Struggling Steer

[Hereford2]

Hi I have a 10 month old steer that was banded at 1 month old. He's grown really well fat as can be. Just the other day I noticed he was waddling as he walked and there was a swollen lump about the size of a grapefruit where his testicles Used to be. I haven't gotten a picture yet. Any ideas? My top thought was snake bite. Because I have had cow's bit in the udder and a calf bit in the face.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Interesting.

Your sure ya got BOTH at banding?
I wonder if its possible to have an abcess in that area?

 

[Buck Randall]

Could be a testicle, could be an abscess, could be a fat deposit. The only way to know for sure is to get hands on it.

 

[wbvs58]

I'd go for a walled off abscess.

Ken

 

[Hereford2]

Ok thank you for the reply's I will have to get him up and look at it closer.

 

[Hereford2]

Notice how his stomach is hanging down...

 

[Hpacres440p]

Is he urinating?

 

[Hereford2]

Yes he was when I drove up to him. I have a 34 second video of him walking, but when I tried to upload it, it says the file is to big?

 

[Hereford2]

Thought I'd update on this steer, he ended up dying do to heart issues. That's what was causing the swelling and weird walking

 

[wbvs58]

Well, that's a bummer, do you know what caused the heart failure? Hardware? Did he have a jugular pulse?

Ken

 

[Hereford2]

I think he had a bad heart since he was born, my husband always said there's something not right with that calf. I was hoping he was wrong lol But he wasn't.

 

[Lucky_P]

Ken,
I used to see some pretty sizable calves with ventricular septal defects. Was always somewhat surprised that they got as big as they did - some up to 400 lb - before they spiraled rapidly into uncompromised congestive heart failure and died.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

IF you think it could be an ongoing issue consider using a different genetic base.