Post pulling a calf issue

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BAR_R

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Heifer...was bred much sooner than we thought when we bought her. Had a calf that needed to be pulled half by hand three pulls with the puller to clear the rear hips...calf dead....mom turned out of the barn 1 day after pull.....3 days after that the mom starts to show some vaginal swelling and one leg starts to buckle..one day after that she can't fully stand on the rear legs. The rear legs seem to not be able to fully extend. We call the vet he says to give BP-48 and he will give us some Dex and Baniamine the next day. We shot her with that and continued the penn. That was 5 days ago. She still has vaginal discharge but the swelling has been greatly reduced. But she still has to keep the rear legs tucked under her when she walks. We called the vet back and he said she could have some nerve damage and we would just have to wait. We have her up but we make her walk 3 or 4 times a day. She does eat and is not head down....perky ears and bright eyes, she will get to the water tank and we find she will lay on both sides.

I guess our question is has anyone else experienced something odd after a calf pull? Something like a lame cow or a cow that has walking difficulties. I assume after the infection is under control the nerves will heal eventually?
 
BAR_R":3dbrk05n said:
Heifer...was bred much sooner than we thought when we bought her. Had a calf that needed to be pulled half by hand three pulls with the puller to clear the rear hips...calf dead....mom turned out of the barn 1 day after pull.....3 days after that the mom starts to show some vaginal swelling and one leg starts to buckle..one day after that she can't fully stand on the rear legs. The rear legs seem to not be able to fully extend. We call the vet he says to give BP-48 and he will give us some Dex and Baniamine the next day. We shot her with that and continued the penn. That was 5 days ago. She still has vaginal discharge but the swelling has been greatly reduced. But she still has to keep the rear legs tucked under her when she walks. We called the vet back and he said she could have some nerve damage and we would just have to wait. We have her up but we make her walk 3 or 4 times a day. She does eat and is not head down....perky ears and bright eyes, she will get to the water tank and we find she will lay on both sides.

I guess our question is has anyone else experienced something odd after a calf pull? Something like a lame cow or a cow that has walking difficulties. I assume after the infection is under control the nerves will heal eventually?

Just curious if you checked her for a twin? Stranger things have happened. I wouldn't think that there was any nerve damage, unless she split herself outside. If there is nerve damage from the pull, you should have seen signs of that right after the pull. Could be she is in pain and that is why she is walking like that.
 
Nerve damage after a hard calving is normal, the three day interval is not. In my experience the odd gait appears immediately after, often during the calving process if you're there to observe.
If it is nerve damage 'calving paralysis' she should recover over a few days to a few weeks.
 
Discharge is relatively normal. What does it look like, does it smell?
 
We wondered about the twin also but there has been no odor. She passed her after bitrh a few hours after the pull (I removed it from the pen). The discharge looks cloudy but since the antibiotic seems to have taken on a much cleaner look. There has been some blood in her stool (fresh and bright proir to the feceses. I called the vet about that and he said it is most likely from her lack of movement. I would be even more worried but she has such a good look to her head. She does not exhibit that sick animal look. But I am just wondering what more I can do for her?
 
BAR_R":395q7j8d said:
We wondered about the twin also but there has been no odor. She passed her after bitrh a few hours after the pull (I removed it from the pen). The discharge looks cloudy but since the antibiotic seems to have taken on a much cleaner look. There has been some blood in her stool (fresh and bright proir to the feceses. I called the vet about that and he said it is most likely from her lack of movement. I would be even more worried but she has such a good look to her head. She does not exhibit that sick animal look. But I am just wondering what more I can do for her?


If bloody poop were caused by lack of movement over half my cows would be dead in the summer time as all they do is eat in the morning and lay around in the shade all day. I think you might need to find another vet as it sounds as though he is pissin in the wind.
 

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