Pinched nerve in heifer's back

[harleyhog]

I need some help!!

I have a heifer that was calving last Monday, unfortunately, i believe quite a while before I got home from work and got the calf pulled.  She was unable to get on her own up until Friday in which time we were using a "hip hoist" to assist her to speed the process along.
She is now able to get up on her own, but drags her right leg and even walks on her ankle at times.  She seems to be able to bare weight on both back legs when standing, just walking is a huge issue...We have been giving her the medication the vet suggested until Friday at which we stopped.

What are your suggestions and thanks for your time...

 

[Pleasant Grove Farms]

there is a nerve that runs somewhere in the pelvic area that becomes damaged when there is too much pressure on it for too long as in a prolonged calving or a difficult pull.
when this is damaged, it makes the cow numb in her back legs; usually it seems one is worse than the other.
with time and good food and  exercise, your cow will be fine; maybe she may always have a slight limp but she will recover.
was the medicine that you gave her dexamethasone? to alleviate the swelling from the injury?  that has been very helpful for us.

 

[RankeCattleCo]

Try to find someone with a FLOAT TANK and float her for 36 or so hours.  Should help with mobility.

RCC

 

[firesweepranch]

She will get better with time. The you tube video below is a heifer that we had the same thing happen to. She ended up with a stuck calf, and we did not own a calf puller at the time. By the time the vet got there  she ended up down for several hours. She did not walk for two weeks. We took food and water to her every day, several times a day. Grain gave her the will to continue! We finally got her up and moving, coaxed her closer to the house to make feeding easier. She slowly got better, ended up with a limp in the end. We kept her until spring and sent her to the auction. She never really developed any milk, and I did not want another train wreck the next year. She was bred to the top calving ease bull in the industry, so it was just a fluke thing (she was a registered purebred simmental AI'd to a registered purebred simmental bull). Stuff like that just happens.
Hopefully your heifer continues to get better. Once they get up, they seem to really improve.

http://youtu.be/uSbAUgNm6m8

 

[cornish]

what did you breed her to?

 

[DL]

I need some help!!

I have a heifer that was calving last Monday, unfortunately, i believe quite a while before I got home from work and got the calf pulled.  She was unable to get on her own up until Friday in which time we were using a "hip hoist" to assist her to speed the process along.
She is now able to get up on her own, but drags her right leg and even walks on her ankle at times.  She seems to be able to bare weight on both back legs when standing, just walking is a huge issue...We have been giving her the medication the vet suggested until Friday at which we stopped.

What are your suggestions and thanks for your time...

Put her in a pen /area by herself - with good footing and a water source
Make sure she has a good well bedded place to lie down
Give her all the hay she wants
Make sure she has a good mineral - like crystalyx brigade or kent rumen boster
ask your vet about giving her injectable vitamins and minerals (need a variety of these for nerve recovery)
she will need a minimum of 3 weeks for recovery and longer for full recovery
allow her to move around as she wants ie don't force her to walk or move
Don't put her in with other cattle until you are absolutely sure her gait is normal - being jumped by a big cow can send you backwards fast
Plan to baby her some
good luck

 

[harleyhog]

I watched the video and u hit the nail on the head.. we have been giving her dex. We breed her to our herd bull but apparrtly not avoid mix. She is a bojo. I am going to get that mineral tomorrow.  Thx again.

 

[cornish]

I watched the video and u hit the nail on the head.. we have been giving her dex. We breed her to our herd bull but apparrtly not avoid mix. She is a bojo. I am going to get that mineral tomorrow.  Thx again.

and what was your herd bull?  What else is in the heifer?

 

[DL]

I watched the video and u hit the nail on the head.. we have been giving her dex. We breed her to our herd bull but apparrtly not avoid mix. She is a bojo. I am going to get that mineral tomorrow.  Thx again.

and what was your herd bull?  What else is in the heifer?

what is relevant here is that the heifer had a dystocia with resulting nerve damage, that she was treated appropriately and that she appears to be recovering -

 

[firesweepranch]

I watched the video and u hit the nail on the head.. we have been giving her dex. We breed her to our herd bull but apparrtly not avoid mix. She is a bojo. I am going to get that mineral tomorrow.  Thx again.

and what was your herd bull?  What else is in the heifer?

what is relevant here is that the heifer had a dystocia with resulting nerve damage, that she was treated appropriately and that she appears to be recovering -

(clapping)

 

[Freerider]

We had a 15 year old cow go down on ice while being bred, she pinched a nerve and could move her left hind. It was 3 weeks before she could get up on her own, we almost put her out of her misery twice.

To be honest I thought we were just delaying the inevitable, but she's back to normal now.

 

[rackranch]

I would have her checked by a certified Veterinary Chiroipractor as well.  You can go to the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association web site and find a Doctor in your area.  www.animalchiropractic.org 

Or PM me and I will help you...G-Luck

 

[harleyhog]

I just wanted to give you all an update. 

You were right she is getting better every day!!!...However, her right hip is extremely swollen still...

Thanks

 

[DL]

I just wanted to give you all an update. 

You were right she is getting better every day!!!...However, her right hip is extremely swollen still...

Thanks

Great news - be prepared for several (many) more weeks of a little TLC - it goes slow - saw one yesterday 8 weeks out - hard to tell which leg at the walk but when she trots there is a little roll to the left fetlock

what do you mean by the hip is swollen? is it all soft tissue? does she preferentially lie on it? what does it feel like? How is she walking??

Whatever you are doing is working - good job )

 

[Limiman12]

Find  Chiropractor with a vet-DC certificate.  Ask horse people a lot of them know one.    I am 8-9 getting dad's heifers up and going.  Can also get a hip hoist, a harnas of sorts that fits over the pins and you hook on to it with a log chain and lift her with a come along to the ceiling or a front end loader

 

[aj]

Maybe if someone shoved a hotshot up YOUR ass every time you kill a cow with club calf genetics.....might help.

 

[NHR]

Call your Vet!

 

[rackranch]

Maybe if someone shoved a hotshot down your pie hole everytime you made a stupid comment.....might help.

Maybe if someone shoved a hotshot up YOUR ass every time you kill a cow with club calf genetics.....might help.

 

[NHR]

Maybe if someone shoved a hotshot down your pie hole everytime you made a stupid comment.....might help.

Maybe if someone shoved a hotshot up YOUR ass every time you kill a cow with club calf genetics.....might help.

Maybe if someone used a hot shot on me.........oh wait, that is a different forum!!!!    (dog)

 

[harleyhog]

Thanks for the support...