Vets

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rowdyred

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I read on these forums where people refer to their vets rather often, and encourage others to do the same, I'm just wondering, is having a local vet over to check out your herd that common, where I live I cant think of a single time(in years) when I heard someone say they had a vet over, wouldnt that get expensive if you called a vet everytime a cow came up lame or sick, usually we just go to the co-op or some other feed store, mention whats wrong and they will recommend some type of treatment, we do it and go on about our day, its just rather interesting to me to read yall saying "get the vet".
 
I think it depends on your location and/or whether you do have a vet that is nearby or not. It also applies to the level of knowledge and experience one has to deal with health issues/injuries in an animal that gives incentive of whether to call the vet or not. Those with little experience are better off to have someone who knows what they're doing (in this case a vet) fix the problem for them instead of messing around themselves and making things worse. Most of the time it's worth the cost to have a vet come over or bring a sick animal to the vet.
 
Your right, I forget that alot of people on this forum are just starting out, I'm also rather new with my own herd, but I grew up helping with my family, we ran about 250 cow/calf pairs before I went to college
 
rowdyred":3bknpgl7 said:
I read on these forums where people refer to their vets rather often, and encourage others to do the same, I'm just wondering, is having a local vet over to check out your herd that common, where I live I cant think of a single time(in years) when I heard someone say they had a vet over, wouldnt that get expensive if you called a vet everytime a cow came up lame or sick, usually we just go to the co-op or some other feed store, mention whats wrong and they will recommend some type of treatment, we do it and go on about our day, its just rather interesting to me to read yall saying "get the vet".

We don't use the vet a lot. They are necessary for some things: breeding soundness exams, calfhood vaccinations. In our experience, a lame cow will get better or she won't. And they usually do. We do our own vaccinating and tattooing, keep antibiotics around for foot rot or respiratory problems. But the vet is a great source for advice and information.
 
rowdyred":39j01uyt said:
Your right, I forget that alot of people on this forum are just starting out

And a vet is great to help you get started. Most of the people with just a few cows are doing it as a hobby and making $$$ is not the main concern. Best to learn while you only have a few and can afford not to make money on them. When the numbers get up, you can't afford the vet coming out all the time.

Start small and grow. Your knowledge should grow along with your herd.
 
rowdyred":1d7awyne said:
I read on these forums where people refer to their vets rather often, and encourage others to do the same, I'm just wondering, is having a local vet over to check out your herd that common, where I live I cant think of a single time(in years) when I heard someone say they had a vet over, wouldnt that get expensive if you called a vet everytime a cow came up lame or sick, usually we just go to the co-op or some other feed store, mention whats wrong and they will recommend some type of treatment, we do it and go on about our day, its just rather interesting to me to read yall saying "get the vet".

My experience has shown that outcomes are no different except for the vet bill. I likewise find it interesting that people here recommend "get the vet". It is almost as if their margins are very wide, as in a niche market, or their cattle cost a bunch more than what I paid for mine. Other times I think posters know how much money people have and they don't have a good answer to an issue, so they say "call the vet". I don't understand it and troubles me deeply.
 
HerefordSire":2l8k50h7 said:
rowdyred":2l8k50h7 said:
I read on these forums where people refer to their vets rather often, and encourage others to do the same, I'm just wondering, is having a local vet over to check out your herd that common, where I live I cant think of a single time(in years) when I heard someone say they had a vet over, wouldnt that get expensive if you called a vet everytime a cow came up lame or sick, usually we just go to the co-op or some other feed store, mention whats wrong and they will recommend some type of treatment, we do it and go on about our day, its just rather interesting to me to read yall saying "get the vet".

My experience has shown that outcomes are no different except for the vet bill. I likewise find it interesting that people here recommend "get the vet". It is almost as if their margins are very wide, as in a niche market, or their cattle cost a bunch more than what I paid for mine. Other times I think posters know how much money people have and they don't have a good answer to an issue, so othey say "call the vet". I don't understand it and troubles me deeply.
really :shock: wish the he!@ thats all i had too worry bout
 
Maybe the reason people didn't get good results from calling their vet out is they tried treatment on their own that didn't work and waited until the animal was at death's door to make the call.

We are lucky enough to have a good vet in our area that does both large and small animals and does both very well. Since we already used him for years with dogs, cats and horses before we got cattle, we already had a good working relationship. It cost more to bring the dog into the clinic one night for some emergency stitches than our last cattle call, including using HIS chute. And since he is familiar with us, our setup and animals, he is able to give sound advice over the phone and save a farm call sometimes.

If you have the experience and can diagnose and treat things yourself, great for you. But if you don't know for sure what the problem is and it seems serious, call the vet. If the animal isn't worth enough alive and well to warrant the vet coming out, then put it out of its misery.
 
MO_cows summed my thoughts up quite well. ;-)

And in regards to the original question; I think I'd much rather get a vet's advice than the feed store's advice... just because they're employed by a store that can sell over-the-counter meds doesn't mean they know what they're talking about. Granted a vet doesn't always give good advice either, but at least they have a higher probability of giving you good advice. :p
 
We use our vet as a last resort. We treat as we see necessary and to the best of our ability, and if that doesn't fix the problem, then the vet is called. We're lucky enough to have a good working relationship established and can call with questions that are answered almost always without a charge.
 
We rarely use a vet except to buy high power drugs from them. Usually if we have to call the vet and cant fix it ourselves its bullett time anyway and we just go ahead and give em a lead innoculation.
 
MO_cows":29gtosbf said:
Maybe the reason people didn't get good results from calling their vet out is they tried treatment on their own that didn't work and waited until the animal was at death's door to make the call.

Thank you, saved me a lot of typing
 
We say call a vet because we know right away that you are in over your heads. "you/your" being general not specific..

I really wish people would do the research before they buy the cattle but that NEVER seems to happen and they have NO clue to what they are doing..

Things will get so regulated because of these stupid people that we will all soon have to call a vet for everything..

Before you buy an animal, be it a cow dog cat gerbil, do some research on how to properly care for them and how to care for them when they are ill. In the cattle business you had better know how to diagnose an illness and treat it ,and only get the vet out for serious surgical procedures like a displaced abomasum ,bull soundness exams etc.. to make any money as the profit margin is just not there.

But yes, MO summed it up quite well; a lot of people try to treat without knowing what they are dealing with and by the time the vet is called it is too late..
 
hillsdown said:
We say call a vet because we know right away that you are in over your heads. "you/your" being general not specific..

I really wish people would do the research before they buy the cattle but that NEVER seems to happen and they have NO clue to what they are doing..

Things will get so regulated because of these stupid people that we will all soon have to call a vet for everything..

Before you buy an animal, be it a cow dog cat gerbil, do some research on how to properly care for them and how to care for them when they are ill. In the cattle business you had better know how to diagnose an illness and treat it ,and only get the vet out for serious surgical procedures like a displaced abomasum ,Bull soundness exams ..

But yes, MO summed it up quite well; a lot of people try to treat without knowing what they are dealing with and by the time the vet is called it is too late..[/quote] thats a big thing around here they wait too the cow is too far gone. then call the vet he does his best to salvage it ,,,then the ol farmer says too his buddys at the feed store, i wont use them again, didnt help my cow and charged me a hundred dollar
 
I have a small group of steers and a couple mamas and also have a horse boarding barn with 25 horses. My vet is just fabulous , charges me 35 bucks to come out and is reasonable on meds , shots , and doesn't perform a bunch of needless crapola to run the bill up. Yep , he is probably one in a million. We have had a few horse emergencies over the years and he has been there within the hour to deal with em. He has taught myself and our boarders a lot on his visits and I have paid that 35 dollar call cost a couple times to be told you're doin the right thing and heres some better medicine. I don't have a problem with that at all. cheap piece of mind IMO. I realize I've gotta let him make some money also to make the relationship work , I want response and he needs to make a buck here and there. I did learn a bit of patience on the cattle side here from Dun with his "benign neglect" lesson , dang good advice !I realize a good one is hard to find too. I wouldn't give you ten cents for any of the small animal vets in our area , they are worse than the Wall Street Bankers at ripping you off.
 
depends on the vet, some will charge more than the cow or calf is worth, plus they often lose the cow even if you call them asap. you have to ask them how much before they do some things & some will just experiment with your money. it is hard to find a good vet anymore
 
There's bad vets just like bad apples in any profession. When we first moved here and before I had established a vet, I had a horse come up lame and called the closest one. He came out and diagnosed navicular disease and was ready to put my horse on bute for life. Had a farrier already scheduled for the next day; it took him about 30 seconds to find an abcess, open it for drainage and advise on treatment. So I asked around and that's how I found the GOOD vet we have used ever since. And once you find a vet you can live with, being a steady customer gets you a lot better service and usually lower charges. Not to mention the occasional free phone consultation. I will admit, we are lucky to have a vet that can spay a small kitten without any bruising or swelling, then come out and de-horn a 600 pound weanling with equal skill.
 
jerry27150":311u3ez2 said:
depends on the vet, some will charge more than the cow or calf is worth, plus they often lose the cow even if you call them asap. you have to ask them how much before they do some things & some will just experiment with your money. it is hard to find a good vet anymore

My DH and I are fairly experience cattle people. Been involved with cattle our entire lives, and have spent time working with feedlots, that teaches you a lot. I'm not afraid to call a vet if I need to, if I'm not sure how to deal with a situation I will call him. We have a very good vet, he is basically a cattle vet, but in this area, he deals with all animals, large and small. I can call him, give him the symptoms, and he will tell me what he thinks, and how to deal with it. Sometimes that ends up being a trip to the vet, or having him come out here, but often enough, it is just his advice that we are getting, and that is free. We buy all our vaccine, our RFID tags and most of our medicines through him, that = free advice. Plus, you have to remember, that you can't get many drugs without a prescription, so you better have a relationship with a vet if you may ever need to use any of those drugs.

Some good advice is to ask what a vet will charge for their services. Find out what a farm call costs, his after hour charges and mileage. If you can, take the animal to the clinic, that will at the very least save you mileage and the farm call cost. Never seems to save on the after hour charge, most emergencies seem to happen after hours. Most vets will also charge observation charges, so realize this up front. If you have him out to treat one animal, and figure since he is there you will have him look at another animal, he will charge you for that, even if he doesn't actually treat the second animal. Don't be afraid to ask for an estimate of what the cost will be to treat an animal. And know upfront what you are willing to spend to treat the animal. Our vet is good that way, in many cases if the cost is going to be real high he will ask if you want to spend that on the animal, before you spend a whole bunch on it.

Realize too, that medications are not cheap!! LA 200 and Penicillin are pretty cheap, but then, they only work in very limited circumstances. Nuflor runs about $1/cc and drugs like Micotil, Draxxin and Excede are even more expensive. Vaccines are cheaper of course, but since you are usually treating a bunch of animals, they add up, $2-$4/ head may not sound like much, but they add up!

IMO for those of you who don't believe in using a vet, a dead animal is 100% loss. Treating one may mean you are going to take a loss on the animal, but at least you should have a chance to recoup some of the value of the animal. Of course, this is where experience comes in, knowing in the first place whether there is a decent chance of having the animal recover. A broken leg for example is something that cannot generally be fixed in an older animal.
 

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