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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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 Posted - Jul 23 2018 : 1:50:18 PM
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| I've never known a Monday that wasn't busy. Hello to all on this warm but pleasant July day. I've just finished visiting and helping my vet with Darla. Darla has a very tight, red, udder. This started on this past Friday when I noticed her udder looked strange. I saw some bruising midway between the two teats on the right side. She kept getting larger and tighter. I checked and rechecked for mastitis, but the results were and still are negative. Still concerned because I couldn't get milk from one teat this morning. So had the vet make a farm call and she thinks we are dealing with udder edema for whatever reason. Maybe trauma. Anyway, I'm still trying to milk her frequently, cool washes and compresses, I've been busy. Hoping we get this turned around. Calves are still nursing her. Her teats are not enlarged at all and the left side is fine. Hoping for things to look better soon. Charlene, I hope Clover and Betsy/calf are doing well. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Jul 23 2018 : 6:24:01 PM
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hi janet! i am sorry to hear that darla has something going on that isn't stellar, but so excited to say hi and wish you well. sounds like the udder situation is baffling, interesting and concerning all at the same time.
lover boy milked today and got a few small specks in the milk, so i need to milk tomorrow and test her... hopefully things will be fine for our bea.
we have the younger girls in swimming lessons each evening right now so that keeps us busy, and boy is it hot! 110 at the pool tonight... the oldest is in an afternoon day camp at the local civic theatre right now so that gives her something "older" to do while the youngest catch up to her swimming abilities... they will be putting on a play this saturday so i am looking forward to it.
take care, i hope you are staying cool up north. hugs from texas! |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 23 2018 : 6:38:40 PM
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Good evening Cindy! Boy! With temperatures like that, I don't think I'd ever come out of the water. It's not bad here now. Mid 80's and we are to have a few cooler days coming up. It's very dry. I milked Darla out again just a while ago. Got 2.5 bottles out of the one back teat, and about a half bottle on the front. So that's encouraging. She's dragging her one back leg a bit, pressure on the nerves the vet thought from the swollen udder.  I let cool water run over her udder, which she seemed to enjoy and now she is out to pasture until morning milking. Ordered some stainless steel teat cannula's so that I can use them if I absolutely need to drain her udder. Still negative for mastitis. Hope Bea will check out okay in the morrow. Love hearing about all your girls are doing, and how much fun will it be to watch the play. Have a lovely evening! |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
Edited by - NellieBelle on Jul 23 2018 6:51:12 PM |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Jul 24 2018 : 12:57:51 PM
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i have been pondering that maybe we need to change the post topic to "WEEK OF XX/XX/XXXX" that way what little activity each week is in one place so we can post and catch up around here ;>
i am home sick today, a sinus thing that went into ears/throat. that is apparently my "thing" that happens about twice per year to me in my adult years ;> it was not great yesterday, and then went down hill rapidly last night so i took the day off today and went to the doctor as well. it was nice to have the babysitter here so i could sit on the couch with one kid if they wanted, but not have to run around like crazy after all three.
off to take a nap before swim lessons. take care everyone! |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 24 2018 : 4:19:44 PM
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| Good evening Cindy. Sorry to hear you are ill. Never a good thing. Better days a coming for you and sooner rather than later. Things are pretty much status quo here. Darla is about the same. I can't see much change. Milk is still negative for mastitis. It's a wonder with no more milk than I'm getting from those two quarters. But her appetite is good, so I will be patient and hope for the best. Showered her udder with cool water again. Bless her heart, she even lifted the leg that drags. Must feel good. May you all have a good and restful night. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Jul 24 2018 : 4:32:36 PM
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Hi Cindy! I think your idea of weekly posts might be a good idea. I sure miss hearing from everyone. Hope you start feeling better quickly.
And Janet, I’m hoping Darla starts improving. Clover has such a large udder, I’m very nervous about mastitis. But I’m adding Ester C to her feed whil I milk her. In the past that really helped her.
Sweet Baby Ray is doing great and Betsy is such a good mom. She still gave me 1 1/2 gallons this morning which made me happy. Today has been a bit crazy though:
There are always unexpected twists to a farm day ... got up almost at the crack of dawn to milk all the goats and cows as I’m trying to figure out a better farm routine. And I’m doing it all myself these days. So by 8 am all barn chores had been done, milked all animals that could possibly be milked, processed all the milk, ran two loads of laundry, two sanitizing loads in the dishwasher, fed the children and finally jumped onto the shower only to have the shower head go from full blast to a few drips. What?!!
After problem solving with the husband over the phone, we think we’ve narrowed it down to a broken pipe to an outside hydrant. We hope. We are thankful to hear water slowly filling up our cistern but there will be no more water til tonight at the earliest. So thankful all water tubs were already filled for the animals!
Thinking the day was looking up, my soap assistant walks in, “Is there suppose to be a cow in your front yard?” 😂 BlueBelle decided to go for a walk! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Jul 24 2018 : 4:36:41 PM
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| So I’ve got a question: what do you all do as a water back up? Pond, rain collection? Or? |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 24 2018 : 5:13:37 PM
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| Good evening Charlene. Your day sounds like mine. I feel like I'm going in seventeen different directions. I don't know why I chose that number but you get the meaning. We have no water back up. If things got bad I suppose we could get water from the pond. I hope it never comes to that. We had a time a few years back where we were in a drought and it was getting pretty serious, but things worked out. A generator would be the answer for us I believe. One winter we were here 7 days without electricity and we melted snow and boiled it for use. A hand well pump might be good, but it depends how far a person would have to dig. Something to think about. Hope your evening is a pleasant one. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Jul 25 2018 : 6:02:10 PM
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Good evening. Sorry to be so seriously missing but I ended up in the ER a while back with pneumonia (and a bad case of stubbornness). It's slow going. I just watched my grand girls and Lucas move our two "kids" around (O'Mally and Buttercup), feed, set pasture sprinklers, etc. I've had plenty of helpers that's for sure. My new full-time job has been to sleep and then sleep some more. Anyway, I hope to have energy to do some catching up soon.
Charlene, we have a pond with underground piping for irrigation if need be plus a hand pump on our 400 foot deep well (that's easy to use and gives a geyser of water).
Janet, if you can't get Darla'a udder turned around, I ended up using the diuretic, Lasix Salix, on her and it set everything straight. I can give you details if you're interested. I did cool water baths (the hose), and both turmeric and epsom rubs, but once I started losing ground and I felt her udder was in jeopardy, I went with the diuretic.
Cindy, hope you're feeling better. I "played" around with mine for almost three weeks until it (the bug) decided enough was enough and it was going to kick me to the curb. So do take care. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 04:18:45 AM
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| Thank you MaryJane. Hope you are gaining strength and health each day. I'm driving up to the vet's this morning to discuss Darla and get Ranger's rabies vaccination. I will know more after milking this morning. It wasn't good last evening. I will report more later once I've visited the vet and Darla this morning. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 07:02:09 AM
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Sorry to hear that, Janet. The first vet we spoke with didn't help us much and seemed nervous about the salix (she was the one who gave Daisy the IV once we got a trocar in but forgot to give her a shot of antibiotics and we didn't think of it either). She called two days later to say she was going to stop by to do that but it was too late---Daisy already had a systemic infection from the trocar.
We proposed what we wanted to try for Maggie's edema using salix and oxytocin with the second vet we spoke with and she thought it was a good idea and gave us the goods (she was the one who did Lacy Lou's c-section). It worked beautifully and Maggie's edema was gone within a few days--looking better every day until fully gone.
I'll keep my fingers crossed. Just so very sorry to hear that. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 11:40:46 AM
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| My vets are not all that familiar with dairy cows. The lady vet who came on Monday gave Darla Baytril and Banamine, even though I told her over and over, Darla does not have mastitis, that she tested negative and still does for mastitis. Her milk looks just the way it always has. Today I went to vet to get Ranger's rabies shot and I told my male vet that Darla needed Lasix/Furosemide. Her udder is like a granite rock. I'm still milking her three times a day and the amount stays the same for the most part. Nearly two quart bottles rear teat and a 1/2 to 3/4 quart front teat. Warm spray and compresses to promote circulation to the area. We started out with cold water initially and have now switched to warm. The male vet did give me 2 syringes of IM Lasix. I came home and gave it IM and he also sent home Dexamethasone, but I haven't given it and would rather wait and see how the Lasix does. So I've been down in the milk parlor and pasture making sure that Darla is drinking water and she has voided a couple of times in great amounts. Hoping for the best. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 12:13:47 PM
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| That's great news. Yes, they start peeing right away and hopefully drinking lots of water. But two shots might not do it. Our vet ended up giving us an entire bottle. I will go down and check our clipboard and give you more specifics. The Lasix combined with Oxytocin (so she'd get used to giving us her milk again) was the winning ticket for us. When we did just the Lasix we observed that she'd been so sore for so long, she wasn't letting her milk down. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 1:35:53 PM
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| Hey little lady, you're suppose to be resting. You don't need to be checking on anything. I'm sure the vet will give me more Lasix if it's needed. I believe her milk will come down okay, but if not I have Oxytocin on hand here. I will watch her udder. Hopefully it will get less firm and pressure will reduce. Her milk comes okay, just not much of it. Other two quarters milk out fine too. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 2:16:17 PM
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Furosemide (Lasix®)
Product Description: This is a diuretic that pulls fluid from the body causing the animal to urinate.
Indications for Use: Use when udder edema/swelling, general fluid retention (brisket area, etc.), or heart disease is a problem.
Not approved for use in sheep and goats. Refer to extra-label drug use.
Dosage and Administration: Give 1-2 mLs per 100 lbs., intravenously (IV) or intramuscularly (IM). This dose can be given once or twice a day. This product also comes in an oral form that can be given at 0.9-2.2 mg/lb of body weight.
Duration of Treatment: Treatment should continue until the fluid retention ceases. Best results are obtained when the drug is given every other day or 2-4 consecutive days in a given week.
Packaging: This drug is available in 30, 50, and 100 mL bottles. Each mL contains 50 mg of furosemide.
Precautions and Side Effects: Because this drug causes water loss, caution should be taken to ensure that the animal remains hydrated. If signsof weakness, sunken eyes, or fatigue occur, discontinue use and consult a veterinarian.
Storage: Some furosemide products may require refrigeration.
Milk Withholding: Not established in sheep and goats. 2 days in cattle.
Meat Withholding: Not established in sheep and goats. 2 days in cattle.
Drug Type: Rx
Manufacturer: Butler, Vet Tek, Intervet
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To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 5:46:15 PM
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Good Furosemide description, Janet. I'm going to print it up for my records. We gave 10 cc Lasix (divided into two 5cc syringes) and 1 cc Oxytocin every morning for 10 days. We kept it up until her pitting edema was totally gone. At one point I thought it was cleared up but Connie pointed out that if you put your thumb onto the inside of her udder up near the divide it felt like pushing on clay and the thumbprint stayed for a bit. Connie felt like we'd been successful once we saw her udder veins again. Maggie hasn't had any problems at all since but then I don't leave her calves on her very long. Once I see that they've emptied her udder and start going from teat to teat (it's at that point a calf will start head butting), out they go. All I do is put some grain for Maggie on the other side of a gate, open it and she runs to eat the grain and the calves stand there milk drunk, covered in white slobber and a bit stunned, so I shut the gate. Then I feed them a bit of grain and alfalfa and they forget all about her and she forgets all about them. On August 15, I'm going to totally wean them. Right now they're only with her twice/day. They just had their second round of vaccines and did much better with the boosters. Also, O'Mally's testicles have fallen off and all is well in that department.
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 5:58:12 PM
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| Oh, and I should add that I think good ole Ian got all my girls (Maggie, Lizzy, and Maybelle) pregnant first try. I'm going to milk Daisy until next spring and then MAYBE get her pregnant. If she's still giving a good amount of milk, I don't see any reason to put her through it. If I think she's ready next spring, I can get her and her daughter, Buttercup, pregnant at the same time. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jul 26 2018 : 6:50:31 PM
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| Thank you for the information MaryJane. When I milked this evening Darla gave more milk from those to teats. I will see how she looks tomorrow, and may wait another day before giving the other 10cc of Lasix. It's hard to know what's best. I kept Emmet away from her all day, but he can get to her now. I may separate them again tomorrow also. Good to know the gals are all pregnant again, one less thing on the list. I will hold off on any AI until things start getting back to normal around here. Have a good and restful night. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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Monday!
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