I'll never get over....

[ozark_jewels]

my amazement watching a cow recover from milk fever. When we found she and her calf(born during the night), she was flat on her side, barely breathing and comotose. No response when her open eye was touched. After calcium in the vein, calcium under the skin and lactated ringers, she was sitting on her own, flicking flies and bawling for her calf. Two hours after we found her almost dead, she casually got to her feet, drank five gallons of water and moseyed out to pasture with the rest of the cows, her calf trailing behind her. Miraculous is the word that comes to mind. Thank God my brother located her when he did!!

[mary,tx]

That's amazing. I have a friend who lost a cow this last week that went down at calving. I was thinking calcium deficiency. Is this something you took care of yourself, or did you have the vet out?

[ozark_jewels]

We had the vet out for the first case of milk fever, 18 years ago. Since then we have treated the ocaissional case ourselves.
Anytime a cow goes down at calving, I treat it like milk fever even if I'm not sure. Reason is that, even if it wasn't milk fever(unlikely anyway), the stress can push a newly freshened cow into milk fever. So best to head it off before it happens.
Milk fever is not hard to treat in cows. Even if the cow is really bad and you must give the calcium IV, its not that hard if you are clean about it and do it slowly. The milk veins are so big, locating them is not an issue as it can be in goats.
The only cow we ever lost to milk fever was while I was out of state and unreachable by phone. My farm help decided she had just gotten down on the hillside and couldn't get up. So they pulled her around, sat her up and gave her supportives, but no calcium. By the time I made my daily call-in to see if things were peachy, she was on her way out. They administered calcium, etc, but it was too late. Lesson learned the hard way: Always run through the solutions for EVERY possible scenario BEFORE leaving them farm!

[dosthouhavemilk]

It is amazing isn't it? I just wish goats were as easy to save from MF but we just haven't got them down yet thus far.
The cow below-
Treating a Milk Fever case Sub-Q
Was up and slamming dad around when the vet was pulling blood for testing later that afternoon.
We had one cow, Hale Bopp, who was downhill, with stomachs contents coming out her nose. Gave her one bottle of Calcium sub-Q and a few hours later she was up and standing. She would calve every two years and usually required two treatments each time...like she was making up for those years she didn't calve (but was milking).

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by dosthouhavemilk

It is amazing isn't it? I just wish goats were as easy to save from MF but we just haven't got them down yet thus far.

I know! And the symptoms are harder to pin down on goats in my opinion. Not so cut and dried as cows tend to be.
Great pics of your girl with MF. Love that pic from behind, the distinctive "S" curve to the neck=milk fever. I hate that rumen contents coming from the nose thing. Thats the way this girl was. Always makes me feel terribly hurried, really looks like they are dying.

[topside1]

Emily, great to see you back on the board...you are a wealth of knowledge...Topside

[janij]

So you can buy all this at a farm store and do not have to go to the vet? I have a jersey and a jersey/holstein cross. They are both in milk and not ready to be breed back, but I know I need to have these thing here for when they calf again just in case. It would probably kill me if I lost one of them.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by janij

So you can buy all this at a farm store and do not have to go to the vet? I have a jersey and a jersey/holstein cross. They are both in milk and not ready to be breed back, but I know I need to have these thing here for when they calf again just in case. It would probably kill me if I lost one of them.

Well, the stuff does need to be bought at a vet. Its prescription. But I know of no vet who refuses to sell the stuff to cure or prevent milk fever.
You need CMPK injectable(only vets sell the injectable), an IV tube and needle to administer.
Lactated Ringers are highly advised to have on hand at all times also. They keep a cow hydrated or rehydrate a dehydrated cow. A dehydrated animal cannot heal even when being treated, so this is very important. These are also vet prescription, and you will need an IV kit to administer. But they are given under the skin. While dehydration is commonly thought of during the warm/hot months, its very easy for an unwell animal to become dehydrated during the winter as well.
The CMPK injectable can be given under the skin if the case of milk fever is discovered at an ealier date. This is much easier for a new person not familiar with giving meds IV. But if the cow is comotose, best to give it IV. Better chance of saving the cow as it gets into her system much faster(immediately).
These supplies are not expensive and I keep them around at all times. At my vets the CMPK injectable is around $7.00 per bottle(keep several on hand), Lactated Ringers are about $5.00 per bag(less if you buy by the box like I do for the dairy), the IV kits are about $3-$4.00 each. The bottles of calcium and the bags of lactated ringers do take two different types of IV kit. The rubber one for the bottles is more expensive than the disposable for the bags. But I wash both out by running alcohol through them and then re-use. Even the disposable ones.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by topside1

Emily, great to see you back on the board...you are a wealth of knowledge...Topside

Hey Topside! Don't know about that, but I am enjoying being back!

[gone-a-milkin]

When I first started w/ the farmer I milk for, I told him it had been a long time since I had given a MF shot.
Growing up w/ Jerseys I was surprised to learn that Holsteins rarely have this trouble.

It is like a miracle to see the instant recovery when properly treated.
Fresh cow down w/ cold ears = Milk Fever.

[dosthouhavemilk]

We can get away with simply using Calcium Gluconate 23 % here or Cal-Dex (from the vet). The Cal Glu can be purchased at basically any feed store. TSC even carries it.
Depends on your area if those will work or if the CMPK is better.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

Growing up w/ Jerseys I was surprised to learn that Holsteins rarely have this trouble.

You know, the four cows that have had milk fever since we started commercial milking.....two were first generation Jersey/Holstien crosses. The other two were full Holstiens. None of our pure Jerseys in the commercial herd have had milk fever.

Now, my sister did lose her personal Jersey milker over at her place during this past winter. We brought her back out of the milk fever, but she kept coming down with something else(it was a terrible cold two weeks). This is a cow that had NEVER been sick. Sometimes it seems those are the ones that just can't pull out when they do get something.

Growing up with 2-4 Jersey milkers for all but seven of my 29 years, we only ever treated three cases of milk fever. But, we did treat old cows preventatively when they calved.

[gone-a-milkin]

The farm I am on now (for the last 5 years) we had 1 old pureblood Jersey get it, and a few others we treated preemptively (also older high-production Jerseys).
2 more premptive cases were crossbreds.
The only one we have lost in that time was a high production big-boned pure-blooded Holstein. She chose to go off in the woods. Found her too late.

[65284]

My vet says says that's one of the favorite moments in his practice. And, I agree with him nothing like seeing a cow, seemingly at deaths door, roll up on her chest rest a bit then stand up and walk away. I've been fortunate enough to witness it happen several times.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

The only one we have lost in that time was a high production big-boned pure-blooded Holstein. She chose to go off in the woods. Found her too late.

This happened during my dairy farm relief milker days. One of my favorite cows had calved during the previous 24 hours and the farmer said she was fine after milking that morning. I found her dead when I got there for evening milking. So sad because she was still warm.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by 65284

My vet says says that's one of the favorite moments in his practice. And, I agree with him nothing like seeing a cow, seemingly at deaths door, roll up on her chest rest a bit then stand up and walk away. I've been fortunate enough to witness it happen several times.

I was just re-reading James Herriots description of the miracle of curing milk fever......Seems most vets feel that way. I must admit, it is very rewarding.

The cow that was the reason I started this thread was down again 24 hours after her first treatment. We caught it early and she was never flat out. After another two treatments, she is back to her usual self and producing like gangbusters. I have since refilled my milk fever arsenal at my vets. Not something I want to be without!