What to test for?

[toocowsinidaho]

I bought a Jersey cow with 8 week old calf a few months ago. Prior to this purchase I knew nothing about cattle. When I bought the cow, she looked boney in the back, but the owner assured me that Jerseys were often built that way, and several pictures on the internet and seeing some local dairy cattle proved this to be "true". She also had "scrape marks" on her teats. The owner said one of the two calves that were on her had sharp teeth and were lacerating her teats. So, two months later she has developed a deep U or V shaped wound in front of her udder. I thought it was bug bite induced, but as I clean it out it's pusy and some it it seems like deep holes in a line. She also has some other scabby bumps on her udder and the lesions on her teats. She has grown impossible to milk without squeezing and working each quarter individually, which can take an hour to get a gallon of milk.

She is also getting thinner. Now her ribs are showing as well as her back being boney. She has had a very runny cow pie since I bought her. At first I thought it was change in feed, then it was the rich grass. But now she is on dry grass pasture and hay and it is still runny. Her bum is always messy.

I've read about psuedocowpox, and the udder condition sounds very much like this, but they mention nothing about weigh loss and diahrea. I've thought about Johnes Disease.

I think I need a vet at this point to help diagnose, but how do you go about this? Do I ask for a full blood work up or a fecal culture? Would a blood sample tell me exactly what's going on, or is it still guess work after that?

I'm assuming no using her milk until she's diagnosed, and I'm actually letting her calf do what milking can be done at this point, but keeping an eye on the udder...it's usually pretty baggy the last week or so, maybe two.

Any advice, comments, questions would be more than welcome!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Ok... I don't mean to be blunt or discouraging, but your first mistake was buying a cow and her calf without any knowledge of cattle beforehand.

But now to the matter at hand. Yes, it would be good to call your vet. He/she can advise you on what to do and whether or not you will need any testing done. Jerseys are a dairy breed of cattle. All dairy breeds have a bony appearance to them, that's just part of their conformation. Their poop tends to be pretty soft, too, but if it's more of a liquid consistency then there is a problem. Diarrhea can mean quite a few things. Also, I would NOT let the calf nurse from her at all, especially with the open lesions on the teats. She definitely has an infection of some sort from the open wounds, and more infection could set in with the calf nursing or disease could be spread to the calf if it suckles an infected teats. For now though, your best bet is to call the vet and see what they say. As soon as there is a diagnosis, you need to take immediate action.

 

[BrownSheep]

Since you are in good old Idaho there is most likely a Very exprience dairy vet in your area if you are in the southern portion of the state.

 

[Cricket]

Could it be herpes? They are just miserable when they have that and it takes quite awhile to get it cleared up. I'd also recommend asking the vet. Think we used to use chlorhexadine for it. It's not that unusual for cows with big bags to get a sore in the front of their bag and we used the 'pink stuff' on that, too. You may have more options since you aren't shipping milk.

I don't think it's anything you could have expected to run into. Good luck and let us know what the vet says!

 

[jhm47]

A little Jersey eating only dry grass and hay while feeding a large and growing calf will lose weight. She should be getting at least 7 - 8 lbs of grain daily. She will continue to lose weight until you start feeding her a more nutrient dense diet, or you wean the calf.