Rough Year with Pinkeye

[allisonr]

Anyone having issues with pinkeye this year?

We have a bad case of it in the herd. About 7 (now weaned) calves and 3 cows. We'd heard a few neighbors had bad cases a few years ago and the cows seemed resistant to LA200 so they recommended us going straight to Draxxin. We're on our second bottle of the stuff and should probably start investing in it at this rate. We had been putting the Shut Eye patches on the bad cases but last night we decided to go ahead and just patch all of the calves with even a lick of it and give them now their third dosage of Drax. If it doesn't get better after this, vet will be called out.

I went to the local feed and supply store to get the patches and the owner was telling me he knew a guy who would put three shots of LA300 in a triangle formation right around the eye. Said it would swell shut for a few days and magically be healed. I figured it did the same as the patches. Any one else hear of any "miracle" fixes? Not looking for any voodoo medicine/advice, I just like to hear stories, haha.

 

[Bigfoot]

Draxxin is a miracle worker on pinkeye, if you catch it early. I wish I knew how many cases I've treated this year. I blew through a 500 cc bottle. I'm on my second bottle now, but it's slowed down considerably. Infact, I haven't had a case sinast Sunday.

 

[Banker729]

Worst year ever for us. Eastern KS and we had a record amount of rains in June. I think that contributed to an excessive amount of fly population. Same course of treatment... Shut Eye and Draxxin. 3 rounds of Draxxin, you may want to think about a probiotic.

 

[kenny thomas]

Not had the first case this year but if I do I willuse 1cc dexamethasone and 2cc pennicillin in the eye. LA300 usually works also.

 

[Son of Butch]

Worst year ever for us. Eastern KS and we had a record amount of rains in June. I think that contributed to an excessive amount of fly population.

Yes fly control and weed control.
Thistles in the pasture and as grass gets shorter cattle graze closer to a thistle, it pokes eye, eye waters and draws flies
straight to the eye. I cut thistles in one pasture and not the other. No pink eye in the one pasture, but 3 cases in the other.

 

[dun]

Several years ago we had a real killer of a pinkeye year. I think everything on the place had it at one time or another. We hadn;t changed anything. Same minerals, kept the pastures clipped before turn in, same fly control stuff. We haven;t had any since and the only chnage we've made is we vaccinate for pinkeye in the spring, even the baby calves.

 

[wbvs58]

I rarely use anything other than Orbenin eye ointment which is a relabelled mastitis prep with active being Cloxacillin. Usually one dose per eye is sufficient.
Ken

 

[TCRanch]

Several years ago we had a real killer of a pinkeye year. I think everything on the place had it at one time or another. We hadn;t changed anything. Same minerals, kept the pastures clipped before turn in, same fly control stuff. We haven;t had any since and the only chnage we've made is we vaccinate for pinkeye in the spring, even the baby calves.

I just helped one of our neighbors doctor 7 cows & 4 calves with pinkeye - and we haven't had a single case (knock wood). We always vaccinate every spring. Obviously that's not a guarantee but it's well worth it in my opinion.

 

[bball]

Several years ago we had a real killer of a pinkeye year. I think everything on the place had it at one time or another. We hadn;t changed anything. Same minerals, kept the pastures clipped before turn in, same fly control stuff. We haven;t had any since and the only chnage we've made is we vaccinate for pinkeye in the spring, even the baby calves.

I just helped one of our neighbors doctor 7 cows & 4 calves with pinkeye - and we haven't had a single case (knock wood). We always vaccinate every spring. Obviously that's not a guarantee but it's well worth it in my opinion.

.We had several cases last year. Vaccinated for pinkeye this year, not a case. I'm a believer.

 

[Bigfoot]

I used to always vaccinate calves I was backgrounding, and always ended up with cases. I just figured pinkeye was like the flu. Different strands.

 

[boondocks]

I'm going to hex myself here, but we have had good luck with spring vaccinations for pinkeye as well. Doesn't prevent them all and you still need reasonable fly control efforts but it does seem to help.

 

[Black and Good]

Worst year ever for us. Eastern KS and we had a record amount of rains in June. I think that contributed to an excessive amount of fly population. Same course of treatment... Shut Eye and Draxxin. 3 rounds of Draxxin, you may want to think about a probiotic.

Ditto Here!! B&G

 

[cowgirl8]

We get one case every so often and had never gone past that. Have one this year in a calf. She's lost the sight in her eye, so sad. I try to watch for it, but its really hard to see on black calves...And with the grass being over belly high most of the year, it was impossible.

 

[Dsteim]

I had some cases of pinkeye this year due getting so much rain in May and the flies were out of control. I used a vaccine that was recommended to me at a feed store I forgot the name Bovine Moxilla or something along those lines, pinkeye spray, LA200 and eye patches. All of those had varying success depending on the animal. I found an article online about an optometrist who had cattle and he used food grade hydrogen peroxide mixed with water. (not grocery store bought peroxide) I bought mine at a natural wellness center and I had the best success with this I used 10% food grade hydrogen peroxide and 90% water, and sprayed it into there eyes.

 

[hwillso]

Got a neighbor in his 60's swears all he has ever done is throw a handful of loose salt in their eye and it clears right up. He said his dad showed him this when they were in the dairy business and they used it to prevent any milk residue issues.

 

[Wewild]

We have been through some pinkeye problems before. They came randomly before we began to vaccinate. We now vaccinate the cows in the spring with vaccine that covers IBR. This year it was Triangle 10. Since we calve year round we give the calves a vaccine with that covers pinkeye in the spring and fall. I read or was told several years ago that IBR had some kinda relation ship with pinkeye. This seems to work for us.

Found this link.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/beef11747

 

[Lucky_P]

IBR & pinkeye... I'm kinda of the opinion that it's an old myth that gets repeated often enough that it becomes ingrained enough that everyone believes it. Maybe someone saw it one time way back when...
Had a discussion with an old friend who's a Zoetis field service vet yesterday... the topic of IBR in pinkeye came up. They get called in on them all the time... have looked at thousands of them over the past 20 years...have NEVER been able to isolate or detect IBR from an animal with pinkeye.

We rarely see IBR infection of any kind east of the Mississippi River; out west, yeah, they see it... maybe every 10 or 15 years, I'll see some mild IBR-induced respiratory disease or a few IBR abortions - but most of those abortions are due to folks using a MLV vaccine in cows/heifers that were not properly vaccinated previously.

Salt in the eyes...it's archaic and barbaric, poor animal husbandry, period; and if they cleared up, it wasn't because you threw salt in their eyes.

 

[tom4018]

Lucky some people say that organic iodine helps with pinkeye, how do you feel about that?

 

[Lucky_P]

Tom, people say lots of things... some are correct, some not. Some based on scientific evidence, some on anecdote, some on misappropriated truth, some on myths and old spouse's tales.
I don't know...

Still lots of old publications out there suggesting EDDI added to the mineral mix can help with footrot... does it? They taught us that 30 years ago... was it the iodine, or just the fact that folks were finally providing some minerals? I dunno. I've seen nothing in the scientific literature/animal science publications suggesting an iodine/pinkeye link.
Have seen some anecdotal reports of EDDI, sea salt, kelp helping prevent pinkeye... but nothing to really substantiate it. Maybe those animals also had shinier coats and could run faster and jump higher, too.

 

[Banjo]

Tom, people say lots of things... some are correct, some not. Some based on scientific evidence, some on anecdote, some on misappropriated truth, some on myths and old spouse's tales.
I don't know...

Still lots of old publications out there suggesting EDDI added to the mineral mix can help with footrot... does it? They taught us that 30 years ago... was it the iodine, or just the fact that folks were finally providing some minerals? I dunno. I've seen nothing in the scientific literature/animal science publications suggesting an iodine/pinkeye link.
Have seen some anecdotal reports of EDDI, sea salt, kelp helping prevent pinkeye... but nothing to really substantiate it. Maybe those animals also had shinier coats and could run faster and jump higher, too.

I guarantee you a few of mine can jump as high as anybodys, especially if they get crowded a little bit.
Must be all that Redmond salt their consuming.