Spooked cow?

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Nesikep

Nesikep

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I have a cow (Tizia, the "horse") who's usually really quiet and calm, but all week she's been spooked about something, she was in the field until yesterday, pacing about all the time, not eating, she'd lost a lot of weight, she's usually a big round tank but she was certainly hungry... it was as if she was looking for her calf (who was with her), she wandered far off from the rest and ended up in a gulley. I didn't see her at feeding time so I went looking for her and a distant gate that they never usually go to in the wintertime had been open, where she found her way into the gulley from there... I brought her some grain, she ate a mouthful and wasn't interested in any more... I took her up to the corral with her calf, gave her grain, which she ate, and gave her some good hay, and she is doing better now, but still nervous, sometimes just walking around in about a 20 foot circle... I did see her chewing cud today, which is always good, and she still likes pettings, but often wanders off, which she didn't do before... she also has some scratches on her back, ear, and cheek, which look like barbed wire or something (not cougar), but how she got them I have no idea.

anyhow, she's grounded to the corral for now

Has anyone ever had a cow spook off her food before? or have any idea what's the matter with her?
 
I've certainly thought it could be, she'd trample this guy to the ground, he's not very big, he's just a yearling... 20 lbs or so, 14-16" high....

It's just funny that she's doing better in the corral (which is closer to where the lynx calls home in the woodshed) than she did in the field... there are cougars around too, and that would be more likely... I'm just trying to think of other reasons she could be behaving this way
 
I don't know. But I would keep her up awhile to see if this blows over. The injuries might not be related to what started this behavior as they are a result of the behavior. She may have been going around carelessly affected by this mental state and got into fence, thorns, brush, etc. Has her calf been taken for a ride too? How old is the calf? I had a cow that I later determined was in estrous who was running from one end of 80 acres to the other only to turn around and go right straight back to the beginning point to do it all over again. She had her two month old with her nd his tongue was hanging out. I really felt sorry for the little guy. She got tired herself and finally slowed down.
 
Does she seem to be any pain? Wondering if it is a health issue rather than a spooked issue. I've never seen a cow spooked for days by something (especially if you have moved her away from a perceived "threat". Be careful she doesn't get aggressive even if she is normally a pet. I'd take a temp on her just for curiosity.
 
she wasn't in heat... I decided to put the bull in with her just to be sure, he sniffed, then went on to eating, her calf is 6 months old and is just fine, he didn't think there was anything to be scared of, nor did any of the others in that field with her, 2 heifers and a 3 year old cow... I'll be keeping her in the corral until calving time anyhow... her behaviour is just a bit off still... she isn't laying down much, last night I went up to her when I was feeding and she was laying down, leaned up against her, and she put her head on my lap and fell asleep for what certainly felt like a half hour, my legs were rather numb after that... between her and her calf they seem to be eating a half bale a day of really good hay, and she's now getting a bit of grain as well, if her calf will let her have any.

I really should take her temp
 
I did think of that, and I've inspected them, I can't see any damage to them and her eyes aren't tearing up either... she looks at me straight and doesn't seem to try to use one eye more than the other. Her behavior hasn't changed much in the last week... she's nice enough with me, I can go and take her head in my arms and scratch her neck, that's all the same, but she just doesn't seem to eat with any regularity, she's always wandering off and pacing, then coming back for a bunch of bites, and taking off again... I'll try and get a video to post for monday, that would probably describe what's going on a lot better.
 
This is still going on? You know me, I am with my cows enough that they react to me like thay di another cow. But the open heifer I got in November that I got hiplocked in the squeeze chute has never relaxed. I know in time she will. Could it be that your cow had some kind of experience when you were not there that has affected her in a traumatic way like the hiplock. Believe me, she and I both were shaken! I had to take a couple snores of grandpa recipe to get settled myself.
 
I'm really wondering... I did take her temp, 38C, so a smidge high, but not by much. spoke to the vet, might bring her in this week for a checkup... She has gotten back into a habit she had as a calf.. sleeping in my arms... I went up to her when she finally laid down last night, leaned up against her, and she put her head in my lap and slept for a half hour, she must have been really tired... boy were my legs asleep after that
No luck getting a video worth anything
Took a closer look at her eyes, I can't see anything wrong, I cant say she has 20/20 vision or it's bovine equivalent, but she blinks if I put my hands near her eyes.

I did notice she's a bit constipated, and she seems to prefer eating snow to water... I checked the waterer to make sure there's wasn't an electrical problem with it, but the calf drinks from it fine. I brought her some warm water in a bucket and she'd lick at it but wouldn't really drink... Vet said it could be a dental problem, and I'm starting to think that could be part of it, though 9 years isn't usually the age of dental problems with cattle... her sister is 18 and I know her teeth are bad.
Since she was a bit constipated, and had salt available, I went and got some Epsom salts and she liked that, and ate a bunch of it, maybe that'll help things move better. If she doesn't drink a bit more though I'm going to tube her a bucket of water. She's still chewing cud, so that's still positive, but her hooves are getting well worn from the miles she's walked in the last 2 week... At the rate she's been going I'd venture to guess 10 to 20 miles a day.

Another thought we had was she was trying to wean her calf, but since he was born in mid august, he's only 5 1/2 months old.. At the rate she's going, I might wean him anyhow, she's probably not making any milk at this point anyhow
 
Well, I hauled her to the vet today, was quite a trip (2hrs for 60 miles), stopped a couple times and let her rest a bit... she loaded like a dream though.. OK, so it did take a bit of pulling, but she wasn't in great shape.

Vet checked her out, all the mucous membranes were good, nothing in her mouth, rumen was good, no lameness, blindness, or soreness that he could find, red blood cell count was textbook perfect, and he was pretty stumped, so I asked him to preg check her, he estimates her about 120 days along, which is pretty darned close to my books, and he noticed she had a significant amount of nearly clear vaginal discharge, and he examined her closer, and found she had some slight sores on the vaginal walls.. he said they could have been there for some time, perhaps from breeding time, and conditions were just never favourable for the bacteria until recently. He took a swap to send to a lab for culturing, and in the meantime she's on tetracycline.
Estimated cost is $350, which I can live with

I'm glad we found *something* wrong with her given her condition

So anyhow, she's spending the night at the vet, I'm doing some shopping and staying in a motel, maybe I'll get to catch up on some sleep too.
 
so perhaps since something was feeling wrong "way back there", she was thinking of calving, and was looking for it?

At least it wasn't hardware
 
could she have had a hormone "flip flop" even though she is P.G. because of the possible sores / infection in there?
I have had cows react quite strongly to cougars in our area, but normally once they were gone the cow was fine.You do have a fair amount of cougars in your area, but unless one was living in the vicinity I would think the other cows would have reacted too, and normally cougars tend to wander unless they have kittens in a den...
 
I don't think any cougars are living in the area... maybe 10 miles south of us (wilder terrain, etc) there are more, there's also wild horses there that is good cougar food.
 
10 miles for a cougar isn't more than a hop skip and a jump, but if none of the other cows are reacting at all it sounds to me more like a problem with the cow herself. Has she settled any since the vet visit?
Did the vet figure out why on earth she might have sores inside?? Maybe she is in pain from the sores /infection why she is pacing, she doesn't understand what is going on and maybe that is her way of reacting.
 
How old is Tizia? What language is Tizia, just curious on that? $350 is not bad. I see a big difference here between the vet who does my cows and the one that does my dog. The big animal vet travels 50 miles round trip to my farm; checks a cow, maybe does a little treatment for $80. I take my dog to the vet and he runs a couple tests, gives me some pills and it costs $300. Do you think the scratches were caused by an animal or just the result of her journey?
 

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