fnfarms1
Well-known member
Got a cow with one eye that is pretty bad, other has a spot in it. Will pinkeye cause her to be totally blind? Shooting with antibiotics and a patch
Pinkeye blindness?
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A.J.
Well-known member
Its hard to say without seeing it, but it depends on how severe of a case it was. Many times they will get most of their vision back with treatment and time after it has healed.
wbvs58
Well-known member
Most of the time you get complete recovery. Don't discount the mastitis preparations containing Cloxacillin used topically.
Ken
Ken
wbvs58 said:
I tried that this year. Had a calf with an eye abrasion (from burrs on mamas teats) and flushed with Veterycin then coated the inside of the eye with Today, gave him a shot of LA300. Worked!
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
The degree of blindness all depends on how bad the corneal ulcer is. Once it ruptures you will probably loose direct vision,but still have some peripheral vision.
I've tried eye patches, sewing eyes, shut, injecting eye lids with a mix of 50% penicillin & 50% dexamethasone, and used some spray my vet makes in their back sink. It's gentle iodine and tincture of lavender. They all work to a certain degree, if you use them with LA300.
The biggest part of treating eyes is catching it early.
I've tried eye patches, sewing eyes, shut, injecting eye lids with a mix of 50% penicillin & 50% dexamethasone, and used some spray my vet makes in their back sink. It's gentle iodine and tincture of lavender. They all work to a certain degree, if you use them with LA300.
The biggest part of treating eyes is catching it early.
wbvs58
Well-known member
TC, I'll generally use the cloxacillin by itself, 1/2 tube/eye, occaisionally repeat in 48 hrs.TCRanch said:
Ken
greggy
Well-known member
Do you need to keep it covered ?
I had a calf I thought had it, watched for a week or so, and seemed to fix itself up, but maybe it was some other irritation.
I had a calf I thought had it, watched for a week or so, and seemed to fix itself up, but maybe it was some other irritation.
wbvs58
Well-known member
I never do because I'm lazy. If I had an eye that I thought was a real risk of rupturing I would.greggy said:
Ken
fnfarms1
Well-known member
I ended up catching cow and calf. 20cc of micotil, it was 4th of july and no vets etc open to get my usual la300 from since I ran out and hadnt replaced. Also did 2cc per eye of veterycin200 then patched. Their in my corral, hoping for a week or so and I'll unpatch the better eye.
76 Bar
Well-known member
IMO patching the eye is a crucial component to successful PE treatment.
Katpau
Well-known member
Each year we have anywhere from just a few cases to almost the entire calf herd get pinkeye on this place. I have never had one lose all eyesight, but when it ruptures they will probably end up with a cloudy spot in their eye for life. Most will heal so you can't even tell they ever had it.
If I can get them in, I treat them with 300 mg of oxytetracycline, (such as LA 300). Usually within a week I will notice substantial improvement, and within 4 weeks most are completely healed. All of the ones I did not treat were also healed up within a month. I sometimes think that treating them is more for peace of mind than it is therapeutic. This year we had one with a severe case about a week ago. The entire eye was beyond the cloudy stage and had that yellowish white nasty looking color. Unfortunately the cows were a long ways from the corrals and we were busy trying to keep ahead spraying thistle. Finally this week they were in closer, so we brought up the whole herd and checked eyes. There were only two others, but those were pretty nasty. We sorted out those two and the one we had first noted. We treated the two, but when we caught the other one in the head gate we were surprised to notice that all that remained was a small white area. It had almost completely healed already without any medication.
If I can get them in, I treat them with 300 mg of oxytetracycline, (such as LA 300). Usually within a week I will notice substantial improvement, and within 4 weeks most are completely healed. All of the ones I did not treat were also healed up within a month. I sometimes think that treating them is more for peace of mind than it is therapeutic. This year we had one with a severe case about a week ago. The entire eye was beyond the cloudy stage and had that yellowish white nasty looking color. Unfortunately the cows were a long ways from the corrals and we were busy trying to keep ahead spraying thistle. Finally this week they were in closer, so we brought up the whole herd and checked eyes. There were only two others, but those were pretty nasty. We sorted out those two and the one we had first noted. We treated the two, but when we caught the other one in the head gate we were surprised to notice that all that remained was a small white area. It had almost completely healed already without any medication.
bulldog04
Well-known member
I gave some calves LA and put antibiotic ointment in the eye that was infected. They healed a lot faster than the ones that went untreated. Some of them still had scarring in their eye when they were sold
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
We had a small group of calves break badly with pink eye several years ago. The whole group got LA300. Our of twenty calves the vet sowed fifteen eyes shut. They all got some eye sight back. But when we sold them I'd say it set them back an avg of fifty pounds. Plus the vet bill.
Katpau
Well-known member
I agree that Pinkeye will set them back some, although it has not been 50 pounds in this herd. We have treated 100's of calves over the years with 300, and probably had almost as many go untreated for various reasons. I really want to say the 300 made a difference, but I honestly can't say it has. None the less, we treat as many as we have time to treat. Except for replacements and a few bulls, all these calves are sold at weaning, so I can't say none ever had severe permanent damage, but almost all had cleared up when we sold in the Fall and I have never witnessed one lose 100% of their eyesight.
In other words, in most cases the prognosis is good, and I don't think it is necessary to sew an eye shut. I am sure a Vet will disagree, since they make more money that way. I kind of doubt most Vets have anywhere near as much experience with this nasty condition as I do. I wish I did not, but for some reason Pinkeye cycles through this area with a vengeance every few years and it is a rare year when we don't have at least a few get it. Most ranchers just let it run its coarse because getting in 100's of cattle every few days to treat calves with Pinkeye is impractical.
In other words, in most cases the prognosis is good, and I don't think it is necessary to sew an eye shut. I am sure a Vet will disagree, since they make more money that way. I kind of doubt most Vets have anywhere near as much experience with this nasty condition as I do. I wish I did not, but for some reason Pinkeye cycles through this area with a vengeance every few years and it is a rare year when we don't have at least a few get it. Most ranchers just let it run its coarse because getting in 100's of cattle every few days to treat calves with Pinkeye is impractical.
Our area is having an outbreak. Neighbor runs stockers & has treated half of them, best friend has it in all their pastures, even my vet is having problems with his herd. So far I've only had a few with gunky eyes but I vaccinate with an autogenous that covers both Moxarella bovis and bovoculi.
FWIW, probably 9 years ago I did take a heifer calf with an ulcerated eye to the vet and he treated with LA200 & sewed it shut. The bill was a whopping $13.
FWIW, probably 9 years ago I did take a heifer calf with an ulcerated eye to the vet and he treated with LA200 & sewed it shut. The bill was a whopping $13.
WFfarm
Well-known member
In our area I've never seen anyone have the eyes sewed shut. We use the glue on eye patch with LA200. The eyes are usually starting to heal up by the time they figure out how to rub the patch off. It seams for us the same ones get it year after year.
Ky hills
Well-known member
Have seen some over the years be blind or pretty close from it, after treating it they tend to get some better if caught in time before it leaves a lot of scarring. I try to watch for pinkeye pretty diligently and treat with LA 200 or 300 quick. If I get them up and run through the chute I like to also put a patch over the eye. Years ago when would have vets treat it the practice was to give antibiotics and sew the eyelid shut.
WFfarm said:
Same principle with sewing the eyes shut. Dissolvable stiches and rubbing helps open the eye back up.
