With the holidays over now, we are looking at getting ready for spring time. The first thing I think of this time of year is to make sure our mineral program is balanced right. We are headed straight into grass tetany season. I have seen grass tetany as early as the holiday season and as late as May.
Grass tetany is a problem with the lack of mineral. Specifically, Magnesium, which most of our grass is very low in. Or it is tied up by potash or the fescue plant itself and unavailable to the cow. The medical name of the problem is hypo magnesium, which means low magnesium. This affects the muscles and central nervous system. It will put the muscles into a tetany and then the nervous system is affected by showing signs of agitation. This agitation can be very dangerous. It will make a normally calm cow try to get you.
I have been chased around a tree and up a hill until I slipped on the wet grass and fell flat. At this time the cow was on top of me and if I would not have kicked her off of me I could have been seriously hurt. These cows are very unpredictable and can hurt you in a heart beat. Please, be careful!
The treatment for grass tetany cases is intravenous administration of a Magnesium solution. I have also treated some intraperitoneally, but it does not work as well. But, when you cannot control the animal to get an IV in, you do the best that you can and not get any people hurt.
Now the answer to get these cows out of trouble is in the bottle and an IV, but the answer to solve the whole problem is in the mineral feeder. You must be feeding a mineral with 10 percent Magnesium, and insuring that every cow is eating it. If they do not eat it, then what good is it going to do? I recommend a fescue balancer with 10 percent magnesium. Due to the bulk of our grass being fescue, we need to stay on the balancers year round. Otherwise, you will have other problems later on.
To insure cows are eating it and that there is fresh mineral out at all times, I recommend putting out loose mineral at least twice a week. This will keep you apprized of how much they are eating and supply fresh mineral for them at all times. The reason I like loose mineral over block is; have you ever tried to quench your thirst with an ice cube? Your tongue wears out before you ever get enough water. I would prefer a big glass of water, myself, and so does the cow.
Dr. Tim O’Neill owns Country Veterinary Clinic in Farmington, Ark.
