# Eye crust? update WARTS



## laughingllama75 (Feb 3, 2009)

My highland cow has a greyish/white lumpy crust around her top eye lid. Just noticed it today, the vet is coming out tomorrow but I didnt know if you had any ideas? I want to say they look like warts, tons of them almost piled on each other. but I have seen a rea bad case of ringworm in cattle before, and I fear it is that. The cows have not been anywhere, they are in a new barn (well, to cattle and the barn is only a year old). They can go in and out as they please, they eat haylage and get wormed with ivomec on a regular basis. Any ideas? It was too late in the day to take a good pic, I will tomorrow morning and post it. thanks. Oh.....the other 5 all seem fine, I looked but didnt see anything strange on them. Also, highland gets out several times a day......she goes over to my birdfeeders and eatd black oil seed. Haha. isnt she cute.  do you think she got something from a bird?


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 3, 2009)

Here is a pic of ringworm around the eye I had found. Does it look similar to this?


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 3, 2009)

shoot.....nope. picture the eyelid, as in the actual skin right around the eye with no hair on it. then picture little warty bumps, grey-ish. Like lumpy eyeliner. Hmmmmm.....I will post a pic in the morning. I have looked on line, and I am not seeing anything really that looks like it. My vet said (without seeing it) maybe it was blocked tear ducts...but he was taking a stab in the dark, so to speak.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 3, 2009)

I don't know other than warts? Or could she have scraped the eyelid on something and it's crusty from injury?


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 4, 2009)

Ok, the vet coldn't make it out, but I emailed him these pics. he said to keep an "eye on it" pun intended. Hahaha. What a sense of humer he has. LOL. A great guy and a good friend.......everyone should have a vet like that. 
So, he said could be ringworm, could be she got it scraped on something and it is healing weird. he is leaning towrd ringworm. Oh goodie.....Ok, so what do you experts think?
good eye, as to how it should look.




bad eye


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 4, 2009)

Sorry for the hay all over her face, it's hard to take a pic so close, one handed and get her to cooperate. I had to dangle horse hay above the gate, so she would stand still.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 4, 2009)

The hay is no big deal. I'm not sure what it is. If it's ringworm it will get worse but, if you want to try treating for it go to the store and buy an antifugical meds. Get one in a dispenser that you will be able to control well, with it being so close to her eye.


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## Imissmygirls (Feb 5, 2009)

I'm guessing it's warts. She may have more but how would you know under all that hair!?!? Eyelid may be the only visible place you can see them.
If it's warts, I don't know what you can do about them. Are they annoying her?  
For the show cows, we just used to snip them off, but no way would I touch them where they are located near the eye.


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## wynedot55 (Feb 5, 2009)

man i must be slipping but i see what might look like a wart or 2 around the eye.but what really bothers me is she looks to have a blue spot in her eye.an to me that is pinkeye.an needs tobe treated.


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 5, 2009)

I think the blue spot in her eye is from the flash, I will check again tomorrow but she had her head pointing up, sort of at a weird angle. The wart/bump things have not changed, I thought there was a little dischard last night (goop around eye) but this morning and tonight there was nothing. I am keeping an eye on it, I cant wait for the vet to get here. And I am not one for calling the vet for every little thing, but this is just bizzare. 
Oh. the blue spot is visable in both eyes (see above). wouldthat still be pinkeye? and how do you treat it? thanks,


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 5, 2009)

I think it's just from the flash, too. It just doesn't look right for pink eye but, check close tomorrow to be sure.


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## wynedot55 (Feb 5, 2009)

talk to your vet or feed store.an see what they have to treat pinkeye.now i could be wrong.but it looks like pink eye.can she see out of both eyes.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 5, 2009)

wynedot, I've had that happen when taking pics too so it is possible it's from the flash but, she does need to check it out in the morning to be sure.


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## Thewife (Feb 5, 2009)

Imissmygirls said:
			
		

> I'm guessing it's warts. She may have more but how would you know under all that hair!?!? Eyelid may be the only visible place you can see them.
> If it's warts, I don't know what you can do about them. Are they annoying her?
> For the show cows, we just used to snip them off, but no way would I touch them where they are located near the eye.


Isn't there some kind of wart vaccine or shot you can give them?


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 5, 2009)

I do believe so but, that would be a preventative.

There are things out there for warts on cattle but, I've not heard anything really good on them and being so close to the eye I'm not sure it's worth it.


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## Thewife (Feb 5, 2009)

Trying to go by a none working memory here, so don't take this as the whole truth!

I remember a young bull we bought a few years back that had warts.
They guy had already given it the first in a series of shots that was supposed to just make them fall off? I don't remember "us" giving any more shots, but I also don't remember him having warts, later in life!


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## wynedot55 (Feb 5, 2009)

yes there used tobe a shot that would get rids of the warts.i used it on a show heifer 30yrs ago or longer.


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 5, 2009)

Yep, gonna keep an eye on it. She is not rubbing it or fussing in any sort of way.......she can definatly see out of both eyes, I did the finger test yesterday when I took pics.
As faras warts go, I know with horses its kind of a growth thing.....young horses get them and then they go away after a while. Not sure with cattle. I sure do appreciate all the ideas, and I will be asking my feed man if it sounds familiar to him (he was a dairy major and so are 3  of his kids). Maybe he will have an idea. I will keep you guys updated.
On a side note, I find myself torn between checking in here first or backyard chickens.....I generally rotate. LOL. What a great resource to have, this group is the best.


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## amysflock (Feb 8, 2009)

Alicia,

I'm thinking warts, too. Our 1st calf heifer had them around her nose (light tan), and then a really weird gray one on her cheek. Everything I read indicated warts are a calf thing that they outgrow, but I have since learned they can get warts at any time and they do go away on their own. Icky, but no big deal. If there's any sign of infection (pus, bleeding, inflamation, etc.), then you might want to have the vet out.

As for the blue spot, I think that's a Highland thing. All of mine look that way due to the camera flash when I attempt to take close-ups. 

She looks like a brindle! Very pretty!


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## jhm47 (Feb 9, 2009)

We've occasionally had warts in our cattle.  What we do is to take a plier and squash them.  They bleed a little, and soon fall off.  You don't even have to squash every one of them.  Our vet said that just by squashing a few of them, it will activate an immune response, and the body will reject all of the warts.  They heal up fast, and haven't left scars.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 9, 2009)

That's a good one to know! Simple and easy to do too.


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 13, 2009)

Ok, vet was here. They are warts (or seem to be). And funny thing is, they are bigger and more defined now. he is not sure why a 5 year old cow got them all of a sudden, unless it was the stress of calving (in november) and nusing that brought them out. He said to just keep an eye on them.


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 13, 2009)

I'm glad you now know! It is strange that she would get that type of wart at this age but, not impossible.


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## laughingllama75 (Feb 13, 2009)

Yeah, it is strange. My vet was perplexed, but then he said he has come to learn that at my house, I get all the "special, and non textbook" cases. LOL. I told him that what keeps him in business.


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## m.holloway (Feb 13, 2009)

i'm glad that you found out what you have. me being new at this i'm having the same problem i see small bumps on my cows and think of warts, the only thing i never had to deal with it and think the worst. we have another 4h steer class on sat and i'm going to have a coulpe of old times look at these bumps. the last class we went to they said it didn't look like a wart. they thought is was ant bites???


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## Imissmygirls (Feb 13, 2009)

Ant bites/fly bites.... I've even see hives on a cow. Little bumps all over them


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## m.holloway (Feb 15, 2009)

got back from cttle camp. no warts, they said ants bites or maybe tick bite. i haven't seen one yet on my cows. i use a product name bronco, and as soon as i see some flys on my cows i rub them down with this stuff. even around the face i use it. of course i hope this stuff isn't bad for me. if not i guess i'll have no flies on me since i just use my hands to put it on. it is a spray, but i spray my hand and then i rub it on the cows. it gives me a chance to bond with them, and i'm not out to hurt them. oh they also had there hoofs trimmed yesterday. hope you don't have do something to that. can they get infection from that?????


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## Farmer Kitty (Feb 15, 2009)

I'm glad it wasn't warts. 

Hoof trimming isn't harmful if done properly. It even helps the animal as it corrects the way they are walking and keeps their joints and body in line. We do very little hoof trimming but, that is due to years of breeding to get the correct leg set so they naturally wear them off.


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## Imissmygirls (Feb 16, 2009)

Bites are so much better than warts!

Hoof trimming may cause them to limp a day or two if corrective trims were done on older heifers/cows.
With our small bunch we started trimming VERY young-- sometimes the first month. That way the 4H kids could do it themselves on the small calves with soft hoofs and the growing feet would be corrected like putting corrective shoes ona child.  It was wonderful for getting heifers " up on their toes" and I swear it helped the entire life of the cow. The problem was taking the time to do it!


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