OCD in cattle? DL or anyone with info?

A (fallborn) steer we sold this spring has a knot on the inside of his right back leg, an inch or so in front of his hock.  Last I saw it (2 weeks ago) it was maybe the size of a shooting marble, and just felt like fluid - we assumed some kind of injury, and it didn't seem to bother him any.  He was hauled about 5 - 6 hours (tied where he could lay down, bedded with lots of chips) and they said it swelled to baseball size.  They took him to a vet who x-rayed it and diagnosed it as OCD.  I can't find anything about OCD in cattle (just dogs), and our local vet says it's conceivable, but doesn't seem as likely as an injury.  Not saying it couldn't be a structural issue, but he's got plenty of flex in his hock and pastern, and he's not really clubby bred. Anyone here know anything about OCD in cattle?

Hope everything works out. Here is an article you may want to review.

http://wvc.omnibooksonline.com/data/papers/2008_V536.pdf

DLD said:

A (fallborn) steer we sold this spring has a knot on the inside of his right back leg, an inch or so in front of his hock.  Last I saw it (2 weeks ago) it was maybe the size of a shooting marble, and just felt like fluid - we assumed some kind of injury, and it didn't seem to bother him any.  He was hauled about 5 - 6 hours (tied where he could lay down, bedded with lots of chips) and they said it swelled to baseball size.  They took him to a vet who x-rayed it and diagnosed it as OCD.  I can't find anything about OCD in cattle (just dogs), and our local vet says it's conceivable, but doesn't seem as likely as an injury.  Not saying it couldn't be a structural issue, but he's got plenty of flex in his hock and pastern, and he's not really clubby bred. Anyone here know anything about OCD in cattle?

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I bought a steer last fall and had him about month before i noticed the flud filled knots on his back hocks ( just like you described)  took him to the vet and he said it was OCD called the people i bought him from and they took him right back.

Hey DLD - long time no hear  - OCD (osteochondritis dessicans) is an abnormality of cartilage that occurs in rapidly growing critters - we see it in boys (human type teenage boys), large breed dogs, pigs and yes cattle - I suspect it is more common in cattle than we realize but most people do not x ray swollen joints in cattle. XRay is diagnostic - you see an area eroded at the end of the bone - there can be a flap of cartilage that moves around in the joint or a loose piece of cartilage in the joint - the joint mouse (causes swelling by irritation) - small areas of OCD in dogs are treated by most people conservatively (ie rest, anti inflammatory drugs) but for larger areas the only "cure" is surgery. It isn't related to structural issues per se (ie OCD isn't seen more frequently in straight legged cattle) but likely a combination of rapid growth, genetics and some think diet and sometimes trauma. The xray in dogs is pretty pathognomonic for OCD so I suspect that is also the case for cattle (ie you know it is your aunt tillie because you have seen her before)  : - if the lesion is small conservative treatment might help

this web site has a picture of an xray
http://www.provet.co.uk/petfacts/healthtips/osteochondrosis.htm

Thanks for the replies. Sure, we're going to make it right with the buyer, just trying to decide where to go from here.  The vet that diagnosed it said he could do surgery - it's going to cost $1500 and the buyers didn't seem to have much confidence in the surgery, from what I understand the vet said it might work or might not.  The steer wasn't expensive, and the buyers lean toward hanging him on the rail and starting over.  He is a really nice one though, and we're just trying to decide if we want to get him back here and have the surgery done or just let him go.  There's no lameness or stiffness yet, the only symptom so far is the knot.  Prob'ly ought to just let him go, though.

OCD in show horses is very common and the surgery can be expensive and then there is a 3 month layoff time with just stall rest and it doesn't always help.  They don't really go lame just walking from the OCD it is mainly when they are worked constantly it wears on that joint and it can actually damage the tendon and ligament by the joint if left untreated.  To get our horses thru this sometimes it isn't uncommon to have their joints injected from the vet.