Vet is stumped and so are we

[I luv herfrds]

Since January 29,2007 We have lost 14 head of cattle. The vet first thought Nitrates was the cause, but lab results came back negative on an aborted calf.
Hay was tested. Negative
Water was tested, highest level was 27ppm. (40 is when it is toxic to animals) The rest were lower.
Three cows died after showing signs of respirtory illness like pnuemonia. Treated them with 50cc's of LA-200. Died just a short while later.
Four more cows showed signs of respirtory illness treated quickly with 55cc LA-200. Three aborted dead calves. One gave birth to a premie. (She is still alive, but was weak and had to set her on my lap to get up to nurse.)
One cow that showed no sign of illness aborted a calf.
Tonight another cow that showed no sign of illness gave birth to a set of dead twins.
Any body have ANY idea of what is going on?

 

[GMN]

Sounds like Leptospirosis, classic sign is abortion in the 7 month of pregnancy, have the animals been vaccinated against that?

That is alot of animals to lose, I sure hope you find the cause soon.

Gail

 

[I luv herfrds]

No we did not vaccinate for Lepto. We pour them twice a year and they get a Scour Guard before calving.
This all happened at month 8.
The vet had no reason to believe it may have been Lepto.
He did a post on one of the cows and the lung sample was purple at the lower part of the lung.
The cows stomach was full and she had filled up on water.
The calf in her was about 3 weeks away from being born.

 

[lilfarmgirl]

did the vet mention the LA-200 might cause the aborted calves. Our Vet mentioned that is a chance once the cows reach point in their pregnancies. Just a thought. Hope you find out what the cause is.

Lilfarmgirl

 

[I luv herfrds]

No the Vet never mentioned that LA-200 could cause the cow to abort.
There are four that never showed any sign of illness nor were they treated, they aborted.
We have three that showed signs of the respritory illness and were treated and have not aborted.
Then there are the three that were sick and treated and then they aborted.
What is weird, a neighbor told me that if it was Nitrates the oldest cow in the herd would abort first. Whatever this is, it hit the 5 year olds the hardest. Out of 6, 3 are dead and two aborted. Only 1 is still with calf.
In the lab results there was no trace of BVD either.
This is really depressing.

 

[VAStocker]

This is very serious stuff Herford one of the best places to start is the begining. It is a fact that these cattle have contracted something that has never been in you herd before and what ever it is is seriously effecting herd health. Start a time line 30 days before the first sickness rared it's ugly head did you have someone ride through or even walk through your pasture that had just left another farm where he/she may have brought in the sickness, and don't forget your vet . Have you hauled cattle for someone else and than hauled your cattle in the same stock trailer. Another thing you can document is the fact if you have seen any migratory birds that could have fed in the manure from another herd and brought the sickness in that way A frieind of mine had this very thing happen about 10 years ago from geese and lost about 15 head before it was discovered. Try and think of anything and write it all down just like any sickness there was a carrier that brought this to your herd and finding the source may find the problem. Good Luck!

 

[I luv herfrds]

VAStocker I looked back. Nobody was out there, but us rolling out hay bales. The weather was going from very cold (To us below zero) to warmer temps (In the 30's). The regular birds that we see all the time were there. The vet was not out. Our new herd bull was quarntined in a corral away from them. The only thing we can think of is there is a real problem with the mule deer in our area. It looked like the deer were coming up to the feed ground. We never roll out a bale of hay on top of where another was fed. We feed oat hay, like I said it was negative for nitrates, and grass also negative.
Ours is normally a closed herd except for the bulls we bring in, it is rare that we buy any heifers. Looks like we will this fall.
We did not haul any cows in our trailer after we brought the bull home.
The neighbors cows were a couple of miles away.
We are waiting on a blood test. Hopefully it will answer the questions.
Thank you for your responses.

 

[dun]

What did the aborted calves look like. Normal looking calves or something peculiar abou them?

dun

 

[KNERSIE]

Did you take the temperatures of the sick cows?

This sounds typical of a redwater outbreak, but not sure if you even get it in the USA. If this happened on my farm I would start looking at redwater and then look further.

Typical symptoms would be high fever, ears drooping, going off feed, hard breathing, anaemic, in the advanced stages urine turns red and bloody and nervous symptoms shows just before death. The abortions would be typical after the high fever.

The older animals are usually affected worse and the ones that survive often suffers from ruminal paralysis.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Have the vet test for neospora also.

 

[warpaint]

14 animals lost would be a very big hit for me to take, as it is for you, I'm sure. I hope that you are able to discover what the cause is and correct it. Please keep us informed.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Have the vet test for neospora also.

It wouldn't hurt to also check for Salmonella. Sounds strange I know, but last year, one of the groups of cows where I work had a major 'issue' with it. Lost a few cows and calves as well as abortions. It was traced to their water source. (It took a while to trace it to Salmonella) Unfortunately I don't remember which strain of Salmonella was the culprit.

Have as many deads posted as you can afford, it may help to figure out the problem.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Katherine

 

[cattleluvr18]

did you test for crypto (thats the short name for it i cant member the long name) it usually is only found in bucket calves but i dont know for cows. they have some respitory problems and get the scours really bad. we never have saved a bucket calf from it so no more bucket calves and we havent gotten it in our heifers so maybe it doesnt get in older calves.

 

[Scotty]

After loosing that many head test for everything. Get a new bull. They are good carriers for alot of things. Use drugs other than LA 200 for respritory. Many new and good drugs that will work BETTER. Good luck. I hope you get rid of this and back on track.

PS

Bovishield Gold 5 FP VL5. When they are open. 30 days befor you breed. Then you can give them onother shot at weaning. Along with a 7 way and worming. Repeat yearly!!!

 

[I luv herfrds]

Dun the aborted calves were normal looking.
Caustic Burno what is Neospora?
Cattleluvr 18 I will call the vet tomorrow and ask him about that.
Scotty we are changing our program. Calves are vacs with 8-Way at branding then again at weaning and poured. On the 26th next month the yearlings are getting BoviShield 5, then get Scour Bos 9 just before they are turned into with the bull. This fall at weaning they get Scour Bos 4 and poured. Due to a lice problem a few years ago we pour everthing twice a year. That is 6 months apart.
All of our bulls are yearling virgin bulls. We cannot afford to buy any new bulls now.
Workinonit Farm I will ask the vet about the Salmonella.
Thank you to everyone for this info. I just hope we find out the cause before any more die.

 

[Beefy]

i'd be looking into neospora.

 

[preston39]

I luv h..,

Over what period of time did the losses occur?

What time frame between each loss?

3-5 day Pre-Symptoms of each loss?

All pregnant or...?

Age of losses?

Age of first vs last loss?

Look for any anomaly trend ...requires close analysis.

Sorry for your loss...not good...not good.

 

[cowcrazy07]

Have you thought about a plant toxicity? Western yellow pine needles will cause abortion. Many other plants could have been baled with your hay- or be growing around your pasture. Some of them can cause pneumonia type symtoms.

 

[msscamp]

did you test for crypto (thats the short name for it i cant member the long name) it usually is only found in bucket calves but i dont know for cows.

Are you thinking of cryptosporidium? If so, according to everything I've read, it is not a problem for cows.

 

[cattleluvr18]

Are you thinking of cryptosporidium? If so, according to everything I've read, it is not a problem for cows.

that looks right but im not for sure. i didnt think it was a problem for older cattle but i didnt know for sure. just thought id suggest it cause the poor guy is really stumpt and i feel bad for 'em.