Cow w/ gash and full of air

[showstick09]

One of my good cows Wednesday got into something that she shouldn't have. She has a huge gash 6" wide and 8" deep right behind her right forearm, like in her "armpit", and it goes up towards her brisket. She must of fell on something, or rared up on another cow and fell onto something, but I have no idea what. I took her to the vet and they just gave her a shot of banamine and penicillin and sent me home with another shot of banamine to give her Sunday. They told me not to rinse the wound or anything, just to leave it alone and let it heal on its own. Now, it's Saturday, and when I went to check on her, I could smell her before I even got to her. Is she getting infected? My biggest worry is that she is full of air. Anywhere you tap her on the right side of her body, you can fill and hear the air inside of her. It's like you're tapping on a balloon. It's like that from her shoulder all the way back to her flank. And when she tries to walk, it sounds like the gash is "tooting". The vet was closed today, so we couldn't take her in, but we got to talk to one on call and he said not to worry about the air that it would go away on it's on. I just want yalls opinion. What would yall do about the gash and about the air? I just worry that something might be punctured causing all the air that the vet didn't notice. 

 

[Cowboy]

Holy crud -- that sounds pretty bad pard -- just by chance, did your vet check to see if she broke a rib during this ordeal??

It is highly possible seeig the loacation of it that she possibly broke a lower rib and partially punctured her lung. It may not be a life threatening punture, but it "Could" be enough to leak a little air into the body cavity. Alot of times a bad wound will cause sub dermal air pockets, but this one sounds alot more than that. Worth a look any way --

Problem is, I can't say much for what it will take to repair it if it is that. Worth another call to the vet I'd say ASAP.

Sorry for your bad luck -- keep us posted!

PICS?????

Terry

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

You said you could smell her before you could see her, what did it smell like? Any chance that she punctured her rumen? RW

 

[showstick09]

All the vet really did was stick his hand in the wound to make sure nothing was in it. He didn't check for any broken ribs. She can barely walk, and kind of does it sideways like a drunk- would a broken rib do that? Also I forgot to add that she is due to calf within 2-4 weeks. She was discharging this morning. Is any of this going to hurt the calf?

I can't really explain what it smelt like. I knew infections had a smell to them, so I just assumed that's what it was.

I will post pictures tomorrow.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

If she smells and has trouble walking I would make the call to a vet and have her looked at ASAP. A after hours vet call is way cheaper than a dead cow 2 weeks from calving. RW

 

[showstick09]

I just talked to a vet today that knows everything that's going on, and he said not to worry about it. Guess I need to find her a different vet.

 

[jbzdad]

air under the tissues is either from a punctured lung (pneumothorax) that is dissecting (moving) thru the tissues or a gas forming organism in the tissues, (clostridial organism?)... if it has a bad odor like a dead animal than I think that is the problem... only treatment is wide debridement and mega doses of antibiotics... if clostridial the affected tissues will be dead appearing and with clotted vessels apparent in the tissue.... will likely require repeated debridement... it is an emergency

 

[frostback]

I dont like to put down peoples helpful ideas but I would not put anything on or in this wound so it can drain if it wants to. We had a cow, we assume get pushed into a heavy harrow and get a gash close to what you are describing, but ours was not as close to the front legs. Then when we went to get her we had another. So we took the two to a friends place that had better facilities and meet the vet there. He looked at them and said there was not much he could do. He tried to stitch one up but the cow was just getting upset and it was not helping as he could not get the cut closer together so it would heal. We left the cows there and started them on some LA200 for a long time, a huge dose too. Then he went down to Penicillin for a while too. They healed up and I would bet no one could find the cows that were hurt. They got home, calved like nothing happened. I would just get a healthy dose of some antibiotics in her and keep her on them for a while.

 

[Jill]

I would guess if you are smelling her you have some sort of infection.  As far as the gash goes, agree with frostback on this one, we had a cow many years ago that had a tracheotomy and they didn't stitch the wound because of fear of infection, wounds heal from the inside out so they leave them open, they did have us rinse it once a day to make sure it stayed clean.  If this were my cow and you are anywhere close to a college vet clinic I would sure make the trip and get her looked at, it sounds like she has way bigger issues than just a bad gash.

 

[aggiegal]

If the cow is gentle and you can rinse the area...I can't imagine why a vet would tell you not to rinse it.  This is one of the most effective ways to encourage granulation and start the healing process.  We've rinsed (w/fairly good water pressure) open or deep wounds 2-3 times daily for 10-15 mins with great success.  We've had a horse with a gash caused by an old barbire fence that was in a similar location.  It looked horendous but healed so that you couldn't even tell he'd been cut.  All we did was a round of antibiotics and hydroed (sp?) the affected area 2x daily.  Good luck!

 

[showstick09]

Thank you so much for everyones advice! I started rinsing her today, and will continue to do so until the wound heals. I also started her on some more penicillin. Should I give it to her everyday, and how many ml per 100lb body weight? I've heard 5ml per 100lb is most effective, is that true? As for the air, I spoke to a different vet on the phone and in short said in time it should go away on its own. 

 

[thebulllady]

Yikes.. it does sound nasty.  But if you trust your vet, I would think she'll be alright.  Make sure she's eating.. if she goes off her feed I would talk to the vet again. 

Good luck!

 

[braunvieh]

hows your cow getting along?