Cow down

High bike

Have a cow calved a month and she's nearly lost the use of her back legs.Was perfect up to Sunday now finding it very hard to stand and walking very badly.Got the vet out he thought a touch of grass tetany or got a puck from another cow.Shes on anti inflammatory injections since Sunday and no real improvement,eating and drinking and the calf is sucking her away.How long should I persavere??

Anto_Meath

High bike wrote: »

Have a cow calved a month and she's nearly lost the use of her back legs.Was perfect up to Sunday now finding it very hard to stand and walking very badly.Got the vet out he thought a touch of grass tetany or got a puck from another cow.Shes on anti inflammatory injections since Sunday and no real improvement,eating and drinking and the calf is sucking her away.How long should I persavere??

Give her some Guinness a bottle or two. Maybe a raw egg or two mixed in and maybe some ivy as well. They should help build her up. The older people also reconned 9 days or so should see an improvement.

High bike

She's eating hay and getting meal ,not hungry or anything like that I'd say she got a puck or something was just wondering if anyone had come across this and the cow came right

Anto_Meath

High bike wrote: »

She's eating hay and getting meal ,not hungry or anything like that I'd say she got a puck or something was just wondering if anyone had come across this and the cow came right

Once she is eating and not in pain, she has every chance, are you able to lift her any bit, it helps get power back in her legs if she is lifted up. Have seen them go both ways. But u would need to be lifting her daiy for an hour or so.

Say my name

High bike wrote: »

Have a cow calved a month and she's nearly lost the use of her back legs.Was perfect up to Sunday now finding it very hard to stand and walking very badly.Got the vet out he thought a touch of grass tetany or got a puck from another cow.Shes on anti inflammatory injections since Sunday and no real improvement,eating and drinking and the calf is sucking her away.How long should I persavere??

Hard to know how long to persevere without actually seeing her.
It sounds like a hurt to the back from another cow jumping on her badly.

No real help to you on how long you should keep at her.
Don't go lifting her anyway. That'd be the worst thing you could do. Let it settle and see.
She'll get up herself when/if that sprain/breakage in the back mends a bit.

All depends how much time you have and are able to commit if you want to call it quits now.

High bike

Say my name wrote: »

Hard to know how long to persevere without actually seeing her.
It sounds like a hurt to the back from another cow jumping on her badly.

No real help to you on how long you should keep at her.
Don't go lifting her anyway. That'd be the worst thing you could do. Let it settle and see.
She'll get up herself when/if that sprain/breakage in the back mends a bit.

All depends how much time you have and are able to commit if you want to call it quits now.

shes able to get up herself buts it's a struggle she's walking a little too but then she looses power in the back legs and goes down again or sometimes she rights herself and stays standing

Say my name

High bike wrote: »

shes able to get up herself buts it's a struggle she's walking a little too but then she looses power in the back legs and goes down again or sometimes she rights herself and stays standing

Ah well then I'd chance her for another while.

Just keep her fed and watered.
I presume she's out on grass?

Albert Johnson

High bike wrote: »

shes able to get up herself buts it's a struggle she's walking a little too but then she looses power in the back legs and goes down again or sometimes she rights herself and stays standing

The first thing that came to my mind was a hurt especially if she had been initially ok after calving. If she's able to get up and move about unaided even if only just then I think she deserves a chance. Once the like are eating, mobile and not showing to be in serious pain there's hope imo. A sheltered garden or similar with just her and the calf would be my preference but it's not always possible, I'd definitely isolate her to prevent further injury from others. Avoid messing with her at all costs and see what happens would be my advice unless she deteriorates further, it's sickening looking at them after awhile but recovery does happen.

patsy_mccabe

I posted about a weanling I had last year that was flat out in the middle of the field for 3 days before he got up. So they can surprise you.
Keep her dry and warm and roll her over if she's down and lying on the one side too much. Does sound like a hurt. Dairy nuts should take care of any teteny worries.

handlemaster

we had the same issue a few years back, when on for I think two weeks approx, she was shot in the end

whelan2

Is she inside or out?

wrangler

handlemaster wrote: »

we had the same issue a few years back, when on for I think two weeks approx, she was shot in the end

Reminds me of old program, ''school around the corner'' young fellow telling about a donkey that fell into a hole and had to be shot, interviewer asked where did you shoot him, young fellow answered ''we shot him in the hole''

_Brian

Keep her comfortable and don’t have her suffering much. A hurt that is going to heal should show signs of improvement after a few days of anti inflammatory injections.

Sometimes a final shot from the vet is best all round.

Donald Trump

Say my name wrote: »

Hard to know how long to persevere without actually seeing her.
It sounds like a hurt to the back from another cow jumping on her badly.

No real help to you on how long you should keep at her.
Don't go lifting her anyway. That'd be the worst thing you could do. Let it settle and see.
She'll get up herself when/if that sprain/breakage in the back mends a bit.

All depends how much time you have and are able to commit if you want to call it quits now.

In this case maybe not as she's able to get up herself.


Have seen cows go down through slipping or falling and if you don't get them lifted quickly, they might never get up!

Mortelaro

Yeah,we use a lifter here in cases like that
It's very important to get them standing
Helps the legs recover and strengthen and freshens the lungs too
It sounds hopeful that she's up
Molly coddling should pay off,fingers crossed

Parishlad

High bike wrote: »

shes able to get up herself buts it's a struggle she's walking a little too but then she looses power in the back legs and goes down again or sometimes she rights herself and stays standing

I had a first calver like that last year. Had a fair pull to get the calf out and she seemed to lose the power in her back legs. Almost fell over on the calf (and me). I didn't think too much of it right then and she wasn't too bad for the first week or so. However, she got a lot worse and like yours, she really struggled to get up and walk. I had the vet out to her and he thought it was a fracture somewhere but couldn't definitively say what was wrong - his advice was that she should be put down. I persevered for a couple of days and managed to get her out to a level paddock. Every day after that she was getting stronger and to cut a long story short she is still with me and is due to calve again in a couple of weeks.
I think myself it was some kind of nerve damage from the hard calving that just somehow righted itself in time. I am nervous enough about how she will be after calving this time but hoping that she will be ok as she is a fine cow.

Say my name

Donald Trump wrote: »

In this case maybe not as she's able to get up herself.


Have seen cows go down through slipping or falling and if you don't get them lifted quickly, they might never get up!

Slipping or falling is a different thing especially on concrete.
I have the hip lifter here on standby for any such incident.
It's usually a background nutrition or mineral thing anyways if they do get a knock and can't get up. Even in such a situation I wouldn't always go for the lifter either. Sometimes a bed of straw thrown in front of the cow for grip and leave her be.
All depends on the situation.

But a cow calved a month and walking perfect and then all of a sudden the power goes from her back legs would indicate she was bulling or another cow was bulling and a cow jumped on her back the wrong way. When she's able to stand herself is a great sign. There'd be no need for a lifter there. As I posted it'd even most likely cause damage to the healing part of the back.

The lifter should really only be used as you say for slips on concrete to get them up and not skinning the legs off themselves trying to get up and out to the field or then a hurt to the pelvis after calving.
But really there's other problems that should be addressed if they have to used, bad quality feeding, lack of minerals, poor bull selection, etc.

They are the last resort and shouldn't be seen by the farmer as a 'normal' tool in cow farming.

High bike

Thanks for all the replys , just to clarify a few things.She was calved a month with a handy heifers calf so no hard calving.She's outside since she calved so didn't fall on concrete but there was a cow billing in the field the day before so maybe that's what happened her.Anyway she's still out but o her own and getting up now and again so the calf is sucking and she's eating and drinking but don't see any great improvement after 4 days injections.Have a herd test tomorrow so will get the vet to have another look.

greysides

Anyway she's still out but o her own and getting up now and again so the calf is sucking and she's eating and drinking but don't see any great improvement after 4 days injections.

Seems to me there's no need to do anything except be patient. I've never known anti-inflammatories to make a discernible difference in such cases.

Putting her back in-calf is not something I'd recommend though, if it becomes a possibility. Unknown problems chance of recurrence or after-effects are going to be... unknown.