prolapsed heifer still down

[uscott]

The heifer that i mentioned the other day is still down. I tried to get her to stand by lifting her with the loader today and she wouldn't is there anything out there that i can give her to pep her up? she can move front and back legs tail etc just too weak to stand

 

[Aaron]

Time to call in a vet.

 

[ohiosteve]

I didn't catch your other thread but here's what I would do. Give her at least one 500 ml. bottle of 50% dextrose solution I.V. I would give her 2. If you don't know how to give an I.V. have the vet out and have him (or her) walk you through it. It is very easy on a down animal. It will cost you about $4.00 a bottle and there is no withhold. It is amazing the boost of energy they get from this and I have personally saved a number of downed cows with this simple advice. Give her a bottle and wait a few minutes then encourage her to get up. I am assuming you got the uterus back in.

 

[uscott]

he came out and sewed her back up said she may have nerve damage and to try to help her up. Did that and it didnt work

 

[Bigfoot]

Dex is a game changer for a down cow after calving. Do you have a set of hip clamps? If not you may consider getting some. You and a neighbor might go in on a set.

 

[ohiosteve]

he came out and sewed her back up said she may have nerve damage and to try to help her up. Did that and it didnt work

I'll let someone else suggest what to do about nerve damage, but the first thing I do every time for a down cow is IV a bottle or 2 of dextrose (not to be confused with dexamethasone). A really good vet gave me this advice years ago. No withhold and cheap it can only help. The burst of energy it gives them is amazing and even with other problems they might have, just getting them up and eating some good hay and drinking really helps them physically and mentally.

 

[Nesikep]

I agree with ohiosteve and Bigfoot. Dexamethasone is certainly going to help with the nerves as it is an antiinflamatory. Since she had a prolapse, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she's probably on Tetracycline (Liquamycin or similar). I think giving her 5cc of dexamethasone a day could really help her, and dextrose before you try and move her.

Get her up if you can, and if she doesn't stay up, try to get her to lay on the other side to prevent bed sores.

 

[skeeter swatter]

In a hard/prolonged birth they can pinch nerves and not be able to stand.
Keep her clean and fed, sometimes it can take up to a week or so for the swelling to go down so they can use their hind legs again.
good luck

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

In a hard/prolonged birth they can pinch nerves and not be able to stand.
Keep her clean and fed, sometimes it can take up to a week or so for the swelling to go down so they can use their hind legs again.
good luck

What he said. We had one down for two weeks, fed and watered her daily and encouraged her to get up with grain, by putting it just out of reach. One day she got up, hobbled a few feet, then laid back down. Each day she got a little better, but never perfect. She went to the stockyard when she could walk on all four.

 

[cowgirl8]

We usually give a down cow/heifer a couple weeks to get up. We kind of gauge by the amount of water they drink. If that starts dropping off, she's given up. Never had one come back if both back legs wont move. If they have one working leg, there's hope. Last year we had a cow get paralyzed on her front end after we pulled her 'monster' calf. Thats the name he got. He was probably 125 pounds, huge boned, i could hardly straddle him.. She was down over a week. Its a mystery as to why she couldnt move her front legs. But, one day i went out to give her food and water and i noticed a pile of poop at the other end of the pen. I thought, hum..didnt see anywhere she dragged herself. Anywho, she had started getting up while we werent looking. And it worked out that while she was down her calf nursed her. A start to a bad situation turned good. She even bred back and had a calf a month ago, less than a year after monster calf..

 

[uscott]

I wish I had checked the board earlier she could no longer sit up today so i took her out of her misery. I may have been able to save her but i didnt want to see her suffer.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

Had this happen to big hereford cow a couple years ago, vet came out and gave IV and some shots in her pelvis. Got cow on her feet and she was eating. 3days later she was dead. Hope OP has better luck.

 

[Lucky_P]

Some of them never get up.
As far as 'pinched' nerves...sometimes there's just a lot of bruising/swelling around the obturator nerves, that can be helped with corticosteroids and NSAIDS - but sometimes they are damaged beyond repair.
And, cattle are so large, that if they're 'down' for any significant period of time (we're talking HOURS, not days/weeks), you start getting muscle damage, merely from their own weight pressing on the muscles on the 'down' side - and if you're not lifting them or at least flipping them 2-3 (or more) times a day, even if the nerve damage resolves, there may be enough muscle damage that they can't get up.

I know they're sort of a 'necessary evil', but I despise 'hip-lifts' - but have used 'em when I've had to.

 

[cowgirl8]

I hate the hip lifts too... Is there any better way? Sometimes i think they do more damage and most cows fight it. We had a cow once down for over 2 weeks. It was back in the day before i got into daily cow business (we have 4 kids that kept me busy).. It was spring and the rye grass was almost knee deep. She was almost totally paralyzed in both back legs but i remember she had movement in one, but not much. She would pull herself around with her front legs to eat grass. My husband would follow her trail each day to give her water. One day he went out and she was standing. We've had some since that werent as bad off as her and never even tried getting up and were finally put down. We usually have one every other year due to calving and its hit or miss whether they ever stand again. Back when we were mostly Sim, we had more than one a year.