Cattle - Raising Small Animals - page 438

General Cow Health
Cattle are vulnerable to many diseases. Vaccinations, good nutrition, cleanliness, and parasite
control will give you good health assurance for your herd. However, you will need to know a
little about various diseases that can strike a cow or calf and how to recognize a sick animal.
Vaccinations
This section will give common viral diseases and vaccinations recommended for all cattle.
Viral diseases are difficult to treat, as antibiotics do not kill viruses. Treatment is primarily
supportive by keeping feed and water available, separating sick animals from healthy animals,
and using medications to reduce fevers and inflammation. Many times, antibiotics are used to
treat secondary bacterial infections. Vaccinations are available to prevent many viral diseases
from causing problems in your herd.
A good time to schedule vaccinations is in the fall when cows can be checked to see how their
pregnancies are progressing. This way, you can schedule the help you will need to catch the
cattle and restrain them for vaccination. A strong vaccination program is well worth the time,
effort, and small outlay of money. Vaccinations are the cheapest health insurance you can give
your cattle. In addition, when excess calves are sold at auction, having them vaccinated will
bring a dividend to you at sale time. Buyers will have more confidence that your cattle will re-
main healthy when brought into their feedlots or herds if they are vaccinated.
Before weaning, calves should be vaccinated with a seven-way blackleg vaccine, a five-way
leptospirosis vaccine, and with a combination vaccine for IBR-BVD-PI3. Heifers should be
vaccinated against Brucellosis when they are between 4 and 12 months old. If pinkeye is a
problem in your area, calves should be vaccinated against this before the start of the grazing
season. Blackleg is a disease caused by spore-forming Clostridium bacteria . The spores can
lie dormant in the soil for years and infect a calf when it eats feed or soil contaminated by the
spores. The spores lodge in various organs and muscles in the calf, and they multiply when an
injury occurs. The injury does not have to be severe, as even slight bruising can cause the
spores to become active and multiply. Many times there are no signs of infection, and an in-
fected calf may just be found dead.
Brucellosis is a contagious disease caused by the bacteria Brucella abortus . It can also infect
humans where it causes a condition called undulant fever characterized by fevers, fatigue,
joint pain, headaches, and psychotic behavior. Before the eradication program started in the