Respiratory question

[susie]

I have a question about my cowand would appreciate your help. ( I'm a new cow owner)
Sally is 8 years old a HolsteinXHereford, currently not bred. I've been watching her this morning- compared to our other yearlings, a couple of Herefords. Her breathing rate seems to be more rapid than theirs, 9 times/15 seconds, 36 or so a minute. It's a little bit noisy, almost a wheeze. This is when she's laying down. Her temperature is 101.5 rectally ( I guess how else?!!), her belly sounds active and she's belching . Her neck is not outstretched as if she's having trouble breathing or anything, no real runny nose but moist.. She has coughed occasionally, one time today since I've been watching her in 45 minutes or so. She's really acting normally.
So is it normal to be able to hear her breathe, and would it be possible to have a respiratory infection without a temperature? I worry about pnuemonia this time of year, and we've just had her 3 weeks or so, and she weaned her calf then too so it has been a bit of stress for her, but she hasn't been acting stressed. Perhaps I need to just quit watching her so much??


Thanks so much--
Susie

 

[Dave]

It is probably nothing but the fact that she is new to you and that you can hear her breath are the only things that get my attention. I tend to error to the side of caution this time of the year with new cattle. I buy older bred cows this time of the year and my standard procedure is to give them 40 cc's of LA-200 as soon as they get off the truck. A shot of LA 200 will probably clear it up if she does have a bug and it wont hurt her if there was nothing wrong to start with.
Dave

 

[G&L Cattle]

She's probably fine. I also agree with Dave that a good dose of antibiotic would be good.

G&L

 

[dun]

If it ain;t brok don;t fix it. Indescriminate use of antibiotics is rather pointless, and in theory anyway, can cause resistance.
Some cattle breathe heavier then others. Heavier winter coat/less shed out, nervous in new surroundings, there are any number of possible reasons.
If she runs a fever hit her with one of the higher dollar more effective antibiotics.

dun

 

[susie]

Wanted to update-
I called the Vet this am, asked they give me a call when they got in-- no answer. They asked me if they were our animals' normal vet, which they are, but I've only needed them once to help our sick iats after they ate some plants in the yard.
I will continue to keep an eye on her, she is not acting unusual at all. I found a reference, Iowa beef center, that says normal respiration rate is 10-30 a minute, so that's a little up there, and it als said normal breathing should be silent .
I'd like to get a Vet' s opinion if I do need an antibiotic, to make sure I give the product they feel would be most effective. No sense wasting time and money--I'd also like to ask which vaccinations they recommend.
I'll let you know after I speak to them---
Thanks!
Susie

 

[TheBullLady]

Sometimes their breathing is a little more labored when they are laying down. Check her when she's standing. If she's eating and drinking normally, I would just keep an eye on her.

 

[jerry27150]

years ago i had one that was allergic to hay. in winter it sounded like she had asthma

 

[Vicky the vet]

Lungworm? A shot of a dewormer which gets them wouldn't hurt...

V

 

[susie]

Thanks for the replies!
I forget to mention that I gave her some pour-on Ivermectin 2 weeks or so I guess. Is that effective against lungworms?
The nice Vet called and he's prescribing an antibiotic. He mentioned that some cows have chronic lung problems that just make them breathe haevier and noisier, but it's not an issue unless you have a race cow! We know that she has not had a chronic lung problem because we bought her from a guy my husband works with, who had her since she was a day-old, and she's always been very healthy.
In fact she IS kind of a race cow-- when I move her to fresh pasture she totally skips and puts her heels up and RACES aound--- no coughing or anything at that point. Another thing is that our other cows breathing is just as loud as hers, so I'm starting to think she either is a) getting better, b) never was sick to begin with.
I will see what antibiotic the vet prescribed and may get it just to have on hand and watch her carefully.
Thank you guys/gals so much,
Susie