Sore on cow

[jcummins]

I notice when looking over the cows this morning, a sore on one and I have no idea what it is.

About the size of a baseball, on left front shoulder, and an obvious yellow/white center. Can anyone here identify what this is? Cow appears well and in good shape otherwise.

 

[milkmaid]

Looks like it's on the point of the shoulder? is the cow lame at all? lump hard or soft?

Looks like an abcess... perhaps she cut her shoulder on something (going through a chute?) or it resulted from vaccinating. If it's not bothering her you could leave her alone, esp since it appears to be draining. If you want to do something about it, you could lance it - only if it's soft - and clean it out. If you choose to lance it, I'd flush it with water or hydrogen peroxide, then fill it with 10cc penicillin and put fly spray around the area. Abcesses aren't a big deal as long as they don't get into the bone, and this one sort of looks like it's right over the joint? you'd want to be careful if you choose to open it up.

 

[shorty]

Before you cut it , stick it with a needle and draw back , if you get puss in the syringe then you know it's okay to open it up and clean it out.

 

[TheBullLady]

Looks like an abcess to me.. is the center leaking fluid? If it's open already and draining, I wouldn't do anything besides a salve of some sort to keep the flies off it.