Chatroom

[flourish]
 All Forums
 Happy and Healthy
 Emergency! Vet Care
 Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (pink eye)
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Topic  

NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Jun 21 2018 :  08:47:27 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Have been extremely busy with my herd and pink eye. Swept through here like wildfire. It made me feel like I let my cow gals and steers down. Vet reassured me that that wasn't the case. Yes I can try and manage the flies, (which are horrible this year). But he said fences don't stop flies and they probably came from a beef herd nearby. Doesn't change the fact that all my cows, calves and steers contacted pink eye. All the cows and calves have been treated by the vet. My steers I did the best I could as they were not captured to be treated. I just treated from a distance. They appear to be healing on their own. I kept Nellie, Darla and the calves in the barn several days in a row as sunlight exacerbates the problem and so this made more clean up and work throughout the days. I wouldn't wish this on any creature. Time will tell if their eyes were damaged. I do have the Fly Predator in use, however that takes some time, but hopeful it will help in the future. Didn't see this one coming. Info to follow: Next Post >

Jul 29, 2014
Giving Pink Eye the Stink EyepetMD Logo
by Dr. Anna O'Brien
With summer in full swing comes the usual veterinary problems in a large animal clinic: lacerations on horse legs, over-heated alpacas, warts on show calves, hoof rot in sheep, and a lot of pink eye in beef cattle. Let’s take a closer look at this common ophthalmologic issue in cows.

Pink eye in cattle, medically known as infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis, is a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. Cattle pink eye is different from human pink eye, which, although usually infectious, is not highly contagious. Pink eye in cattle also looks clinically different and is usually much more severe than the disease in humans.

Pink eye in cattle is most commonly caused by a bacterium called Moraxella bovis. This crafty microbe uses tiny hair like structures called pili to attach to the white part, or the conjunctiva, of the eye and cause damage. M. bovis is spread by flies, which feed on eye secretions and are a constant source of irritation to cattle in the summer months, providing the perfect recipe for eyeball infection.

Once introduced to the eye, M. bovis causes irritation and tearing. The first clinical sign of pink eye infection in cattle is an animal squinting. Very soon after initial infection, the cornea begins to cloud up and soon becomes completely white. An ulcer will form on the cornea and if not treated, can result in permanent blindness. Sometimes the damage to the eye is so severe, the eye itself will protrude from the socket.

Pink eye most commonly affects beef calves and in some herds can greatly affect productivity. The eye pain and subsequent stress that pink eye causes can result in profound weight loss, or lack of weigh gain, in beef calves, which is obviously a cause for concern for the farmer. For the health and well-being of the animal and the farmer’s bottom line, pink eye should be treated as quickly as possible.

One of the best ways to treat pink eye in cattle is a subconjunctival injection of antibiotics to kill the infection and steroids to help with the inflammation. This is where a steady hand, proper head restraint, and a non-queasy stomach really come in handy because subconjunctival means an injection directly into the white part (conjunctiva) of the eye. With the animal’s head held completely still in a chute, a needle is inserted just under the conjunctiva. The mix of antibiotics and steroid is then slowly and carefully injected so that a small bleb of medicine appears. Yes, this hurts the animal initially, but it works wonders. Many pink eye cases respond within a day or so.

Sometimes an intramuscular injection of antibiotics (often oxytetracycline) can also be used. I do this if the farm lacks proper facilities to restrain the animal for an eyeball poke (that’s a medical term, by the way).

If treated promptly, the cornea will clear up and sight will return. If corneal ulceration was severe, sometimes a small scar will remain on the eyeball. Cattle usually get pink eye only in one eye. If both eyes are infected, sometimes a calf will have to be penned to allow healing and sight to return.

Prevention is always better than the cure itself, and proper fly control is really the best way to go to keep pink eye from ravaging through a herd. Sometimes this is difficult, however, and other times it just seems like a farm has a really hot strain of M. bovis. Younger calves can be vaccinated against multiple strains of M. bovis and we recommend this if a particular farm has had issues in the past. Between vaccinations, fly control, and a good ol’ eyeball jab, we give the stink eye to pink eye in the summertime.


Dr. Anna O'Brien

Image: Ruud Morijn Photographer / S

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown

maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  05:04:30 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
What a calamity bovine pink eye sounds like. I hope it continues to pass us by. And that your herd has no long-term ill effects.

I've been experimenting with Pyganic on some of my girls for fly control. It's allowed on organic dairies. It sponges onto to a cow's back and repels flies for about two weeks it seems. This year I put Brute on Ian and Willy's backs (no flies on them this summer). I think both are available on Amazon. Because of all our rain (torrential yesterday), we've had an abundance of the those little biting black flies of which fly predator doesn't help.

Here's the Brute link:
https://smile.amazon.com/T-TEX-2250016-Brute-Cattle-Pour/dp/B078YG67VS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1529669179&sr=8-3&keywords=brute+for+cattle

It appears only Pyganic for gardening is available on Amazon. I will have to see if I know where I got it for cattle use. I purchased it last year but never used it. I will let you know.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
Go to Top of Page

maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  06:01:33 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I found this on Amazon, https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002TMB4DE/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B002TMB4DE&pd_rd_wg=sysni&pd_rd_r=9YW6PHY55175AXYVGXNW&pd_rd_w=f6BDT

Mine is the brand Pyganic (for cattle not gardens) but can't locate exactly where I purchased it. Mine is OMRI approved.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
Go to Top of Page

NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  06:53:25 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Thank you MaryJane. I will look into these products as soon as I have a little time. I found this product when reading about pink eye. May give it a try, but I see no feedback or review about it so will do further research on it also. https://crystalcreeknatural.com/shop/dairy/topical/fly-repellent/

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
Go to Top of Page

NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  07:40:39 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I was just reading some literature on the PyGanic Specialty, and it states it's highly toxic to honey bees, so I will probably look into one of the others.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
Go to Top of Page

maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  08:55:58 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I read that also. It's also toxic to fish (don't dump leftover liquid into a stream) and kitty cats. If you put it on and keep the cow contained until it's absorbed (mammals have an enzyme that breaks it down which is why it's now what humans are using who live in Lyme disease areas), I don't see how my honey bees can be affected anymore than pollution in general, etc. No doubt I can worry about everything, but the fly thing can be dangerous also. I hate the way those little biting black flies live around an udder and testicles and eat/drink their little hearts out. It's a good way for a cow to get an udder rot problem like I had with Fanci and M'lady.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
Go to Top of Page

maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Jun 22 2018 :  09:20:45 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I even worried that since it's a substance extracted from crysthanamums; should I stop growing those? The ingredients on the herbal spray you found look pretty good. I'm going to order a gallon. The only thing I add different to mine is citronella. I like to rotate different oils but never all of them at once, so I'd like to try it. Plus, the first ingredient I don't add--not sure what it is, but I sure do love the way essential oils make my girls smell--just doesn't last long enough. And I certainly can't spray my bull daily or even weekly.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
Go to Top of Page
  Topic  
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To: