On-Call / Vet

While dealing with the ice and cold weather I have noticed our nutrition gurus are looking more and moiré into balancing rations of essential amino acids instead of protein. I ask the question “Is their requirement of protein for animals in their diet?” Actually “NO.” Animals must have the 10 essential amino acids and cats require 11 amino acids.

Many times horse owners think that only old horses have teeth issues and eating problems are the only signs telling them that their horse has a problem. Over several years of looking at horse’s mouth I can only think of a hand full that did not need some type of dental maintenance.

You’ve been training the cows to come into the catch pen for the past couple of weeks. You got your help all lined up. You’ve got the vet scheduled for the exact time you wanted to work cows. Everything appears ready to go work your herd. But wait-have you taken time to give your facilities an inspection? This may not be the first thing you think about when planning fall herd work, but it may be the most critical and important thing you can do to ensure an efficient and safe working day for your cattle, your help and yourself.

New rules regarding identification of livestock from one state to another became effective on March 11, 2013.  These rules were designed to assist with traceability of livestock in the event of a disease outbreak in the United States. The new rules were originally posted on January 9, 2013, but were postponed until March while revisions were made after several comments from the public. The new rules apply primarily to cattle and include several changes in recording identification for health certificates accompanying cattle transported across state lines. The new rules describe the classes of animals required to have official identification, the types of official identification allowed and the record keeping and documentation requirements for the new identification rules.

According to the calendar, spring is here and you have your calf crop on the ground and are thinking maybe you should be going over the farm equipment before spring planting starts. Something else you should be thinking about is getting ready for breeding season so that you have a new calf crop for next year. Some planning now on your part can go along way to making next year’s calf crop successful.

Recently in southwest Missouri we have seen an increase in number of herds affected with Trichomoniasis. This disease is a reproductive nightmare. It can be devastating to the owner. Reducing the calf crop and eliminating any significant income for that herd.

Fall is now officially here, fall calving is in full swing and now is the time to start thinking about your bull power for breeding season coming in less than two months. Too many times in my practice over the past 20 years I have seen cattlemen plan and strategize for handling cows and heifers for the upcoming breeding season, only to forget that their bulls are an equally important part of the breeding equation. I would suggest, rather than a last minute rush, that you start planning now to make sure the bulls are ready to perform.

This past week I was asked to necropsy a 1-week-old calf found dead. The owner had seen no evidence of sickness and the calf was with its mother all the time. The necropsy revealed an extremely emaciated body with no internal body fat present. The second client was a dairy client who was having trouble with calves dying between 1-2 weeks of age, with minimal clinical diarrhea or respiratory symptoms. While these cases are quite different, they got me to thinking about the reasons I see similar cases every year during this winter season.

As we enter the New Year many of my horse clients are making plans for the spring. This is the time of year to start thinking about vaccinating, don’t wait. Remember vaccines do not provide immediate protection, some require four to six weeks for protective immunity. If you are planning on moving your horse out of state for any reason do not wait until the last minute for your EIA (Coggin’s) test.

Watch for acorn toxicosis this fall.