How long for Pinkeye to clear?

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mlk32

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Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
48
We recently received a heifer from out west that had pinkeye.  We have been fortunate to avoid that in the past.  She is isolated and we vaccinated all calves at our place.  Treated her immediately with LA 200 as well as a follow up dose.  First dose was 15 days ago and second was 12 days ago.  It looks much better but she still has what looks like a pimple on her eye.  Any thoughts on further treatment?  Still too soon to expect full recovery?
 

CAB

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Mar 5, 2007
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5,607
Location
Corning,Iowa
It totally depends on the severity and the strain of the virus and how soon you caught it to begin treatment. I treat the same as you did, but I also treat the eye itself with long acting pen by taking the needle off and holding the eye open, then squirt pen in and let the calf blinkand work it in. It also helps to cover the eye with a patch of some type to keep the sun out. Search SP for the topic and you will get more great ideas about treatment protocols. Good Luck. Brent
 

Richburg

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Oct 28, 2007
Messages
71
we had a heifer last year with pinkeye and we shot penicillin directly in her eye plus a LA200 shot but it cleared in a week or two if i remember right.
 

HSV

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Apr 27, 2008
Messages
70
Location
Coldwater, Ontario Canada
I have had a lot of trouble with pinkeye during the last two grazing seasons.....I have been dosing with oxytetracyline and using "Special Formula" Mastitis treatment squirted into the eye....I had one really good heifer calf get pinkeye in a very severe way last summer....I needled her every two days and treated her eye with the mastitis treatment twice a day for two weeks.....one year later she still has a very slight pimple in the centre of her eye...but sees fine. I'm thinking of getting a cattle oilier and or fly tags for next season. I have heard of limited success with the tags though.
 

Cowboy

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Apr 13, 2007
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692
Location
McCook Ne.
As in most cattle diseases, prevention is usually easier than a cure later.

The last couple of years we have had a large increase in the wild HEMP crop -- and like most weeds, the darn stuff will grow where you can't toit with a large mower. AS the weeds get taller, the calves walking thru them keep scratching thier eyes or other wise irritating them, and we had a few head get pink eye too.

If we as producers can keep ahead of the taller weeds and grasses by clipping them, it most suredly helps alot. Depending on your locations, pasture mowing is a real effective and good tool in general to help the grasses stay fresh and reduce the unwanted plants from going to seed. Trust me, if I could get to some of these places with a tractor, there wouldn't be any HEMP growing here for sure.

You could go out and spray by hand some of these hard to get to places, but by the time the weeds are receptive to spraying, you would have to worry about killing trees and other good plants too. Catch 22 type of deal.

Of sourse it is always the best ones that seem to get it -- go figure. We do vaccinate as well, but that seems to be only partially effective some years. One thing fur sure, these things we have to deal with -- over time -- makes us all better at what we do!

Terry
 

rtnok

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Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
115
Heck Terry call the cops they will come out and chop it down and haul it off and burn it for you. You just have to rename it a little. Ha Ha Ha.
 
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