Mongo1
Member
Our bull has a red area bulging out from the corner of his eye. Could it be pink eye or something else. Any ideas on a what to do would be appreciated.
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mwj
Well-known member
Call the vet, my guess is cancer eye.
Yup, looks like cancer eye. Your vet can remove the 3rd eyelid and check his lymph nodes to see if it has spread. Very treatable if caught early but that mass is considerably larger than the one on my cow.
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
Cancer eye. Still early enough that they won't condemn him at the sale barn. I'd ship him sooner than later.
It can get pretty NASTY and painful
It can get pretty NASTY and painful
farmerjan
Well-known member
We had a cow with something like that but twice as big. Retired vet friend came, and removed the eye. eyelid and all because she had a calf on her and we didn't want to ship him yet and she was a terrific mother. She got along fine, wound up bred back which we didn't know at the surgery and kept her for 2 more calves. Eventually it "came back" and we buried her after she weaned off the calf. There is one on a dairy that I test that has an eye that looks like the picture above... they can't ship her and she milks good... but I would have put her out of her misery as it is getting really gross to look at and smell....
Buck Randall
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I worked with a dairy that had a cow like that. They wouldn't put her down even though I recommended it every time I was there. Eventually she scraped the tumor against one of the bars in her tie stall and opened it enough that she bled to death overnight. I wasn't sorry when they ended up having to get out of dairying.
coachg
Well-known member
Could it be an infected tear gland ?
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
wbvs58
Well-known member
How old is your bull?
Ken
Ken
Mongo1
Member
He's 17 months old
Mongo1
Member
Thanks everyone for your posts. Sounds like we need to get him to the auction before it gets worse. What a shame.
mickroos65
Well-known member
Have a vet look at him before you ship him. If he's a good bull/breeder might be worth it.
I'd at least send the pic to your vet before you get rid of a nice young bull. Found the growth on my cow in 2017. She's now 12 years old, in amazing condition (well, she's actually a little on the tubby side) and still one of the first to calve. Vet also removed the 3rd eyelid on the other eye as a precaution and I don't remember exactly how much he charged, but something incredibly low, like $35.
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farmerjan
Well-known member
I would have the vet look at him also before shipping. If they remove the growth and 3rd eyelid, you could get a good many years out of him, or even just a year or 2 of breeding and give you a chance to find another bull. If you have 2-5,000 in a bull, even with a vet bill of 1-300 you would be ahead. Plus he will look decent for shipping down the road.
Lucky_P
Well-known member
Have a vet look at him.
While it may be 'cancer eye'(squamous cell epithelioma/carcinoma), it would be extremely unusual to see that in a cow/bull only 17 months of age.
Even if it were SCC, it looks to be confined to the third eyelid... I'd have it taken off and take my chances on him...
I've never seen it in cattle, but 'cherry eye'(prolapse of the gland of the nictitating membrane(third eyelid)) is fairly common in dogs... usually requires a simple, and relatively quick/easy surgical removal, but may resolve with topical steroids.
It would be a shame to can a good, young bull for a virtual non-issue that could be taken care of in less than 10 minutes.
While it may be 'cancer eye'(squamous cell epithelioma/carcinoma), it would be extremely unusual to see that in a cow/bull only 17 months of age.
Even if it were SCC, it looks to be confined to the third eyelid... I'd have it taken off and take my chances on him...
I've never seen it in cattle, but 'cherry eye'(prolapse of the gland of the nictitating membrane(third eyelid)) is fairly common in dogs... usually requires a simple, and relatively quick/easy surgical removal, but may resolve with topical steroids.
It would be a shame to can a good, young bull for a virtual non-issue that could be taken care of in less than 10 minutes.
Mongo1
Member
Okay. We'll at least send the photo to our vet. Thanks again for everyone's input.
Son of Butch
Well-known member
But TC you have a good Vet.
My vet charged $160 to castrate my cat and then tried to sell him a dating club membership.
farmerjan
Well-known member
Years ago I had a mare that got a "growth" like that. It was as @Lucky_P said; a squamous cell carcinoma and had it removed at the New Bolton Center in Penn... She went on and had 3 or 4 more foals and lived to a ripe old age in her 20's. I definitely think that having it evaluated by a vet and possibly removed is a better way to spend your money and keep a good young bull.
faster horses
Well-known member
When we had Herefords, we had a lot of cancer eye. I really believe it was genetic because it went back to a certain line of cattle. We had the eyes removed on some and we got really good at spotting it early (when it was pencil size) so the cancer could be burnt off. We never had one die from it but we did take care of all that got cancer eye so it didn't get worse.
I too, am surprised it would be cancer in A.)black bull and B.) one that young.
Like others have said, and I agree, have a vet evaluate it. It might be easily removed.
Good luck.
Let us know.
I too, am surprised it would be cancer in A.)black bull and B.) one that young.
Like others have said, and I agree, have a vet evaluate it. It might be easily removed.
Good luck.
Let us know.
