Injection Site Swelling

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faycopa

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Apr 26, 2012
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Had steer treated for hairy wart about 3 weeks ago
Vet medicated hoof area with coppertox & wrap
Also gave shots - LA200 I believe
Notice shoulder swelling about 10 days ago at injection sites
Doesn't seem to be going down and might actually be worse - protruding about 1 1/2"
See circled areas - apologize for photo quality - quick cell phone pic
Should I have Vet back out? Wonder if it's just tissue swelling or infection of some sort.
Steer eating and acting normal, about 1000 lbs right now.  Fair in 3 months.
 

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Mainevent

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Don't get to worrying to much. It will eventually go down, if you want to accelerate the process if you have a rolling pin you can roll it over the swellings and can work them out eventually. I had a steer several years ago that contracted pneumonia and it was a never ending set of shots and someone told me to do the rolling pin trick and it seemed to work. Just have to stick with it.
 

everybreedcounts

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Jul 3, 2012
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yes injection sight lumps are pretty common. never heard of using a rolling pin but that sure sounds like it would work!
 

GoWyo

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Shot knots are the biggest downside of LA200 and its cohorts.  I try to use anything but on show cattle.  The stuff seems to really sting when they are injected with it too.  They become hateful if they have to take shots of it for multiple days.
 

Mainevent

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It varies. It just depends on how big and how long you do it a day if I remember correctly I want to say that it was a week or two before results started showing.
 

Bulldaddy

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Some medicines can cause injection site swelling.  But it can also be caused by a dirty needle or a dirty injection site.  On show cattle, it is best to clean the injection site with an antiseptic solution and use fresh needles for each injection.  If you do reuse needles clean them with an antiseptic solution first.
 

willow

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Jan 8, 2011
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LA200 and some injectable wormers are the worst.  Give it time and it will go away.
 

marku

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Feb 3, 2011
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if you want it to go down, hydrotherapy- hose nozzle and cold water 10 minutes twice per day followed by application of DMSO.  or you can try rubbing preparation H on it.
 

RyanChandler

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Throw that la200 away. It's junk. I've had 10000x better results with the long acting broad spectrum drugs.  Stick an 18 g needle in the middle of that abscess. Fluid should shoot out as it drains.
 

faycopa

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Apr 26, 2012
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-XBAR- said:
Throw that la200 away. It's junk. I've had 10000x better results with the long acting broad spectrum drugs.  Stick an 18 g needle in the middle of that abscess. Fluid should shoot out as it drains.
May give the needle a try this week to see if anything drains
 

Pleasant Grove Farms

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don't believe anything will drain; LA200 is very abrasive and irritating to tissue;
there is inflammation; it will go down in time.
The rolling pin method sounds painful to me.
 

chambero

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Most vets assume their clients don't want to pay for more expensive antibiotics.  On show animals, NEVER use LA-200 or such due to the potential for knots.  If you do use it, do so only intravenously.  Antibiotics like Nuflor/Resflor, Micotil, Draxxin, etc aren't nearly as bad about that.

When do you need to show this steer?  That affects how aggressive you need to be with treating the knots.  If its going to be a few months, give them a couple of weeks to go down.  If they don't go down after that point, most likely they need to be drained.  If you try to drain it, it probably needs to be with a large diameter needle because that kind of pus can be very thick.  Honestly, I usually insert a thin knife blade toward the bottom of the knot to make a hole big enough that it can actually drain.  I've never had a problem with noticeable scarring. 

If you show in a month or less, let the vet look at them.  Injection site knots don't always have fluid in them.

 

BTDT

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Try and find some Icthamol salve. Around here you can find it at the local farm stores such as orshcelns or TSC.  It has the appearance of road tar, but it is a drawing salve.
Apply it twice a day, for several days without wrapping, and the swelling should go down significantly. 

Like the others suggested - Do not use LA200 if you can help it. There are other antibiotics that are as effective and less irritating to the tissues.

 

faycopa

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chambero said:
When do you need to show this steer?  That affects how aggressive you need to be with treating the knots.  If its going to be a few months, give them a couple of weeks to go down.  If they don't go down after that point, most likely they need to be drained.  If you try to drain it, it probably needs to be with a large diameter needle because that kind of pus can be very thick.  Honestly, I usually insert a thin knife blade toward the bottom of the knot to make a hole big enough that it can actually drain.  I've never had a problem with noticeable scarring. 

If you show in a month or less, let the vet look at them.  Injection site knots don't always have fluid in them.

Show in 3 months.  It's been a little less than 3 weeks since shot was given that caused swelling.
guess we should wait  afew more weeks to see if there is improvement.
 

chambero

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If its been three weeks go ahead and get a vet to deal with it if you aren't comfortable lancing it yourself.  If the knots are that big after three weeks, it's probalby more than just tissue swelling - there is likely pus in it.
 
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