Page 14 - ACV Journal DECEMBER 2015

Scientific
abaxial wall with the angle grinder, I use a blowtorch to dry all moisture
from the sole and wooden block, before applying the glue the block,
then sticking to the hoof. I aim for 10mm thick glue, and bead the glue
to the abaxial wall to form a seal. My antibiotic use is quite restricted
when dealing with feet – my biggest pet peeve in practice is the use
of secondary antibiotics for ‘frontline’ diseases/syndromes – where
primary antibiotics will suit just fine. For example, footrot responds to
Procaine Penicillin very nicely, as will metritis to a tetracycline; rather
than using Cefitofur (Accent, Excenel or Exceed) – simply because
it has no milk WHP. Ok, jumping off my high-horse, I use penicillin
most commonly for any condition involving the foot, with exception to
Spirochete infections (Treponema) – conditions such as erosive digital
dermatitis or hairy-heelwart. Keep your mouth closed when dealing
with these, as these pathogens will erode human oral mucosa if they
get into your gob. I use topical tetracyclines, either impregnated gauze
poultice, or better yet, Alamycin aerosol spray. Often these lesions are
on the hindlimbs (not sure why??), and in a dairy situation, the farmer is
easily able to apply a spray to the lesion every milking – perfect. With
regards to local anaesthesia, I will use both IVRP’s and interdigital nerve
blocks, depending on the site of pain. I am sure to inform the owner the
cow will walk sound when she walks out, but this will be short-lived.
I make sure I hoof test the entire foot before blocking it out, as once
the lignocaine is in – your pain responses are gone! My NSAID of
choice is Meloxicam, simply for its prolonged action (3 days if given s/c).
This is a clinic preference, however I’ve recently heard (anecdotally)
think Tolfenamic acid has similar duration of action and efficacy, so am
looking into a few papers on it as I type this submission. Metacam has a
pesky 6-day milk WHP, so if no other WHP treatments are being given,
I will defer to Ketoprofen (with zero milk WHP) to avoid the lost milk, for
as long as is indicated.”
“For dairy cows, restrained in the crush, I like to use a ratchet strap
under the chest the help support the weight. I just use a rope to lift
legs, a loop around the pastern, over the crush and under the hock,
back over the crush – sort of like a double pulley, but easier to clean.
For beef cows, I just restrain in the crush and use ropes as described.
For bulls, ill often tie their head around to the front of the crush, as their
thick necks mean they often pull back out of the head bail. Bulls being
as strong and powerful as they are, ill usually just cast them using ropes
and xylazine IV. It works very well and gives me access to all 4 feet,
and is often a lot quicker than trying to lift feet in poor setups. We see
quite a number of deep digital infections, and I cast these with ropes
and xylazine also. This makes it easy to perform a claw amputation.
Haven’t had huge use of cow slips, I think the slips are stronger but the
wood blocks are cheaper and I usually only want them off the claw for
14 The Australian Cattle Veterinarian | volume 77 | December 2015
a couple of days, so wood blocks are my go to. I use topical Alamycin
for hairy warts, and Long acting penicillin in beef cows if there is soft
tissue involvement (foot rot, wounds or an abscess that has broken out
at the coronet) I use short acting penicillin in dairy cows if there is soft
tissue involvement. If it a toe abscess or similar I just wrap the foot with
cotton wool soaked in iodine and bandage on, plus block on other claw.
Generally don’t use NSAIDS.”
“I mainly see lame dairy cows over winter with the odd lame beef
cow here and there too. Restraint is achieved with a pulley system
to lift the leg and a second rope to tie it to a solid part of the
crush or race to facilitate examination. Xylazine 20mg/ml may be
used in particularly fractious cows but I find this is rarely necessary.
However it is almost always used in bulls. I use the Bovibond glue
and rubber blocks when needed. The clinic switched over from
cowslips years ago and I find the Bovibond blocks have less issues
with fit - they can be used on heifers, bulls and cows and instead of
trimming the foot to fit the cowslip you can trim the block to fit the
foot which is better. In particularly bad cases of bilateral hind foot
solar bruising which I see on some farms in the heifers I may also
block the ‘least bad’ foot and have been known to trim out sections
of the block to spare bruised areas if needed. Antibiotics are mainly
used for interdigital dermatitis and footrot. I don’t have much faith
in LA penicillin so I use a lot of oxytetracycline - topical spray for
IDD and injectable for footrot. In the dairies I also use cefitiofur for
its nil milk withhold.
I believe I probably underutilitse pain relief. I do try to use it as often as I
can - mainly Ketoprofen on dairies for the nil milk withhold and meloxicam
in beef cows for the longer duration of action. I think I sometimes worry
about the added cost for the client which is silly because I do know that
pain can negatively affect production however for clients this is a hidden
cost and all they see are the numbers on the invoice!”
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