Infection at castration site of show steer . PLEASE HELP MY SON.

[koonta]

Please help, my son has a show steer that is continuing to drain  pus at the castration site, there remains a quarter size hole at the castration site.  We had a vet look at it and he told us that as long as it continued to drain not to worry about it. This has been going on for over a month. We did give him penicillin and sulfa (not at the same time). Another cattle man recommended that we irrigate the site with an epsom salt solution and we tried this but no matter what we do he contines to have a large amount of drainage every day. He has been eating fine... that is until today, he didn't eat well. He has also been running an intermittent fever. I need some advise from anyone who can help. This is a great steer and my son is very attached to him, not to mention we paid more for him than we normally would. I have had many suggestions but would like to hear from someone who has experience this. We are primarily dairy farmers so don't deal with this. He was castrated by cutting method.  Would LA 200 work? Please please please any help would be apprecitated

 

[jason]

Moved to main forum

 

[chambero]

Call your vet again and get him to look at it again,  And do what he says, not anything else.  Ive never heard of using epsom salts on something like that.  Epsom salts help take down external swelling, not an internal problem.  All you had to do was read the box of epsom salt to figure that out.

If you dont like that vet call another, but all he needs is antiobiotic + maybe rinsing out to get any epsom salt residue.  The cutting method was not the problem.

 

[DL]

Please help, my son has a show steer that is continuing to drain  pus at the castration site, there remains a quarter size hole at the castration site.  We had a vet look at it and he told us that as long as it continued to drain not to worry about it. This has been going on for over a month. We did give him penicillin and sulfa (not at the same time). Another cattle man recommended that we irrigate the site with an epsom salt solution and we tried this but no matter what we do he contines to have a large amount of drainage every day. He has been eating fine... that is until today, he didn't eat well. He has also been running an intermittent fever. I need some advise from anyone who can help. This is a great steer and my son is very attached to him, not to mention we paid more for him than we normally would. I have had many suggestions but would like to hear from someone who has experience this. We are primarily dairy farmers so don't deal with this. He was castrated by cutting method.  Would LA 200 work? Please please please any help would be apprecitated

I agree 100% with chambero and would add one thing - if something has been draining pus for more than a month it implies that either there is a nidus of infection (ie there is something in there somewhere, maybe a foreign body, like a stitch or a piece of dead tissue or a piece of barn yard debris) or the steer does not have a competent immune system and is unable to fight off the infection. The fact that he is not eating and has an intermittent fever suggests that he is systemically ill - ie the problem isn't just confined to the castration site

I don't know where you live but if you are near a vet school it may be worth taking him up for a complete exam, testing for BVD PI and perhaps ultrasound of the area followed by surgical exploration - you can dink around with ineffective treatment and hocus pocus BS until the steer is so sick he might not recover.

Not to be unkind but "being primarily dairy farmers" and "having gotten many suggestions" are not good reasons to ignore common sense.  Cattle, being prey animals are excellent at hiding illness and infirmity. Your steer is sick - he has not responded to "treatment", is not eating well, has intermittent fevers and a surgical site that has been draining for over a month.  In any event get the steer to a vet and as chambero says do exactly what hes/he says to do - from your description your son's steer has bigger issues that a castration site infection 

 

[Buck]

"Hydrotherapy"  This is a treatment that is widely utilized in Vet. Medicine today and is effective. It is simply showering in and around the affected area with water! Take your average garden variety hose with a sprayer nozzle on the end. Shower the area at least twice a day for about 15 minutes until the incision heals. It has worked for me on numerous occasions. The cold water reduces swelling while cleaning and irrigating the wound, and there appear to be some healing benefits to the massaging action of the water. I am not a Vet. but these specific instructions were given to me by one. I hope this helps.

 

[Pleasant Grove Farms]

we had a bad infection in a castration site;
used Draxxin at the recommended rate.

think it took 2-3 treatments....
it was a bad infection but now the steer is totally healed and doing very well.

 

[rackranch]

Take him to the Vet.  I have had this problem before and the Doc had to go in, clean it out, and allow it to heal from the inside out with high dose pen.  Do not use your garden hose to wash it out.  It could introduce bacteria from your water into site of infection.  If you choose to rinse the site I would use a sterile saline solution but only after DVM consult. G-Luck

 

[willow]

I agree with everyone who recommends contacting your vet.  If he is still having drainage etc. he probably needs another round of antibiotics.  In addition to antibiotics I would recommend looking into Granulex V.  It is a aerosol product that you can pick up at your local animal supply store.  I think you would be impressed with the results just by using the Granulex.  Of course you would have to be able to spray it up into the wound.  Best of luck.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

At this point, there is obviously a nasty infection going on, that is now causing fever, and affecting his appetite.  Now is not the time for trying things that may or may not work.  As suggested: TAKE HIM TO A VET!  Many of these suggestions would have been great a 3-4 wks ago -  but not now.  Good luck and keep us posted. 

 

[rf21970]

Our normal treatment for what you describe is any broad spectrum antibiotic-penicillan G, LA 200, etc should work. The antibiotics like Draxxin, Micotil, Nuflor are for respiratory disease and are usually not as effective against infection such as what you describe. Plus they are very expensive. Along with the antibiotics a dose of banamine and probios. The banamine will help reduce any swelling and fever. The probios will help stimulate his appetite. Antibiotic spray or ointment on the wound should promote healing as well.

As has been stated often, always consult with your vet.

 

[DL]

Our normal treatment for what you describe is any broad spectrum antibiotic-penicillan G, LA 200, etc should work. The antibiotics like Draxxin, Micotil, Nuflor are for respiratory disease and are usually not as effective against infection such as what you describe. Plus they are very expensive. Along with the antibiotics a dose of banamine and probios. The banamine will help reduce any swelling and fever. The probios will help stimulate his appetite. Antibiotic spray or ointment on the wound should promote healing as well.

As has been stated often, always consult with your vet.

Not to be feisty here but I have several issues with the accuracy of your post
-Penicillin is not generally considered a broad spectrum antibiotic - it is effective against primarily gram + bacteria and it's effectiveness (and that of tetracycline ie LA 200) has been greatly diminished by bacterial resistance to these drugs. The likelihood that PNC would work in this situation is slim esp since it has already been used unsuccessfully
-Just because you can buy it OTC does not mean it is the right drug to use
-Draxxin is a broad spectrum antibiotic (as are Micotil and Nuflor) - although Draxxin is labeled for treatment and prevention of respiratory disease in cattle it is also labeled for foot rot and pink eye. Furthermore it can be used off label (according to ELDU and AMDUCA) for a variety of infectious conditions
-I would be interested in any evidence you have to support your statement " The antibiotics like Draxxin, Micotil, Nuflor are for respiratory disease and are usually not as effective against infection such as what you describe. Plus they are very expensive." - if the infection is caused by bacteria that are susceptible to the antibiotic they will work (assuming no nidus of infection) BTW what is more expensive a dose of Draxxin or a dead steer?
-Masking the fever with Banamine will not deal with the primary problem
-Just because you (generic you) have had a calf with a castration site infection does not mean that it is the same as this calf - this calf has had the problem for over a month and is systemically ill - it needs to be seen by a vet

 

[rf21970]

Our normal treatment for what you describe is any broad spectrum antibiotic-penicillan G, LA 200, etc should work. The antibiotics like Draxxin, Micotil, Nuflor are for respiratory disease and are usually not as effective against infection such as what you describe. Plus they are very expensive. Along with the antibiotics a dose of banamine and probios. The banamine will help reduce any swelling and fever. The probios will help stimulate his appetite. Antibiotic spray or ointment on the wound should promote healing as well.

As has been stated often, always consult with your vet.

Not to be feisty here but I have several issues with the accuracy of your post
-Penicillin is not generally considered a broad spectrum antibiotic - it is effective against primarily gram + bacteria and it's effectiveness (and that of tetracycline ie LA 200) has been greatly diminished by bacterial resistance to these drugs. The likelihood that PNC would work in this situation is slim esp since it has already been used unsuccessfully
-Just because you can buy it OTC does not mean it is the right drug to use
-Draxxin is a broad spectrum antibiotic (as are Micotil and Nuflor) - although Draxxin is labeled for treatment and prevention of respiratory disease in cattle it is also labeled for foot rot and pink eye. Furthermore it can be used off label (according to ELDU and AMDUCA) for a variety of infectious conditions
-I would be interested in any evidence you have to support your statement " The antibiotics like Draxxin, Micotil, Nuflor are for respiratory disease and are usually not as effective against infection such as what you describe. Plus they are very expensive." - if the infection is caused by bacteria that are susceptible to the antibiotic they will work (assuming no nidus of infection) BTW what is more expensive a dose of Draxxin or a dead steer?
-Masking the fever with Banamine will not deal with the primary problem
-Just because you (generic you) have had a calf with a castration site infection does not mean that it is the same as this calf - this calf has had the problem for over a month and is systemically ill - it needs to be seen by a vet

Though I am certain I have seen and successfully treated more than my share of complications from barnyard surgery, I obviously do not have the medical vocabulary to continue on this particular thread. Thus, I will yield the rest of my time on this thread to the previous poster.

I will leave with a quote from the great philosopher and veterinarian Baxter Black-"No matter how hard you try, you can't kill them all". 

 

[chambero]

For what its worth, I had to explicitly tell my vet I do not want LA200 used on my show cattle (due to high potential for injection site swelling) unless it was the absolute best choice.  He told me he defaults to that because he usually gets griped at about expense.  As DL said, a $10-$20 dose of antibiotic is infinitely cheaper than retarding the growth of a show calf for a month. 

The drugs DL mentioned are much better most of the time.