Down Cow. Failed So Far. What Now?

So, I called three vets. The only one willing to come out, can't come till Friday. Thanks for that advice. The ranches around here are pretty self sufficient, I guess. We can't get a hold of ketone strips, Cal Mag and Phosphorous supplement. The cow is not doing well but we have been tending her constantly.
We had a friend who grew up on a commercial dairy come over and give a dextrose IV and that seemed to help. He noticed that she had bad breath, so he suspects ketosis, but as I mentioned, I can't get any strips. We also administered Calcium Gluconate IV today. Both of those things made her perk up and she ate hay and feed and drank. We also have been giving her propylene glycol drench. She really is not getting better.
One of the vets I spoke to, spent quite a while on the phone asking questions about her and told me that we were on the right track. The only things he might add are pain killer and steroids. He had to go before he could give me more info on the steroids. Unfortunately he no longer treats cattle, so even though he is right around the corner, he wasn't willing to see her.
I really appreciate all the advice though. We will see how things look tomorrow. I will update you guys tomorrow.

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Year 2 of Homesteading. 9 Longhorn/Corrientes, 7 hens, 30 chicks, 3 meat rabbits, 2 horses, 1 mini, 1 English Shepherd and 2 barn cats.

Be careful with the IV calcium, when given to a cow that is not suffering from milk fever it can stop their heart.

A trick that can get the rumen bacteria active again is to drench a cow with instant Cream of Wheat shaken up in a bottle of water. The fine particles are broken down quickly in the rumen and can boost the beneficial bacteria population. (this internet vet advice comes from 16 years of dairy practice)

Realistically, once a cow has been down for 3 days, at the end of a hard winter, it's not likely she'll have the capacity to recover.

This is a $300 animal. Cancel the vet and put her down. The cow has been down too long already.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

+1


End the animals suffering.

Going against some posters giveing up on this cow. Do you have a rough idea how old this cow is? Like I said before ketosis has a very weird smell to it. A sweet bad smell. A few things could lead the cow to be this way. One could be worms if there was no history of worming in the herd. Yes a infestation of them can get that bad. Malnourished not due to the lack of feed but feed of poor quality.
I would give the cow another IV of glucose. Maybe even 2 days of it. If your freind is willing to do it and the cow responds afterwards by eating and drinking. Do not give any more calcium by IV.
Bob

The vet is not scheduled, so no canceling him. We're not giving up, because she doesn't seem to be suffering. If she was, we'd shoot her immediately.

She is much perkier today, still sitting up. Her blood pressure is better, she's been eating and drinking. We did another drench, will give another B-12 injection and another glucose IV shortly. We do not plan to give more calcium IV.

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Year 2 of Homesteading. 9 Longhorn/Corrientes, 7 hens, 30 chicks, 3 meat rabbits, 2 horses, 1 mini, 1 English Shepherd and 2 barn cats.

How is she doing now? Have you been lifting her up at all?

If you do not get her up the chances of her getting up on her on are close to zilch.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Say Agmantoo.....

Ya reckon you could lighten up and put the Sword of Damocles back in it's scabbard and quit hangin' it over the head of Organic Cowgirl?

Pretty please.....

IMHO... She's doing all she can to save the life of her cow.... And I don't believe for purely selfish or economic reasons either... Give the girl a break..... Even if she does all that she can and still looses the cow... She'll come away with a whole lot more experience than target practice to show for her efforts.....

Ne vous fâchez pas, s'il vous plait... Just my $.02

I'm cheering for you OG! It's what you do when you're attached to a farm animal - I have been told many times, it's happening in the barn - not the house. Doesn't matter. Keep helping your cow and do what you can.

Around here, we have 'cow practitioners' and they aren't vets - but they're darn close. They are considerably cheaper and have alot of experience and have helped with everything from sheep to cattle. Can you find a fella like that? Someone that maybe works at a vets office?? Had one out just Saturday and he brought his daughter with him - she works at the vets office and was a big help......

Good luck and keep us posted........

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Be a fountain, not a drain!

^()^
http://tubbsfarmstead.com/

Cotton Picker
In plain but condensed English I am telling her that she needs to get the animal up if she expects to have a chance at saving it. I never condemned her for her efforts though I do think she is wasting her time. I have been through this before.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Call your local pharmacy and see if they have ketosis test strips. Diabetics often use them.
I wouldn't give up yet either. I have experience with down cows too and mine got up on day 7 , so it can and does happen.

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Trisha in WA
Visit my blog @
Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

How is you cow..Hope she is better.

Thanks to everyone for all the help. We put her down yesterday afternoon, after we saw a swift decline. She went from apparently comfortable, breathing well, alert and "bright", to dull looking, glassy eyed, wheezing and breathing shallowly, and seeming distinctly uncomfortable. She couldn't any longer help us move her around, hoist her, etc. As I said, we had no intention of letting her suffer, so that was the deciding point for us. I'm very sorry we weren't able to save her.

Despite the outcome, we have learned quite a lot through this.

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Year 2 of Homesteading. 9 Longhorn/Corrientes, 7 hens, 30 chicks, 3 meat rabbits, 2 horses, 1 mini, 1 English Shepherd and 2 barn cats.

Oh! I am so sorry!

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Trisha in WA
Visit my blog @
Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

Hi Organic Cowgirl...

Sorry that you had to put her down..... I'm glad that you were able to learn from this experience... Hopefully your new-found knowledge will help you prevent this from happening again in your herd....

I was glad to have been any help that I was...

David

So sorry