A weird woody tongue..

[Kiwi Pete]

Have a steer that I noticed a few days back, with a swollen beak and some dribble issues

So, I called a local vet out for a diagnosis, as I've seen plenty of abscesses and this didn't really look like one to me!

We took a tissue sample for lab testing, and it is Wooden Tongue.
Just thought I'd share, for the interest of those out there (like myself) that like a school day now and then
Will keep you posted on how he recovers, is almost a year old and 340kg on the hoof. He's still eating fine, I put him back inside just to make it a little easier to corner him.

Pete

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Have a steer that I noticed a few days back, with a swollen beak and some dribble issuesView attachment 580690
So, I called a local vet out for a diagnosis, as I've seen plenty of abscesses and this didn't really look like one to me!View attachment 580692
We took a tissue sample for lab testing, and it is Wooden Tongue.
Just thought I'd share, for the interest of those out there (like myself) that like a school day now and then
Will keep you posted on how he recovers, is almost a year old and 340kg on the hoof. He's still eating fine, I put him back inside just to make it a little easier to corner him.

Pete

Only ever seen it once. It must be horrible to live with but it won't kill them.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Only ever seen it once. It must be horrible to live with but it won't kill them.

We had a horrible one on the organic dairy unit, but it was more a typical case with a big fat tongue. I had to 'bulldog it' and drench it with iodine everyday, it was easier for a start til she got wise to the idea. Have also had a couple of bottle-jaw cases in dairy cattle, nasty..
I thought the vet did pretty well with her correct diagnosis, all the local cattle experts suggested it was a tooth related issue..or perhaps just bruising from an injury.

Can't be very nice but he is still very stoic about it, I can feed him a handful of grass over the fence- wait til I start injections
I may have to yard him for that. The first one will be the easiest

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

We had a horrible one on the organic dairy unit, but it was more a typical case with a big fat tongue. I had to 'bulldog it' and drench it with iodine everyday, it was easier for a start til she got wise to the idea. Have also had a couple of bottle-jaw cases in dairy cattle, nasty..
I thought the vet did pretty well with her correct diagnosis, all the local cattle experts suggested it was a tooth related issue..or perhaps just bruising from an injury.

Can't be very nice but he is still very stoic about it, I can feed him a handful of grass over the fence- wait til I start injections
I may have to yard him for that. The first one will be the easiest

Look on it as an alternative to using a gym

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I hope he comes right, these are a great wee mob now they've settled down. Fat as butter but still a little bit grubby to grace the pages of TFF
I will give them a weigh very soon as they will have been here 13 weeks on Monday.

 

[milkloss]

We've had a few here, I think the reeds out of the ditches can pr*ck them in the mouth/tongue and that's what causes it. Treatment is the simple usually: have a look in their mouth and pull or squeeze any debris out and a course of pen strep (from memory, come to think of it we haven't had any for a couple years..........touch wood!)

 

[Kiwi Pete]

The vet gave me some Vibrostrep

 

[choochter]

I hope he comes right, these are a great wee mob now they've settled down. Fat as butter but still a little bit grubby to grace the pages of TFF
I will give them a weigh very soon as they will have been here 13 weeks on Monday.

Has he got a pal? Keep him inside with another one that he gets along with. Will aid his recovery.

 

[choochter]

Has he got a pal? Keep him inside with another one that he gets along with. Will aid his recovery.

(although you probably know all this )

 

[Kiwi Pete]

He's got plenty of mates at the moment, as he's out again in a handy young grass paddock with the rest, now that I know it's not syphillis but I did keep him with a mate when he was in, and they listened to the radio, music helps them relax when they're in isolation I reckon.
Or park "their tractor" in sight!

( maybe I'm just a bit...)

 

[digger64]

He's got plenty of mates at the moment micotil 's out again in a handy young grass paddock with the rest, now that I know it's not syphillis but I did keep him with a mate when he was in, and they listened to the radio, music helps them relax when they're in isolation I reckon.
Or park ",their tractor" in sight!

( maybe I'm just a bit...)

Can you get micotil in nz ? We would occasionally get one when thistles are bad on hls, micotil asap before they banned it here , it was small enough dose for westergun then

 

[Kiwi Pete]

A bit of a progress report on this beast!

Last picture he was weighing in at 313 kg
Now tipping the scales at 368, the infection has cleared but the big jump is still there. Not bad weight gain in under a month about the same as the others, mob average is 328.6 up from 286 in the 24th sept.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Can you get micotil in nz ? We would occasionally get one when thistles are bad on hls, micotil asap before they banned it here , it was small enough dose for westergun then

It doesn't look like we can get it here.
Yes in Australia by the looks..

This is what the vet gave me, and it worked well, as after working out LWG across the mob- he is growing at 2kg/day, wee bit more than the smaller ones.
He still didn't want to go up my vet race though!

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Progress report on my patient:

Looking pretty much back to his usual smiling self.
The swelling has gone down quite a bit since last update and growing well. 408kgs now, the fatty!

Cheers for all the helpful advice

 

[TelesnaAg]

Awesome story!!

Im surprised they grow at all on that shabby looking land

Ant...

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Awesome story!!

Im surprised they grow at all on that shabby looking land

Ant...

Cheers, Ant, I did at first think he'd either managed to give his teeth a whack on something in the tunnel, or it was a tumour growing.
Neither of which really impressed me greatly.. so was pretty relieved that it was just a different form of woody tongue (and easily treatable with a week of antibiotic).

Very nice cattle to have around though, not quite pets but not far off it. Very quiet and inquisitive, the bull mob get a little bit silly at times; I'm considering sending our pet bulls off to the saleyard soon, as they have no respect anymore (and I'm too soft to send them to their deaths).

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Cheers, Ant, I did at first think he'd either managed to give his teeth a whack on something in the tunnel, or it was a tumour growing.
Neither of which really impressed me greatly.. so was pretty relieved that it was just a different form of woody tongue (and easily treatable with a week of antibiotic).

Very nice cattle to have around though, not quite pets but not far off it. Very quiet and inquisitive, the bull mob get a little bit silly at times; I'm considering sending our pet bulls off to the saleyard soon, as they have no respect anymore (and I'm too soft to send them to their deaths).

Man up, Pansy

 

[TelesnaAg]

Are they hereford angus cross?

Ant...

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I may have got a bit annoyed when Boofhead decided he was going to try to mush me through the rails in the cattleyards yesterday.
Won't leave horns on "friendly" bulls again... lesson learned the sore way.
He can go lift someone else's gates off the hinges methinks. Ninja too. Stroppy buggers!
.. Will keep Whiteboy though, and he can go in the freezer
That's the trouble, they get to a year and then get all playful, and respect no-one.
They don't owe us much, $150 worth of milk powder, $60 worth of silage, and vaccinations. Should fetch $1000+ each

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Are they hereford angus cross?

Ant...

Yes they are.
Mostly Angus and a few Hereford x in that mob. Damn good cattle for an all pasture system, they won't live til 18 months. 18 heifers and the rest are steers, all out of hill country so they soon finish down here by the seaside