouldn't want anyone injecting it into MY eyelid. Additionally, if the only antibiotic treatment you're providing is LA-300 in the eyelid (ouch!), you're seriously underdosing the animal - appropriate dose is 3cc/100lb body weight.
They taught us how to do subconjuntival injections of penicillin in veterinary school, but I think that was a p!ss-poor attempt at treatment, back in the Dark Ages (early 1980s)... within just a few minutes, the needle prick would seal off and the penicillin would no longer leak out. After that point, the 1 or 2 cc of penicillin administered would be no more effective than if you'd injected it in the cow's tail.
The beauty of treating with a long-acting oxytetracycline or Draxxin is that the drug is excreted - in levels comparable to serum and tissue fluids - in the tears, so that the eye is constantly 'bathed' with antibiotics.

Whats your though of 1cc Pen and 1/2cc Dex in the outer membrane of the eyeball itself?

 

[gcreekrch]

Whats your though of 1cc Pen and 1/2cc Dex in the outer membrane of the eyeball itself?

Best!

 

[gitnby]

by all means treat....it will infect the whole heard....any and all methods discussed here will work

 

[farmerjan]

Just to be clear... I do NOT give LA 200 or 300 in the eye... it burns when given SQ or IM... cannot imagine what it would do to the eye... and yes, the dosage is 3 ml/100 lbs for treatment....we use it SQ, one shot usually always does the job.
We have found that Draxxin with the dart gun at pasture has been very effective for pinkeye cases. Once we had 2 that we could not get close enough to and they both lost an eye to the pinkeye where the ones treated cleared up .... at the same pasture...
Using the Today or Tomorrow mastitis treatment on the eye will not burn or irritate since it is designed to be used up in the cow's teat.... we feel it is worth it and it does seem to make the eye less irritated. It doesn't hurt them.

 

[wbvs58]

Just to be clear... I do NOT give LA 200 or 300 in the eye... it burns when given SQ or IM... cannot imagine what it would do to the eye... and yes, the dosage is 3 ml/100 lbs for treatment....we use it SQ, one shot usually always does the job.
We have found that Draxxin with the dart gun at pasture has been very effective for pinkeye cases. Once we had 2 that we could not get close enough to and they both lost an eye to the pinkeye where the ones treated cleared up .... at the same pasture...
Using the Today or Tomorrow mastitis treatment on the eye will not burn or irritate since it is designed to be used up in the cow's teat.... we feel it is worth it and it does seem to make the eye less irritated. It doesn't hurt them.

Jan, here there are intramamery cloxacillin in intramamery tubes labelled as eye ointment and registered for sale and use in the eye. The cloxacillin is supposed to maintain therapeutic levels in the eye for 72 hours per the manufactures claims.

Ken

 

[coachg]

I appreciate your candor and response. This might be a good time for me to confess that I don't have any working facilities. That is in the plan for the next few weeks but we aren't there yet. So I guess I could get a dart gun but I am not-yet convinced they "need" to be treated. I know most people "do" treat it...but your evidence and others I have seen outside these forums seem to suggest that, in many cases, they can heal given time alone.

Find someone with a dart gun . That's how I administer my antibiotics for ponkeye