Steer with swollen head/jaw, bloodshot eyes and frothing...

[GTB]

Bad day yesterday. Had a 10 month old Hereford x steer on an improved hill in the middle of nowhere with a swollen head, bloodshot eyes and dribbling/frothing from the mouth. Tried to get him in put he went for me. We ended up following him in the landrover which he also went for, denting the driver's door and a front wing. Managed to drive/push him into the pens and went home to fetch a tractor and trailer to collect him and take home. Had to get two quiet cows in to keep him company and help to load him into the trailer. He wasn't safe to be in with so we had to use the quad to drive him into the trailer and he had a go at that too. Vet came out and said he'd never seen anything like it before and took bloods, photos and gave him antibiotics and steroids. He's slightly better today I think but not sure how to get him back in the crush for his jab!

Any ideas @bovine ?

 

[Doc]

Some sort of cellulitis would be top of my list. If it's improved you're on the right track. See these occasionally, often with no real idea how it originated. Keep on with antibiotics, maybe some long acting if it's being difficult (I like Betamox LA or double dose exenel) and a jab of caprofen/meloxicam under the skin at same time.
They usually resolve quite quickly (week or so) if that's what it is.

 

[Short_Angus]

Are there any Adders on the hill ?
Had a heifer with similar symptoms a few years ago.

 

[llamedos]

Are there any Adders on the hill ?
Had a heifer with similar symptoms a few years ago.

http://www.xlvets-farm.co.uk/sites/...ite/press-articles/Farm_Vet_Autumn_2014_0.pdf

 

[GTB]

Are there any Adders on the hill ?
Had a heifer with similar symptoms a few years ago.

Don't think so but there could be I suppose.

 

[GTB]

http://www.xlvets-farm.co.uk/sites/...ite/press-articles/Farm_Vet_Autumn_2014_0.pdf

That sounds plausible.

 

[AGN76]

Yep, saw a Friesian heifer with a swollen head last year, vet diagnosed a snake bite.

 

[GTB]

Thanks for all the replies, he's much better today. The swelling has gone down and he's eating hay but the white of his eyes are still very red.

 

[Mr always wrong]

Thanks for all the replies, he's much better today. The swelling has gone down and he's eating hay but the white of his eyes are still very red.

Does sound like an adder bite, though when we were in Scotland used to have a vet who used to diagnose adder bite if they didn't really know, antibiotics and steroids would be given and usually worked

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Thanks for all the replies, he's much better today. The swelling has gone down and he's eating hay but the white of his eyes are still very red.

Sounds like me the morning after a few too many ciders

 

[choochter]

Sounds like me the morning after a few too many ciders

how many years of training did you need to diagnose that

 

[Northeastfarmer]

how many years of training did you need to diagnose that

Since I was 14

 

[Danllan]

Does sound like an adder bite, though when we were in Scotland used to have a vet who used to diagnose adder bite if they didn't really know, antibiotics and steroids would be given and usually worked

I've no experience of snakebite in the UK but have seen plenty of stock with bites in Africa; clearly an adder is small and its venom is not particularly strong, but is there no obvious swelling to reveal a likely location for the bite and, therefore, a more probable diagnosis?

 

[ford4000]

We had a bullock with a very swollen head 10 or so years ago, vet thought he must have been bitten on the nose by an adder

 

[Mr always wrong]

I've no experience of snakebite in the UK but have seen plenty of stock with bites in Africa; clearly an adder is small and its venom is not particularly strong, but is there no obvious swelling to reveal a likely location for the bite and, therefore, a more probable diagnosis?

It was more a case of a standing joke with vet that if in doubt say it was an adder bite so jag with ab's and steroids

 

[Doc]

I think the most toxic bit of a UK adder bite for a steer will come from the bacteria in the adders mouth with resultant cellulitis.
'Snake bite' in a valuable Bull, Horse etc was the go to insurance diagnosis for a 'found dead' valuable animal in rural Australia in the 70's-90's. Maybe some were, They now have tighter testing/post mortem if it's a big claim and the snakes seem to be less toxic these days.

 

[roscoe erf]

how many years of training did you need to diagnose that

Since I was 14

only the two then

 

[GTB]

He's still on the mend. All the swelling has gone and he's eating a bit. Lost a lot of condition though.

 

[marco]

it wasn't timber tongue was it?

 

[Alicecow]

His nose looks like it's been burnt.