Farm Visits

Today I was called out with the vet to a bullock that we were told was suffering from a problem with its left front leg. The farmer had said that this was bleeding, and the cow was limping fairly badly on it.
On arrival at the farm, it was clear to see that the bullock was extremely agitated and aggressive.
The first step was to get the bullock into the crush, enabling the sedative to be administered. This was injected into the muscle and also into the bloodstream through the easy to access vessel in the tail. The bullock, which was 11 months old was then released into a small shed which was layed with straw. After waiting for the drugs to take effect, it was clear to see that the animal would not be able to be approached as it was still very much aware of its surroundings and was still very aggressive. Eventually it was pinned behind the large gate that would have been able to split the shed into two. A additional dose was added, meaning that the animal had now had over twice its recommended dose. The vet was of course reluctant to administer any further drug to the animal, but still it would not go down. In the end we resorted to the use of rope and a restraining head collar to get the animal onto its side. Once the animal was restrained we were able to get our first clear look at the wound. The cleat on the left fore leg was cut almost clean through and had gone through the soft tissue. The cut through was clean and there was no splintering. The vet speculated that this was due to a sharp object such as metal sheeting that the animal had stepped on, going right through the foot. Using large clippers the affected area of the cleat was cut away. This caused a fair bit of bleeding which was stopped by applying pressure with swabs. The entire foot was then dipped in a Iodine solution to ensure that it was thoroughly cleaned of away dirt and dung, and the area was scrubbed vigorously with the same solution to limit the risk of infection.
At this point the animal became more restless and began attempting to get up and so the vet had to move to the head of the animal, holding it round to prevent it rising, whilst the farmer effectively sat on the bullocks back.
This meant that I was left in charge of the dressing and bandage. With the vets help, I applied a wound powder and cream to the area before applying swabs over the top of this. Cotton wool bandaging was then added, wrapped all the way up the foot. This was then help in place by sticking plaster, with adhesive coloured wired tape strapped over the cotton wool layer in many layers. Three rolls of this were used in total. The vet then suggested that the foot was protected by something waterproof, particularly as the farmer could not guarantee that the animal would be able to be kept in clean dry conditions. Again this helped to limit the risk of infection which is the biggest worry with a injury such as this. In the end it was a old feed bag which was strapped around the foot and kept tight with tape. The vet then administered a long lasting antibiotic to further protect against infection, before removing the head collar and ropes, allowing the bullock to get up.
The vet told the farmer that the animal would be lethargic and quiet for a while, but that there was nothing to worry about. Throughout the procedure the vet told the farmer exactly what he was doing so that the farmer was kept in the loop-an important veterinary skill.