Possible Foot Rot? How to tell

[marksmu]

Ive got a cow - my first to actually show any sign of injury or illness. About a week ago, we noticed a slight limp on her - I figured she hurt her foot on something since we still have some stray boards with nails from the hurricane laying about, but was not sure. Last Wednesday when I went to check on them, she was limping more severely - still eating well, but limping more. Yesterday went to check on her, and she is now limping badly...putting very little weight on the leg, and not moving as far from the water as she had been. She is still eating well, and she is maintaining condition, but the foot is now swollen about 30% more than normal.

I have been trying to get the vet out, but I have now concluded he is unreliable...I decided to give her a shot of LA200, and went to get some...got it, and tried to get her into the corral, so I could put her in the squeeze for the shot...lets just say she does not want to be messed with in her current condition. When we approached her she got quite aggressive (normally quite friendly and will eat out of your hand). We tried to move her by walking her flanks, and she moved about 100 yards in the right direction before deciding she would not be pushed anymore. She dropped her head, and began trying to fight us...I did not push it. She was going to win this round.

So 2 questions - when they are injured and scared, how do you get them to the corral easily? She wont go, and since we dont have a horse, my next option is a rope, and a cattle prod. I dont want to do that to her, but she is quite stubborn bout this. Second question - is concerning the LA200 - I havent done it, my vet said just give it to her and did not elaborate b/c he was busy with another persons cattle. I got a 40CC syringe and a 16ga 1.5" needle that the feed store said to use. Nobody gave me any advice on how or where to shoot her up. The bottle said no more than 10ccs in any one location.

Do you give multiple shots all over? Concentrate on the area around the injury? The bottle says under the skin, and not in the muscle....is that right? It was different for horses and cows...Just want to be sure Im doing this right. Any ideas on moving her, and any info on the shot will be quite appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[kenny thomas]

4.5cc per hundred lb. given under the skin in the neck area. No more than 10cc per site. Given every three days until she is better. As for getting her in get some feed and let her follow you. The stress of the foot rot makes her act different than normal.

 

[dyates]

She may have to be tranquilized and worked on the spot. She probably has something stuck in that foot; you'll have to find it and pull it out. Give her the LA200 in multiple shots neck, shoulder, hip to spread it out. Probably should also give banamine or dex for inflammation, as well as something for tetanus if you do find something in the foot.

 

[dun]

I push a bunch of therm into the working pen then sort out the one I want to work. They're more willing to move if they aren;t being singled out.

 

[farmwriter]

I push a bunch of therm into the working pen then sort out the one I want to work. They're more willing to move if they aren;t being singled out.

Might not be a bad idea to keep her (and a couple of mates to keep her calm) in a smaller pen near your working facilities until you get her moving back in the right direction. Seems easier than getting her up again and again, especially since she's not being really cooperative.

 

[marksmu]

She has singled her self out - she wont stray too far from a tree that is by the water...she is grazing and eating around the tree and that immediate area, but keeps walking into the water for a drink - then she is so tired she lays under the tree - the rest of the herd is so much faster that when I try to get her to the corral with the cubes, the herd has finished them and moved out by the time she is halfway - she stops walkin your way if the rest of the cows move out of the corral....I would likely run out of cubes if I waited on her to get there.

She was not nearly as active either - I gave her some cubes to get her a bit of extra protein, and I treated her with some spray on permethin, to get the flys/mosquitos off her.

Im starting to think I need to tranq her and treat her that way. She is just so slow, Im not sure I can get her to the corral.

 

[farmwriter]

Sounds like that's your only option. Might as well get on it. Sounds like she's going down hill.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

This will not be approved of by some but you can try it soak her bad foot with deisel fuel. Best to set some out in a open container over night. Some times it works some times it don't.

 

[talldog]

Yep---I remember ole timers using kerosene--- for that and a lot more !!

 

[Cowdirt]

More than likely it's footrot. Not a popular solution but an adult animal, left untreated for footrot will recover most of the time in less than a month. I don't to this as a normal matter but in such a situation as you have I think I would watch her for a while. If her situation deteriorates rapidly, you'll have to go to Plan B, C, or D as suggested by others.

 

[marksmu]

We are working the cattle for worms/vacs anyways this evening, so once I get her into the squeeze, Im going to check her foot for any foreign objects, then shoot her up with some LA200 - that is if we can catch her. I have recruited 4 more people to aid in the catching of her and the 2 more skittish ones. Im going to take a picture of it, so if I get a chance Ill post it up for comment. Im still pretty new at all of this, so all of this though not good - is a good learning thing for me. That is so long as it doesnt kill em.

 

[marksmu]

Vet came out and did a lesson for us on how to vaccinate and worm and what not....pretty informative...could not catch the injured one - she is quite skittish...we had to dart her with a tranquilizer....once she was out we checked her back right foot for any foreign objects...there were none, but the hoof had rotted about 40% of the way...He put some kind of topical on it, then shot her up with about 40cc's of LA200 and then another one I forgot to write down.

He said - she should recover - but I may have to treat her again in a few days if she isnt showing improvement...it was definitely hoof rot though - nasty stuff - he was able to remove about 20% of the rot with his bare hand it was so soft and infected.

That was the first time we had ever worked cattle - and it was one heck of an experience....I had seen it done before, but doing something for the first time was different. Our cows had been so used to the corral, and somehow they knew what was coming, and only half of our usually calm herd came anywhere near that corral when we went to feed cubes...took an hour and a half to round up the other 20 - and 4 managed to get away completely. The ring leader #10, will be the first out of our herd to be culled - she caused all our problems, bolting at the first sight of us touching the gate...got all the calves all worked up, and caused the whole show....its unfortunate though b/c she threw a great heifer calf. Beat the heck out of a full day at the office though!

 

[farmwriter]

Sounds like you had a productive, educational day despite the difficulties. Not many things in the world more fulfilling than caring for animals.

 

[marksmu]

I would say it was an awesome day - I had a great time and I learned more than I even thought I would. It was hot 99 degrees, 90% relative humidity - but it was very fulfilling. I hate the office, and I cant wait to get out of it...unfortunately I need the money that it provides...until then cattle will be part time...Figured for the first time it was best to pay a vet and get a lesson on what to do and the dosages and what not...we took pretty good notes...and compared to dogs, cows are cheap - the vet hit them with 2 vacs, an 8 way, a 9 way, and a pour on wormer for about $17.5 per cow - that included 2 separate trip charges and all the work...He was there for 4 hours for $591 (my last visit for my 2 labs was $450 and that was just shots/heartworm/poop test)...now I can do the future shots myself. He said I still need a lesson on weaning, and doing the shot for weaning, but after that he says its all repetition.

I was happy with the outcome though and the condition of our cattle - many people in our area laughed at us b/c we went 250 miles West (san antonio) to get our cattle, even though I went out of my way to get cows who were of solid reputation...they all said that you can go West with them, but not East....Vet was among the ones who said we could probably do it, but it would take extra feed & work. We have had the 20 cow, 19 calves, and bull on grass with 1 50lb bag of 20% cubes per week, and when he got there he asked what we were feeding b/c ours looked better than any he had worked recently...told him he was standing on our feed, along with a single bag of cubes, and he was pretty surprised...the Bahia is holding up for us this year. It was the 3rd or 4th person who had commented on how good they look now....so I'm in pretty high spirits.

 

[bbirder]

What breed did you purchase? Sounds like you're getting good experience. Stick with it!