tom4018":2r08cmsb said:
We are having a lot of pinkeye. This if very frustrating consider that we vaccinate for it. Been treating with LA 300 and some respond to it and clear up, others don't. Going to check with my vet tomorrow for other options. Anyone got any good any suggestions?
I have read that Nuflor will work, but that's a big drug to give one.
You do not say what conditions the cows are living under.
Open fields and little grass
Lush fields and shade trees?
Yeah - it does matter in some cases.
Less flies, less disease.
Any way you can minimize the problem?
If you can spray them with a hose then you can hit them with a repellent spray - you might try to do this - seen this done lots on a dairy. They simply ran the cattle through an alleyway as they left the barn and sprayed them as they walked by. Might not fit into your operation - then again it might. Make them go through an alleyway to get water. We have that option here.
Be that as it may, we use a cattle oiler with the recommended dose of whatever it is - cannot remember right now - in the tank - it is mixed with diesel fuel. It is not 100% cure all, but it reduces the problem significantly for us. The insect repellant seems to keep most of the flies away from the cows and they rub their faces on the chain oiler almost every day when they come up from the fields for water, salt and mineral. This rubbing refreshes the repellant on an almost daily basis - about like using mosquito repellant on your own body - not 100% but it helps big time when the bugs are really getting bad.
Cattle love it. We use the Lewis oiler with the flag attachment as well as the chain oiler. We use the mineral feeder and put salt in the holder at the base of the oiler. This makes the oiler a place to "hang out" once in a while - they really do use it - and no I do not sell cattle oilers - I just use them.
I am sure there are others as good and maybe even better - we bought this one at a sale a few years ago.
We treat the problem with LA 200 or any other suitable drug on hand - Nuflor is good but really expensive here - yeah - it is a big dose for LA200 - working from memory we do a sub Q of about 65 cc for a mature cow and less (of course) for the calves. For the cows - three shots to each side of the neck of 10 cc each time and the remainder in a final shot. Because it is sub Q we use a 3/4 inch needle and put it all in a 60 cc syringe which in reality will hold about 65 cc easily. We never exceed 10 cc to an injection site. I use a 20 gauge needle but you can use 18 with no probs - although the cow might not like it much.
When I inject I always slap the site with my hard fairly hard - it stings and they do not seem to jump as much when I hit them with the needle.
Salt water is not too bad to wash the eye out - I use it myself sometimes - on me - I do not truly believe it works to cure anything more than an small eye irritation - but then again I am not a vet - just running on my personal experiences. As long as the salt is fully dissolved I would use it with little expectation of it doing little more than cleaning the eye. I doubt there is much "cure" value to salt water when it comes to pink eye.
The old time solution was to throw straight salt into the eye. Not a real good thing to do in my opinion - dries the eye out big time and can scratch the cornea - both can cause some serious issues if it goes bad.
Seems Luck_P and I pretty much agree on the salt thing.
Used polysporin on a calf once with good results because it was all I had on hand.
Best treatment in my opinion is to use a combination of drugs and patch plus some serious prevention with the emphasis on the prevention.
Old tea towels work well as a patch but denim(?) - hmmm going to have to try that one the next case we get - hope I have to wait a long time. Have not had a case here in about three years - maybe more - probably just jinxed myself.
Best to all
Bez
