Jersey cow with black diarrhea down

[DTregembo]

Hi sll!

I have the cow above who has had this wierd colored diarrhea for about a week now. We had the problem last year with the new grass and gave her hay and it straightened her out. But now the diarrhea is this wierd shiny black color (I think it's black anyway) and she has been down for a couple days now. We put her on a high mag supplement which seemed to help her. She was eating and drinking fine. But then went down. We tried the high energy, high calcium and magnesium gel to try to get her going along with sulfur to try to clear up the diarrhea. But now she is still drinking, but not eating. Any ideas on what is going on and how to treat her?

 

[jhm47]

Black diarrhia often indicates internal bleeding. Is it totally black? And if so, you better call a vet. The fact that she's down with black stools would indicate a major problem.

 

[DTregembo]

Well folks - there is no need to reply. My little girl died.

Maybe it will help others to know what the vet said. I was finally able to get a hold of him and he said the black stool was blood in it and it was the result of an infection in her digestive system somewhere. Apparently we were taking a toll on the infection with the sulfur pills, but it was too little too late. I hope it will help someone to keep from losing their family cow in the future!

 

[DTregembo]

Black diarrhia often indicates internal bleeding. Is it totally black? And if so, you better call a vet. The fact that she's down with black stools would indicate a major problem.

Thanks very much - I did not see your reply when I posted - I appreciate your help greatly!

 

[jhm47]

For anyone else who might be interested: Black stools in any animal or human usually indicates an internal digestive bleed. This is VERY serious, and can cause death in a short time.

A somewhat humorous story: My dad, who was over 75 at the time, called me one morning. He said he was having black stools and was very weak. Since I'm on an ambulance crew, I suspected what was happening. We transported him to the hospital, and his hemoglobin count was around 5. Normal is over double that. Anyway, the doctor questioned him, and found out that he had been bleeding for 3 - 4 days. Doc asked him why he didn't come in sooner. Dad said that he thought it would quit bleeding, and doc said he was right---bleeding ALWAYS stops. However it's best if it stops before the heart does.

Sorry about your cow.