I know it sounds strange but: My cow is Depressed!

[NATIVO]

Took her temp and it's normal...

Some things that could be affecting her.. We took her off alpha hay and put her on timothy and orchard hay about 5 days ago.. Also we are feeding her a lower protien grain because they are out of our mix. she has been on this grain before and it never effected her.

Does that funny noise she's making sound familiar to anyone?
She makes like a grunting sound, kind of like a pig. I've never heard her do that before...

I am going to get the magnet just in case.... If it does happen to be hardware. Will her milk production come back?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

She's eating the hay so I would rule that out. The change in grain, she may not like it as well as the other and not eat it as well. Sometimes it takes a couple days for them to accept a different grain. The lower protein and difference in hay could lower her production but, would not account for her arching up or grunting. The grunting maybe due to pain.

If it is hardware she should regain milk production closer to where she was--maybe all the way just depending on how bad it is.

Is she eating the normal amount of hay? Or is she just picking at it? Something else, that it could be is Displaced Abdomin (DA) or in english Twisted Stomach. Sometimes, with DA you can see a bump in one side. But, I would treat for hardware first.

 

[wynedot55]

i was thinking a DA as well.if its a DA the vet will have to do surgey.

 

[NATIVO]

Had to call the vet.. He says he does not think its hardware.. It's most likely respitory... She's getting some antibiotics and we'll see how she's doing in the morning

 

[Thewife]

Thank you for the update.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Was her breathing off? Did she have mucus discharge from her nose? Those are the usual 2 signs to look for in a respitory issue.

What did the vet give for an antibiotic? I hope they choose one that has no milk withdrawal-there are some.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I've also never seen one arch up with a respitory issue.

Sorry, it just sounds off to me.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

How is she doing this morning?

 

[NATIVO]

JoJo is getting better slowly.. She is still acting sluggish and still making the grunt sound but not as much.... I got almost 2 gallons of milk this morning, so it looks like her milk is coming back... She does seem to be doing better...

The vet has many years experience with cattle so I hope he knows what he is talking about... I am still worried about the harware disease potential but he said no it's not... Her manure does look a little thicker than normal...

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Even experienced vets can miss a diagonsis or misdiagonos. If you are still concerned about hardware it won't hurt to put a cattle magnet in her. They are rather inexpensive and if she doesn't have hardware then it won't hurt anything and will be there for the future as they don't pass them.

I'm glad she is getting better. Hopefully, with a few more days she is back to her old self.