Any ideas anyone?

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:54 pm

I posted a little while ago about a heifer we have that was coughing. She is now quite poorley and we could do with some ideas. I called the vet when I thought she had bad feet (she kept offering me one but I couldn't see anything wrong). Our vet had a really good look but they were fine and we both thought she must be stiff due to skidding down a hill. He gave her Metacam and I fenced off the hill. A week later she got lamer and lamer and kept offering me this foot - she had broken out with digital dermetitis and was scouring. Another vet came out and pumped antibiotics and metacam into her. I have kept her dosed with metacam and she had more antibiotics yesterday with yet another vet visit. The vet and I are a bit concerned that this is not straight forward and there could be an underlying cause. Has anyone else encountered anything like this before? I should say that although she is off her hard feed she is eating hay, chewing the cud and her temperature, heart rate etc are normal. She is still coughing but no worse than before which the vet thinks is a throughback to being a snotty nosed heifer when younger. The next step is to send off a dung sample for analasysis but I thought I would just see if anyone had come across anything like this before ? ???

ABowden · Post by **ABowden** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:18 pm

Hi Issy,

Sounds to me like a typical case of digital. This is very common in our Holstein Friesian. One of the best thing and cheapest thing we use is ‘Duphacycline 100’ (a purple coloured spray). And in bad cases some ‘Pen Strep’ or ‘Excenel’. If posible i would bring her in on clean straw away from any form of bugs and slurry.

I found a website which explains it more: http://www.animed.co.uk/fa_dept/news2002.htm

hope this is of help to you.
cheers

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:00 pm

Thanks ABowden I fenced her in the yard (kept clean) with access to the field shelter as soon as I saw what it was. I have also kept her well sprayed with Alamycin spray since then. Is it normal for them to scour? the vet seems a bit bemused by this? She is a bit of a drama queen and would have me wiping her brow and holding her hoof all day given half a chance. Will ask the vet about the other treatments. How soon do they normaly recover?

Penny · Post by **Penny** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:22 pm

Issy,

is it the coughing, scouring or lameness that you are most concerned about, or do you feel they are all connected? In November, I had a 10 month old heifer ( who did have a slight cough) start scouring badly. I immediately put her in isolation, she was wormed (again) and the vet started various tests including BVD etc. We also did blood tests for mineral deficiencies etc. She had never really thrived liked her playmates, and became thinner & thinner. I offered her various hard feeds in the attempt to put some condition on her, but she soon started refusing these. She would eat hay and haylage, but continued scouring. The vet gave up with any diagnosis and sadly I have had her put down because I did not want to prolong the obvious deterioration and weight loss. Also I was concerned about potential health implications on the rest of the herd and really did not feel it was fair to keep her in isolation any longer. I do hope this is not the same with your girl. I think the lameness is unrelated.
How badly is she scouring?

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:35 pm

Scouring and lameness make me think of the Mucosal Disease phase of BVD, and if she is a BVD PI (persistently infected) she could well have suffered various other infections such as recurrent pneumonia. I would ask you vet to test for both antibodies and antigens of BVD if this has not already been done.

Duncan

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:37 am

Thanks for the replies Duncan and Penny I am having a review with our vet on friday (when the latest lot of antibiotics should have started to work) and will discuss all things brought up then. All the symptoms are worrying and the thought of BVD is terrifying so does need checking. In herself she hasn't really lost condition is 31 months old and hopefully pregnant is still bright eyed just in lots of pain as she has the dermatitis in all four feet up to her hocks(I gave her some more metacam this morning). Hopefully this can be sorted it would be a shame to loose her.

ABowden · Post by **ABowden** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:46 pm

Hi issy,

Sounds a bit worse than I thought. Generally in the Friesians you get digital in 1 or both of the back feet but we have never had it in all four feet. If it is spreading up to the hock it could be infected and may need draining. Also check the rest of your herd for any signs of digital as it could be in the groung of your feeding area where they probably spend the most time.

The coughing and scouring could be completely different thing. The coughing could be lungworm or another type. Have you wormed your cattle in the last 6 months? If not then I would recommend worming the whole herd as prevention of any spread.

Hope this is of help to you.

Alec

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:03 pm

Alec,
They were all wormed in November and there is no sign of it in the other two (I only have three).

forestblaze · Post by **forestblaze** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:47 pm

Issy, is your land very wet and muddy ? has anyone mentioned mud fever or foul in the foot both of which can spread upwards from the foot ,ask your vet when he next calls ,or perhaps Duncan can tell us if this is a possibility I would suggest that you try SILICEA 200c which can be bought from health food shops that stock Homoeopathical remedies it will do no harm and it may well do a lot of good ,if you would like to phone me on 0791 3414030 with your address I can put some in the post within 5 mins of your call along with dosage instructions. hope this helps Sue

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:47 pm

Thanks Sue,
I will speak to the vet tomorrow. The area going on to the yard is poached but the rest of the field is ok. I fenced off the field as soon as she became ill. I made a mistake in my previous post I meant fetlocks not hocks. She has stopped scouring for now so fingers crossed something is working at last.

forestblaze · Post by **forestblaze** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:24 pm

Good luck I am sure she will feel better now the scouring has stopped I shall check this site daily for a progress report Sue

happy hollidays · Post by **happy hollidays** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:38 pm

Issy, sorry to hear your news. Hope the vet clarifies the situation for you tomorrow.

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:30 am

Sample is going off today to test for all the nasties. She started scouring again today.

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:22 am

Unfortunately it was the Mucosal Disease phase of BVD. Thanks for all the responses.

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 12:44 pm

So sorry to hear that Issy.

I guess she's got to go then. I hope the others are alright.