Somethings wrong with her brain.

[daniel.carver]

I lost a cow in February. I had noticed her eating hay. Just like all the other girls. But the third day I decided she looked funny, so I walked up to her. She had hay sticking out of her mouth and it was frozen. And she walked in circles to the right. I got her in the corral and pulled as much hay out of her mouth as I could. I got lucky when I called the vet. He came out with in an hour. He said there is something wrong with her brain. I asked if it could be wooden tongue. He said no. He used an IV bag and stuck the needle in her side, saying "this will help faster, maybe". He hand pulled the rest of the hay out and run a hose down her to push the rest of the hay down. Well then he wished me luck. For three days all she did was drink water. The third day she was down, so I shot her to ease the misery. Any of you seen or heard of any thing like this. This is Late May, & I haven't had any other problems. Yet! Thanks Dan.

 

[Lucky_P]

Listeriosis. Commonly called 'circling disease'.
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/general ... iosis.html

Had a case in my own beef herd 7-8 years back; 'circling' to beat the band, but treated her 4 times, at 3 day intervals, with LA 200, and she recovered uneventfully - but it took several months before she got over it and lost the head-tilt. Delivered a healthy calf about a month after the end of the treatment period.
But... not all of them come out of it that good.

 

[regolith]

Hi Lucky.
Would you expect to find anything different in a blood sample taken from a cow with potential listeriosis?
Vet drew blood off one today, we put her down this morning she started throwing her head around just ten minutes or so before the vet arrived, until then she just looked like a milk fever with hypothermia due to nasty weather. Was on her feet looking pretty normal yesterday evening.

 

[Lucky_P]

rego,
White blood cell count and fibrinogen levels might likely be elevated in a cow with listeriosis. We used to do Listeria serology here, and some labs may still offer it - but it's a pretty poor and unreliable assay.
Serum calcium &/or magnesium will be depressed below normal levels in the cow with milk fever.

 

[regolith]

Thanks.
I should know some time next week. I'm sceptical of it being listeriosis but that might be more because I really don't *want* it to be listeriosis. Vet is finger-pointing at the hay, which was baled in less than perfect circumstances but has come out looking pretty good, just a little dusty in the centre.

 

[Nesikep]

Reminds me of my cow Tizia, who I think had a stroke, she'd circle the corral, staying close to the fence, she was glued to it in fact. Took her to the vet, he gave her LA 200 which didn't change anything, he said her blood cell count was textbook perfect, and she had no fever.

A video says it best, and you can see how she behaved
[youtube]Styq1RGJCzs[/youtube]

 

[Putangitangi]

These are two very short (don't blink) videos of an 11-yr cow with a presumed stroke. She'd suffered seizures for a year before she obviously changed gait and general behavior.
There was obviously no way back, so she was gently euthanized later that morning. (Favorite cow.)

[youtube]Au9t7lTNmdM[/youtube] [youtube]2L7HcSCK9gM[/youtube]

 

[Nesikep]

I can't watch videos from here, I'll try to remember to watch them on Monday
Mine didn't have seizures, just a bit uncoordinated and confused. Looked a bit like a retarded kid. She was a favorite of mine too. She was the only one to have a vet bill in 5 years, $400 plus driving her to and from, for no answer. One morning we found she had slipped or laid down wrong and couldn't get back up, so I put her down. I suppose it could have been a seizure that made her fall, but I never saw any evidence of that.

 

[Putangitangi]

With that apparent weakness/lack of coordination, she could presumably easily get stuck. My cow's presumed stroke symptoms were quite different from the seizures. It was probably connected, but she didn't seize any time in that morning, just walked around looking really odd. She half-closed one eye too, which looked like I feel with a migraine. I don't know if she was in pain, but I felt like she may have been.

 

[Nesikep]

I'm sure if this cow was coordinated she wouldn't have gotten herself into that predicament. *really* wanted a full sister to Mega too.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I am sorry (all of you) about the loss of your "special" cows..........
You may recall in a post I started about presumed Dallis grass staggers with one of my young cows. During my time down at the UC Davis medical center with her, I spoke with a Neurologist in great detail about symptoms of "incoordination."
All the things to be considered...........
Toxins- eating something. There are so many, and not every cow will eat them. Could be just one.
Rabies, pinched nerves, brain tumors, spinal tumors, brain of spinal abscesses, Infections, head or neck injuries, back injuries, and of course many cattle diseases.
Strokes are less considered or common..........

 

[daniel.carver]

Thanks for the replies. The videos were helpful. I really think it was a stroke after listening to you all. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Dan.

 

[Nesikep]

On mine, I think I can eliminate toxins... it was january, they were all eating hay, we don't have old batteries, etc laying around, so lead is highly unlikely. It could have been a tumor or abscess, and abscesses probably don't respond very well to LA200. I can't rule out a tumor.. Mine was going on 9 years. She had retained placenta quite often, I was thinking perhaps there was a clot from that which dislodged? I didn't get a cholesterol panel done on her, she was a pretty calm cow, I don't think her blood pressure was too high

 

[Nesikep]

Putangitangi, I finally was able to watch your video... That cow was different than mine.. she looked like she limped on her left front, was that just from her nervous condition?

yours seemed to be relatively mobile except for the apparent limp compared to mine.. Mine didn't limp, but couldn't bring herself to come off the fence.

 

[Putangitangi]

The limp was due to whatever had happened in her brain that morning and appeared to be a one-side weakness. She was previously entirely healthy-looking between the seizures, until that day. My recollection is that there was no clear evidence that she'd had a seizure coincident to the presumed stroke, but she might have. I thought perhaps her behavior was a little similar because of the wide circle in which she traveled.

 

[regolith]

Well the vet called this morning and the blood test on 829 showed low calcium, and indications of kidney damage.
So the hay is no longer a suspect, much relief about that.
When the vet tried to take her temperature the other day it wouldn't even register on her thermometer.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Well the vet called this morning and the blood test on 829 showed low calcium, and indications of kidney damage.
So the hay is no longer a suspect, much relief about that.
When the vet tried to take her temperature the other day it wouldn't even register on her thermometer.

So what is the vet thinking for a diagnosis??

 

[regolith]

It was milk fever. Essentially once the temperature falls as low as hers did it's almost impossible to bring them round again... she was 'down' in bitter cold winds before I found her that morning.
The brain symptoms weren't present until just before the vet arrived and were most likely simply due to her brain shutting down because she was dying.

 

[branguscowgirl]

It was milk fever. Essentially once the temperature falls as low as hers did it's almost impossible to bring them round again... she was 'down' in bitter cold winds before I found her that morning.
The brain symptoms weren't present until just before the vet arrived and were most likely simply due to her brain shutting down because she was dying.

Sorry about your loss........