Many treatments we use these days as veterinarians and producers are “one and done” products that don’t require re-treatment.
That wasn’t always the case. Before long-lasting antimicrobials and other products, it was common. Feedlots had a treatment pen because antimicrobials had to be administered daily. Now animals often get treated and return to the home pen unless conditions such as lameness become chronic.
However, repeated treatments are still needed occasionally. Let’s look at some of those circumstances.
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I compare this to human medicine in which it might be necessary to re-examine a person or request additional tests or diagnostic procedures to get an accurate diagnosis. Once that diagnosis is made in livestock, we need to consider whether there are any implications to the herd. The owner needs to ponder that as well. Is this clinical case a one-off or are there other cases around the corner?
Multiple treatments, when warranted, can be very rewarding and the quicker they are administered, the better the outcome.
I know of a case where a younger bull developed a preputial laceration during breeding season and the young woman that owned the animal saw it. The bull swelled up quickly but she got advice, isolated the bull, and performed hydrotherapy twice daily for many days.
Water is cheap treatment and she said within three days the swelling had gone down. The bull was rested according to the veterinarian’s recommendations and made a total recovery. Her quick and repeated treatments delivered a cure.
Likewise, lameness in a big bull may require foot soaking in Epsom salts to soften the foot and hopefully draw out infection. A foot bath in an alley may accomplish this.
Antimicrobials placed in feed to fight infection and pour-on non-steroidal anti-inflammatories are other ways to administer medications. There’s also dart guns for a one-time treatment or an initial treatment to start the process.
In some cases, we need to ask ourselves if slaughter is warranted or possible, either before treatment or if the initial treatment is not successful. Good antimicrobials and painkillers with short withdrawals might be a good option in such cases.
Over the years we have gotten away from giving a shot of antimicrobials first and checking into the diagnosis later. Today, cell phone pictures and videos transmitted and shared with veterinarians make it possible to arrive at the right diagnosis and treatment on an individual basis.
One of the biggest changes in cow-calf production is the wealth of resources devoted to disease prevention in the form of vaccines, stress reducing agents, reduced weaning stress, and of course better biosecurity and cleanliness, especially at calving season.
The risk is that producers might lean too much on modern technology rather than simply improving management.
An example is giving bagged colostrum to all newborns or calves from heifers. I am a firm believer that in slow calves, difficult births, twins and calves born to wild cows, all should get supplemental colostrum.
But giving it to all calves just means higher costs and more labour, plus it may fill them up and remove their natural desire to suckle right at birth. This limits the natural bonding of cow to calf.
In the end, you want to treat what you need to treat, but avoid practices like giving a group of calves a treatment as a preventive, or vaccinating for diseases you don’t have a problem with, such as pinkeye, vibrio or leptospirosis.
In Western Canada, these vaccinations should only be used for specific situations on specific farms, when prescribed by a veterinarian.
Bovine response to treatment is generally fast but re-treatments on some things can really improve the outcome — things like kidney infection, peritonitis (hardware disease) for mature cattle or navel infection in calves, to name a few.
Getting the diagnosis right, combined with the appropriate treatment for the required length of time, always provides the best outcome.
