Any solutions for a cow paralysed after calving

beau7543

We have a cow that went down after calving. We turned her on her good side but we have no sooner left the house and she tried to stand and fell back down on the paralysed side. If anybody has a solution I would welcome them

Bitten & Hisses

As much clean straw as possible and plenty of time. Unless she's terminal, she will eventually stand. Be sure she's not hungry or thirsty too.
Might sound blasé but it's what has happened in my experience

freedominacup

Time as much of it as you can spare. Keep her turned and lift if you can. Out to a field if possible and get a horse blanket on her to keep heat in.I googled this a few years ago and the only solution that worked was keeping the animal moving. A vet college in US induced paralysis in a number of cows and the ones who recovered were the ones which were worked on.

beau7543

Thanks for that info. We had hoped to avoid too much pulling and hauling as we both have bad backs but it looks like the old fashioned way is the only way that we might succeed

Genghis Cant

Is it safe to assume that she is freshly calved and not down weeks?

Base price

Get her either into a dry field or into a well bedded shed where she can get purchase on her hind legs. Cover her with a rug/blanket thatched with straw/hay/rushes. Ensure that she is nipping at hay/silage - offer her nuts/meal and always leave a bucket or two of water at her head.
Three/four times a day roll her over so that the leg she is lying on does not get numb/paralysed.
Years ago we had a 2nd calver that went down after a seriously difficult calving. We had to get our call our Vet.
32 days later and lots of work, she eventually got to her feet. The difficult calving had damaged her urinary tract?? (peeing ability) and she dribbled pee which caused welts below her vulva and inner quarters. Every day I had to clean the wounds and rub Sudocreme into her. It was like a bad case of nappy rash.
Eventually got her into weight and slaughtered.

The Sidewards Man

How hard did you use the calving jack?

Base price

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

How hard did you use the calving jack?

Vet calved her with one of those jacks with the pulley, not the racket jacks that we have now days.

whelan2

When you get her sitting up put a small bale of straw wedged in against her shoulder to keep her up. We put a halter on them to pull her head around . Also as said before good deep bedding and maybe if the weather improved get her out to a field were she would have grip for getting up, good luck with it

djmc

whelan2 wrote: »

When you get her sitting up put a small bale of straw wedged in against her shoulder to keep her up. We put a halter on them to pull her head around . Also as said before good deep bedding and maybe if the weather improved get her out to a field were she would have grip for getting up, good luck with it

Yes deep bedding with old silage or similar
If out on field a bad night of sleet or cold rain could finish her off as she can't find her own shelter.
You can get cow lifter that attached to loader will get her standing and leave her attached standing for 15 to 20min a few times a day.
Local co op store should have them.

Fuxake

Get her off concrete at all costs as quick as possible.

Even with lots of bedding they tend to dig down to the concrete with their hooves. Ideal is shed or haybarn with dry mud or gravel floor bedded well. They wont tend to slip on this and its a more comfortable lie for recovery.

Hip lifters need to be used sparingly. Ok to lift once a day for a few days. Anymore and they get severe on the cows hips and generally do more harm than good. Be very careful to tighten sufficiently. Nothing worse than a cow slipping out of lifter and hitting the ground.

After a few days in haybarn, outside on a dry bit of ground with a good cover of grass is desirable unless weather is really bad.

Seen a cow get up after almost 3 weeks outside. Was going down one morning with phone in one hand to call knackery and bucket of water in the other and hey presto she was up! But you need some signs of hope eg she was dragging herself around for days before rising.

All depends on other factors too. Age, actual calving experience, condition, suckler or dairy etc.

Milked out

Get a set of shackles to keep her back legs together and prevent her from doing the splits. Prop her up with straw each time you turn her. If a young cow hopefully she'll come out of it but old cows time will tell. Preventing injury to the back is the big thing hence why I suggest the shackles. They've saved a couple of cows here

invicta

+1 on the shackles,put em on before even attempting to lift her.

TITANIUM.

Unfortunately have had plenty experience with this situation.
The cow is really better off out in the field. If you have a dry sheltered spot it would be ideal. She'll start trying to move to fresh grass out there rather than being pegged in the one spot in a confined pen. She will also stand allot quicker with better grip underneath her.

If you can get the straps or harnesses to lift her out leave them on her. The full body ones now not that lad that just lifts the rear end.

You can always roll her onto a strong gate and pull her to the field.

She could stand within a few hours of being put out. I've seen them stand straight away in the field after being down for days in the shed.

If you can get those straps I was on about you can lift her a few times a day with the front loader allowing blood to flow back into the rear legs. And you can allow her to slowly take the weight herself.
The straps do tend to cut into them after a while but it's better then the knackery.

No amount of bedding will be as effective as the ground under her. They just tear it away when trying to stand and she'll lose confidence (as strange as it sounds) and give up trying. Then you'll have to take her out of the shed anyway.

You can help her inside if you have someone strong on the tail but by the sounds of it that's out so get her out to the field and watch her get up.

RD10

As above. But just remember if shes going to be put out in the field you'll need to leave her with loads of silage to keep her energy up. Even if she was able to drag herself around a bit for grass it wouldnt be enough for her this time of year. Keep her watered and plenty of nuts for enrrgy. And turn her to keep blood flow in legs. Cows do nothing but eat so main thing is to keep her fed well.
I had a cow like yours that got up after 3 weeks. Miracles do happen. Good luck!

RD10

Also i remember few years back a vet giving me some sort of sachets to mix in with nuts for a down cow. It was powder they used for racehorses or something to build up their strength. Could give it a try!