cow down but perky and ears warm
 

My jersey approx 5-6 years old.
Body condition skinny...2ish maybe 3
Wormed with ivomec pour on 1 month ago prev worming with safeguard pellets
Feed grass hay, corn oats and barley with peas and a sweet feed mix
Minerals ran out almost a month ago (after some extended thought... didn't think it bad been that long at all so my really bad).
Temp normothermic
Attitude today perky bright and alert
Peeing normal
Manure normal
Appetite great
Drinking yes
Milk production 2 gallons almost for the house in the mkrning and a bull calf on her during the day
Freshened August 7 without complications

Changed to a bulk grain last Monday (highly reputable locally owned) that is partly ground. Mixed old grain mix (legumes in both for the calcium) in with new for 3-4 days until I ran out at which point she refused the new feed but would eat grass and hay with usual gusto. So bought some more of the original and mixed back in what was offered. She would pick through and eat old style but leave new. Saturday she was her normal other than the grain pickyness. Sunday found down with a.m. chores. Figured selenium deficient county and out of minerals gave selenium dosed per instructions. Also figures with grain refusal and recent springlike grass growth poss mill fever/grass tetany had cmpk gel on hand and dosed 1 tube. Within next 4-5 hours got up. Made me run to catch her (with bronchitis no fun). Rechecked on her 2-3 hours later laying down again but did get up with some difficulty and followed grain bucket to barn. Been down since but perky and eating/drinking like a champ (grain included all pickyness is now history). Consulted vet and agreed milk fever likely culprit. Gave 1 bottle cmpk iv last night and dosed with LA 200 as infrequent cough was noted still normothermic still great appetite.

Have vet coming out tomorrow. Thoughts? The perky and acting like she's enjoying being in the barn and catered to is throwing me a bit. But I've seen her try to stand and its not happening.

Oh and I've been checking on her every 3 hours to make sure she's repositioned to prevent pressure sores and to massage her legs.

Do you have ketone test strips? Sounds like she has put herself on a crash diet and needs carbs. I would try giving her molasses water. I use a couple of cups in a 5 gallon bucket of water.

If you have test strips, you can stimulate her to urinate and check for ketones.

I don't have :( molasses water won't hurt anyway would it?

Let her be a cow instead of a science experiment , You don't have to work so hard to assess her needs she'll decide what and when to eat . Prod her once or twice and if she doesn't move then worry about it . she sounds comfortable .

But she can't get up when she wants to and tries otherwise I wouldn't worry...she gets partway up and falls back down.

Hit her with a cattle prod and see if she gets up ? if not then let us know what the vet said ,Since you already called him .

I'm sorry but I don't see the point of hurting her. When she falls down it's not a graceful lying down, its an all out face plant right over on her nose...doubt she would do that on purpose for more grain. Yes I called the vet because I can't think of anything else. Doesn't mean folks here won't have good info that I might be able to use to help her out while I wait.

I'm Not trying to tell you to hurt her ,More of an adding proper persuasion !

Please let us know what the vet does/says, will you? I imagine the vet will pull blood, test urine, etc. I'm not familiar with dairy cow issues, but I am curious about what the problem is and hopeful that your cow can be treated successfully.

Gotcha grumpy. Don't have a prod and none of the neighbors either. Did swat at her with a switch on Monday to try to be irritating and make her move but doubt that would be even close to the same.

Will let everyone know what the vet does and the outcome. Still hoping she's up before he gets here.

Sometimes some people think using a cattle prod as hurting them when in reality it's a 1,400 lb animal and sometimes they need persuasion at the proper level .not directed at you just have to remember how big they really are . and it takes alot to get that amount of weight off the ground .

next 3.5 hours can't go fast enough...went out an hour ago and worked to get her off her side...head arched back and eyes rolled back legs out straight tiny grunty moos...got her back to head upright still lying down and she shivered for a while but now is chewing her cud, eating, and drinking again. She's my favorite critter even more than my dog.

Sounds similiar to what my goat went through. She was finally diagnosed with ketosis. Lots of production, slowly went off grain, but otherwise seemed normal. She lost weight, got weaker over time, until she didn't want to get up. In her case, she also started vomiting. That's when I called the vet. An injection of dextrose and a drench of prop. glycol (common for goats) and she was on the mend. Now, she's doing just fine.

Vet said calcium. Instructed to dry her off and "reboot" her system for next year he wants to see more flesh on her. He's pretty sure she just needs some help up with hip rings to get circulation back in her legs but attitude wise she looks great. So her prescription is food and exercise.

IMO the cow is suffering from calcium and phosphorus deficiency. I suggest you do a search on google and acquaint yourself with the symptoms and treatment.

Seems as I was typing as you were posting! I am in disagreement with the treatment suggested by the vet. Is this a dog and cat vet?

No he's a cattle vet with good history here in our tiny town (his office is 40 minutes away but he lives just down the road) and has his own herd of 40 cows. The stuff he gave iv was cmpk so had four electrolytes covered and he stood and watched her for almost an hour before he said to get her up and get circulation back to her legs. He also wants her feed changed and I have a list of what he wants her eating.

Was reading the phosphorus deficiency info. Never noticed any pica and other than initially turning up here nose at the new grain, she's never had a loss of appetite. Even with the new grain, she was eager foe the grain bucket to be brought over until after she could tell what was in it.

Did the vet give a diagnosis? Take blood? Did the cow get up? Is she eating and drinking? Feed and mineral suggestions?

I agree she needs to get up and agree with the hip rings if possible to hang her someplace even for a few minutes. I would not put a hot shot to her while down. Hot Shots have their place in some settings but they are not a magic cure all to get a cow up. I have seen some stay down when their chances were good on getting up, after a hot shot. Sometimes they can make situations on a down cow worse.

He said she needed calcium and didn't have enough fat to make it through the winter. He doesn't have Mobil lab equipment and based on the fact that she regained her feet briefly on Sunday after cmpk gel and perked up a bit more Monday night after more just couldn't quite get up but started scooting around the barn. Today she just belched cud and looked annoyed at the prodding to try getting up like we were disturbing her afternoon sunshine. He will be checking back after hubby gets home to run the equipment but had to move on to one of my neighbors also with a downed Jersey.

I would also like to add we trust this vet because we've personally seen cows that he saved when everyone else thought they were a gonner.

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cheating a bit but she maintained it under her own power after 10 minutes of waking the nerves back up. weak enough she went back down after being stubborn and trying to walk down the hill but all total she was up for more than 20 minutes and 10 of it on her own :)

You can wrap some fabric strips, innertube rubber or something around the rings too,
for the next lifting.

Good to see her up though, however briefly.
Poor girl.

Oh thank you thank you GAM that makes me feel better about the next use...we were just discussing on my facebook page how painful those look.

Today she was perkier than yesterday. Called the local feed mill to remember all the ingredients in the new feed since I can't find my invoice...corn, barley, peas, grain screen pellets, molasses, minerals, and salt...14% protein. She's putting down at least 3 no. 10 cans daily continues eating her hay and chewing her cud. Tonight she sat nicely while we rigged her up with the rings and tried helping stand (last night it was pretty much all tractor, hubby, and me strongest to weakest). Tonight I'm gonna say it was tractor, hubby, Mama J, then me (I'm still hacking up a lung with much exertion). She stood a good half an hour then walked 20 feet! Kind of hoping to grab a neighbor to help me in the mornings now and increase her "physical therapy sessions" to twice daily. I know when we get muscular logger types in at the hospital it sure takes a bit to get them moving because of all the muscles that atrophy if they've been down a few days.

Vet does want labs done today. She was back up yesterday down again this morning. Guess he would have loved labs on Wednesday when he was out but said the iv cmpk I had already given would have had them pretty well messed up.

Not enough fat to get through the winter? Dry her off after 10 weeks of under 4 gallons a day production? Partly ground grain that a hungry cow wouldn't eat?Sounds like malnutrition and moldy feed.
Won't hurt that calf to get weaned, sorry the family is out of milk, too. From far away, with few details, I question the feed quality. But I don't know much.

Yeah, all 3 wormers I've used didn't cover liver flukes. We haven't ever had a problem with them so I hadn't thought about what wasn't covered until the vet pointed out he thought that was contributing to the difficulty getting weight on her. She's very docile and after thinking hard about it I think she gets bullied out of the hay. Steers are all fat and sassy and the other cow, while not fat, is sleek and shiny. I wasn't feeding alfalfa but had her on peas instead, corn, oats, barley, and a molasses soaked multipurpose feed pellet (4 3-quart grain scoops full of the cob with peas mix and 4 3-quart grain scoops full of the sweet pellets daily). All of my neighbors have beef cows and I had asked them about her condition and they kept telling me jerseys are notoriously skinny. She was a body score between 3 and 4 when she had her calf and deconditioned since then. She lost weight rapidly after calving last year too until I took the calf off of her and then she gained back. She just wouldn't do it this year.

Just since the BoSe injection and liver fluke treatment her coat is already soft and gaining shine daily. She's in solitary now being fed free choice alfalfa pellets and grass hay with a 3lb coffee can of grain twice daily. I'm shooting for body score of 5 before I have her bred again.

Glad she's back on her feet and gaining shine and health. Very glad that your favorite is going to make it!

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She checked herself out of the barn this morning :D wasn't hard, the sliding door wasn't latched so she just had to push it open with her nose but it's more effort than she's felt like making before :D :D :D :D :D

edited to say that her gait is a little off but she's sporting an abrasion on that off side hip from the first day down. Gave her some penicillin this morning to cover the mastitis better as well.

Lots of folks give up on downers. I have seen many rise from the ashes. Glad she made it.

I've been watching this thread to see how your girl is doing. That is great news!! Glad she is up. You've done good. Take care

Great news :-)

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