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Cow Help

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Lenahorse

Active member
Joined
Aug 15, 2007
Messages
30
Location
Greenville TX
I am asking for some advice, I have an angus bull 4 YO that we thought had lump jaw, we put him in a chute yesterday and the lump is hard and attached to the jaw or it seems to be, it looks like jaw cancer is starting to me. It ruptured last week and drained quite a bit but it still there, we gave a large dose of antibotics, lanced it, drained it more, and cleaned it out. Is there anything else I could do.
Thanks to all in advance.---Larry

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Actinomycosis or lumpy jaw produces immovable hard swellings on the upper and lower jawbones of cattle, commonly at the central molar level. It is caused by an anaerobic micro-organism, Actinomyces bovis. The bacterium invades tissue through breaks in the lining of the mouth caused by eating rough forage. The tumor-like swellings develop slowly and may take several months to reach a noticeable size. Lumpy jaw may be well advanced before external signs are visible. The lumps consist of honeycombed masses of thin bone filled with yellow pus. If neglected the swellings may become very large. In advanced cases openings develop and discharge small amounts of sticky pus containing gritty yellow granules.

Difficult breathing due to involvement of the nasal bones may be the first sign. As the disease progresses, chewing becomes more difficult and painful, resulting in loss of condition. Occasionally, the soft tissues of the head and alimentary tract can be involved. Lesions in the alimentary tract give vague symptoms of indigestion, often with chronic bloat.

The most common treatments are iodine therapy or tetracyclines. Treatment is often ineffective. If the disease is detected early, it may be better to dispose of the animal while it is still in good condition. Only the head should be condemned by meat inspectors, unless the lesions have spread elsewhere in the body.
 
Could it be just a plain on snake bite that got infected?

We've had several of those happen over the years....swell up...lump...rupture ( or we open it up) drain it and heal it up.
 
Lenahorse said:
We thought of snake bite, the mass seems attached to the jaw bone and is not 'jello" feeling, its solid
Click to expand...

We had an old cow that got ,what you described, a lump on her jaw. of course we could not see any bite marks...but it was a hard mass by the time we got to her. The vet told me that a cows system will turn an infection into a granuloma, a hard mass, which isolates it from the rest of the body....thus why I had a hard mass instead of a giggly mess.

I cut into it...drained some super duper nasty cottage cheesy like crude outta her over a period of several days. I took a syringe and cut the bottom out of the barrel which made a tube, shaved an area on the ' lump' and taped and stitched the drain into place to keep it open.

Every other day, as I kept her close by, I'd catch her up and wash out /back flush the ' lump' via that tube I'd installed with hydrogen peroxide and a weak betadine solution. Antibiotics galore. She got better, would not win any beauty contests for sure...but she raised that yrs calf and went on to die here as an old lady!!!


NOW...if you don't want to go to that much work, or he's hard to deal with, or not worth the trouble....I'd sale barn him.
 
Looks like lumpy jaw... seeing as it's caused by a bacteria that invades the bone, it shouldn't be a surprise that it may rupture and drain too.

Here's an advanced case of actinomycosis (this one did drain from time to time, cow was culled at weaning)...

lumpyjaw.JPG
 
Gosh, we haven't had a lump jaw cow in YEARS.

When we did, and we took them to the sale, they sold as "SUSPECT" and were tested after being killed. If anything had gone through their system they went in the tank and we got nothing.

If you have a place close by that takes these kind of cattle, you
are better off to take them there. They too, buy them as "SUSPECT"
but it seems they pay a better price and of course, there is no
commission.

We ALWAYS got rid of them because some ranchers think it could be
contagious and we certainly didn't want to get that started going through
our herd.

GOOD LUCK!
 
Every few years we end up with a case of lump jaw, and once in a while treatment works. We have allways chosen not to sell them but rather allow them to blend into their surroundings here :wink:
 
I had a cow here last fall that developed a lumpy jaw. The vet felt she might have gotten a thorn stuck in the mouth that allowed infection. After lancing it and cleaning it and a fortune in anti biotics she died and ended the problem. At least her calf was near weaning and was fine. Was it a thorn that started the whole thing?? I guess that is as good an excuse as any.

Hind sight is always 20/20 so I guess I should have shot her the first time I noticed a problem but most of the time I come out better than this so I keep trying on each one.
 
The advice to sell this bull ignores the fact that he has already received "a large dose of antibotics."

Once we make the decision to treat something with antibiotics, we have made the commitment to ride it out - for better or worse - until the withdrawal period is up.
 
Lenahorse,

Yep, looks like lump jaw. Only thing I would add to your treatment of lancing, cleaning, & antibiotics (tetracycline), is to administer something to reduce the swelling. A steroid like Dexamethasone or something similar will reduce the inflammation. Dex & steroids can cause abortion in bred animals but since it's a bull, no problems. I like to use Potassium Iodide, about a tablespoon full diluted in about 1 cup of water, given orally with an esophageal tube. It works the same as a steroid, reducing inflammation, but seems to me it stays in the cows blood stream a little longer. No proof of that just my cowman's logic and that's what my now retired vet used.

It's up to you whether you want to cull him or not but I've had several bulls over the years, that have had an isolated lump or two, and recovered and went on to work as the Lord intended.

Good Luck
 
Ace is much better today, about 50% or more of the lump has gone down, it might have been snake bite, we are going to doctor him again Friday and drain it & wash it out. Tetracycline is what we gave him
Thanks again to all of you.
 
Keep it draining and open, as that's the best thing for it right now. Keep the flys from it also.

I bet it was just a snake bite.

He'll have a scar he can brag to all the ladies about!!! :wink: :wink: :wink:
 

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