Snake bit calf, infected joint now!

[colleen]

We have a 5 month old bull that got bit on the front ankle by a snake. Vet said probably a copperhead. I just noticed he was limping bad and layed around alot. Vet came and gave him a couple shots, we repeated a day later. No change. It swelled up alot. Tried different antibiotic for a couple days, still after a few days no change in fact the leg was worse. The actual bite itself looked fine. No festering ever, healed right up but the swelling never went down and he would not put his foot down at all. You could see it pained him alot but He still got around, ate feed and grazed some. He is still on his momma, too. Anyway, we called vet back and he figured that thejoint(coffin bonejoint I think) had become infected and the antibiotics wernt working. So options at this point, were to cut off the claw above the joint, which we didnt want to do. The other option, which we chose was to inject this solution into the joint which would chemically fuse the bones in the joint together. We did this 3 days ago. We are supposed to give it a couple weeks to work.. We hope! Has anyone heard of this?? Had luck with this?? Any advice or tips would be great. We are hoping this works but it looks bleak. He is a big healthy bull otherwise just had bad luck with a snake bite!

 

[backhoeboogie]

Has anyone heard of this?? Had luck with this?? Any advice or tips would be great.

Copperhead bites to the legs can leave swelling for up to a year and a half in people but it usually rare. My MIL's right ankle remained swollen for the rest of her life from a copperhead bite.

I had a brindle cow get bit and she stayed swollen for a very long time. Don't know if it was a copperhead, rattler or mocassin.

Most frequently they get my dogs. A few cc's of penn and benadryl usually does the trick with them. But snakes can also carry a virus that is similar to blackleg. I am sure your vet knows all the ins and outs.

 

[BRYANT]

Look at the subject "dead calf " snake bite was talked about

 

[colleen]

This calf dosnt act or look sick in anyway except that he cannot put any weight at all on the front leg. You can tell it hurts. He holds it up most of the time. I felt like he had a fracture but the doc showed my husband the marks from the bite and the xrays showed no fracture. The bite has never formed a sore of any kind. Hes never acted sick, except maybe in the first week before we noticed he was hurt. Doc said if it was a water moccasin he would be dead that it was prolly a copperhead.. we live in southeast texas. The xrays did show that the joint was infected(unhealthy). He showed my husband where the bands were white like the bone(the infected area) with only a little dark spot which was still healthy.

My question is has anyone ever heard of and tried this chemical fusing of the joint and what were the results??

 

[S&WSigma40VEShooter]

This calf dosnt act or look sick in anyway except that he cannot put any weight at all on the front leg. You can tell it hurts. He holds it up most of the time. I felt like he had a fracture but the doc showed my husband the marks from the bite and the xrays showed no fracture. The bite has never formed a sore of any kind. Hes never acted sick, except maybe in the first week before we noticed he was hurt. Doc said if it was a water moccasin he would be dead that it was prolly a copperhead.. we live in southeast texas. The xrays did show that the joint was infected(unhealthy). He showed my husband where the bands were white like the bone(the infected area) with only a little dark spot which was still healthy.

My question is has anyone ever heard of and tried this chemical fusing of the joint and what were the results??

It took yall a week or more to notice he was hurt? How many cattle do you have? You should pay better attention.

 

[kerley]

S&W, You still breathing?

 

[colleen]

Guess I should have worded it different "S&W". As soon as we saw he was hurt we started investigating it. He did not act sick or look sick ever, Just had a swollen ankle and limped. He still dosnt act sick. To look at him you wouldnt know there is anything wrong with him. The vet came the very next day. Our cattle are very well taken care of. Thanks for your advice!

 

[hillsdown]

My question is has anyone ever heard of and tried this chemical fusing of the joint and what were the results??

I think Milk Maid might have assisted or watched her vet perform this on a calf but I think she is working cattle this weekend you might try PM'ing her Colleen.

Sorry I have no info on that..

Good luck with him. I hate snakes, that is why I live where I do.. ;-)

 

[BRYANT]

The other option, which we chose was to inject this solution into the joint which would chemically fuse the bones in the joint together. We did this 3 days ago. We are supposed to give it a couple weeks to work.. We hope! Has anyone heard of this?? Had luck with this?? Any advice or tips would be great. We are hoping this works but it looks bleak.

He still dosnt act sick. To look at him you wouldnt know there is anything wrong with him.

Why does it look bleak if it is supposed to take two weeks for it to work and he dosent act sick sounds to me like it is going good make him a steer fatten him out and have a stiff legged beef he will eat fine in a few months that is what I am going to do to the one I have that got snake bit this year . yours may never be good for a bull but it could be worse.

 

[colleen]

Just worried the joint wont get better. I get too attached. But my husband said exactly the same thing you said. He will butcher him if he dosnt get better because we cant get anything for him like this at the sale barn. We had thought about keeping him before this happened to replace our bull that is getting pretty old. Thanks for your interest.