Veterinary Medicine 2015 hopefuls!

Mastitis! A squirt of Synulox to treat. How have people seen the mastitis cows marked out at their placements? Ours had red spray, red ankle tag and red tail tape.

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Reply 1783

Original post by chaarlotte

ah that's it :tongue:

thanks!

No problem! Mastitis is probably the disease you'll see most in cattle, with ~~grass staggers~~ and milk fever also being relatively common.

EDIT: Thanks AC! :tongue:

Original post by ABC05

Mastitis! A squirt of Synulox to treat. How have people seen the mastitis cows marked out at their placements? Ours had red spray, red ankle tag and red tail tape.

Ours only had red tail tape, but their udders were also usually covered in purple spray which helps them to stand out! :tongue:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1784

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

No problem! Mastitis is probably the disease you'll see most in cattle, with grass staggers and milk fever also being relatively common.

You really won't see grass staggers very often at all.. good nutrition balance will cover the cows the vast majority of times.

Reply 1785

Original post by Angry cucumber

You really won't see grass staggers very often at all.. good nutrition balance will cover the cows the vast majority of times.

Ahh, okay

The farm I was at had magnesium mineral blocks to prevent it, but it was mentioned quite a lot in a few of the farmy papers he gave me so I assumed it was quite frequently seen.

Thanks :h:

Reply 1786

Original post by Angry cucumber

You really won't see grass staggers very often at all.. good nutrition balance will cover the cows the vast majority of times.

What's grass staggers? Would be interested to find out cause, symptoms and treatment options too if you know :smile:

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Reply 1787

chaarlotte

1

Original post by ABC05

Mastitis! A squirt of Synulox to treat. How have people seen the mastitis cows marked out at their placements? Ours had red spray, red ankle tag and red tail tape.

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you guys are all so knowledgeable. I pale in comparison! :colondollar:

our cows had a red ankle tag and purple spray :smile:

Reply 1788

Original post by chaarlotte

you guys are all so knowledgeable. I pale in comparison! :colondollar:

our cows had a red ankle tag and purple spray :smile:

Haha I'm just a cow geek, I find them so interesting! Would love to shadow a farm vet for w/e but I suppose that would mean travelling with him from farm to farm- are we allowed to do that?

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Reply 1789

Original post by ABC05

What's grass staggers? Would be interested to find out cause, symptoms and treatment options too if you know :smile:

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Cause is fast growing grass - usually rye grass. It's low in magnesium hence leads to hypomagnesia. Symptoms are staggering, behavioural changes and some other stuff
Treatment is a great big dose of magnesium and calcium injected into the cow - I think it's subcut.

Skatealexia knows more on clinical stuff than I do.. I'm only a baby vet student :tongue:

Whilst she's the boss :tongue:

Original post by chaarlotte

you guys are all so knowledgeable. I pale in comparison! :colondollar:

our cows had a red ankle tag and purple spray :smile:

I wouldnt worry about not knowing much :tongue:

Just make sure if you mention any conditions in your PS's and/or questionnaires make sure you know your stuff then :smile:

And the dairy farms that I've worked on since I was 12 - they've all been red tape on tail - however this often comes off, so the farmer just remembers which cows have it when the come in :tongue:

Original post by ABC05

Haha I'm just a cow geek, I find them so interesting! Would love to shadow a farm vet for w/e but I suppose that would mean travelling with him from farm to farm- are we allowed to do that?

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Yes - why wouldn't we be allowed to? :erm:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1790

Original post by ABC05

What's grass staggers? Would be interested to find out cause, symptoms and treatment options too if you know :smile:

Well from what I remember without going and digging out my notebook :tongue:

:

Caused by magnesium deficiency.
Symptoms are the cow literally staggering about, discoordination, head thrown back etc. Can lead to death in extreme cases (I think)
Treated by giving the animal magnesium (I think subcutaneously but I could be wrong??). Can be prevented by providing mineral licks or by using 'magnesium bullets' or boluses that last a few weeks when swallowed.

EDIT: AC got there first with a better answer, ignore me! :tongue:

Reply 1791

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

Well from what I remember without going and digging out my notebook :tongue:

:

Caused by magnesium deficiency.
Symptoms are the cow literally staggering about, discoordination, head thrown back etc. Can lead to death in extreme cases (I think)
Treated by giving the animal magnesium (I think subcutaneously but I could be wrong??). Can be prevented by providing mineral licks or by using 'magnesium bullets' or boluses that last a few weeks when swallowed.

EDIT: AC got there first with a better answer, ignore me! :tongue:

Your quite right :tongue:

Your answer is just as good :smile:

Licks are good but cows love them - they go through a bucket in no time - an expensive way of keeping magnesium levels up. Boluses are also dear

Usually controlled by supplementation of diet with mineral powders which is bought in bulk and added to silage ration or similar :smile:

Reply 1792

Original post by Angry cucumber

Cause is fast growing grass - usually rye grass. It's low in magnesium hence leads to hypomagnesia. Symptoms are staggering, behavioural changes and some other stuff
Treatment is a great big dose of magnesium and calcium injected into the cow - I think it's subcut.

Yes - why wouldn't we be allowed to? :erm:

Thank you, and thanks LTC too! Is it more common in spring when the grass is growing? & idk actually, just for my equine hospital placement I won't be able to travel around with the vet. I suppose it's to do with insurance or something.

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Reply 1793

Original post by ABC05

Thank you, and thanks LTC too! Is it more common in spring when the grass is growing? & idk actually, just for my equine hospital placement I won't be able to travel around with the vet. I suppose it's to do with insurance or something.

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Ah right - I thought you were talking about the legalities. :tongue:

If your vet surgery doesnt have the correct insurance then you may have slightly limited access to some things or travelling with vets. Im sure your placement will be awesome :biggrin:

Grass grows very quickly sometimes in the spring and sometimes in summer and you can get outbreaks of grass staggers :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1794

chaarlotte

1

Original post by skatealexia

Definately mastitis. :smile:

Although could be galactophoritis.

only just saw this, whoops :tongue:

so what causes mastitis and galactophoritis and what are the symptoms and cures? sorry if i'm asking too much but now i'm intrigued :smile:

Reply 1795

Original post by chaarlotte

only just saw this, whoops :tongue:

so what causes mastitis and galactophoritis and what are the symptoms and cures? sorry if i'm asking too much but now i'm intrigued :smile:

I would answer this but I havent studied it in anything like the depth skatealexia has :smile:

Btw guys, if you don't understand anything that I try to explain, please feel free to ask me to explain more/ differently :smile:

Reply 1796

Original post by Angry cucumber

Your quite right :tongue:

Your answer is just as good :smile:

Licks are good but cows love them - they go through a bucket in no time - an expensive way of keeping magnesium levels up. Boluses are also dear

Usually controlled by supplementation of diet with mineral powders which is bought in bulk and added to silage ration or similar :smile:

Haha yeah, the farmer showed me one of the massive tubs that the licks come in and told me that they're usually finished within a couple of days! I think bullets cost around £2 per cow if I remember correctly.

Out of interest, is it possible for a cow to have too much magnesium (probably wouldn't happen naturally, but if too many licks/too much powder had been provided, for example)? What would be symptoms of that be? :smile:

Original post by ABC05

Thank you, and thanks LTC too! Is it more common in spring when the grass is growing? & idk actually, just for my equine hospital placement I won't be able to travel around with the vet. I suppose it's to do with insurance or something.

No prob

I wasn't allowed to do home visits while I was at the exotics place, I think it just depends on insurance. I think if you were shadowing a farm vet you'd be allowed though, as most of the cases would need traveling so there'd be no point in them having you for wex otherwise :tongue:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1797

Ooh please could someone remind me the name of the instrument where you put a drop of urine on it, hold it up to the light and read off a little graph thing in the viewfinder? Did that at the vets today but can't remember the name of it for my write up!

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Reply 1798

Original post by chaarlotte

only just saw this, whoops :tongue:

so what causes mastitis and galactophoritis and what are the symptoms and cures? sorry if i'm asking too much but now i'm intrigued :smile:

I second this. I've never even heard of galactophoritis before :smile:

Reply 1799