If you keep her pain to a minimum with this treatment, then you're doing what's right. Conservative treatment is sometimes just managing the problem well enough to give good quality of life.
Conservative treatment is always the best treatment in most scenarios especially dealing w something like this. Even if you know what your dealing w/ there can be something more deep that could happen and not know. So I completely agree, ima go on a limb and say your in school for healthcare or do something already in it. Im studying to be a nurse and I read your comment and I just have that feeling haha.
@@alexandertaddy4639 conservative treatment is overall the best unless its something life threatening of course. Sad that generally that isnt how most of the medical field operates though. In this case aslong as shes doing well and isnt in pain or much pain due to this then theres no reason to change anything. Good on them.
@@masterreaper115 very true, I am going into the medical field for that reason specifically. When I worked as a CNA I was surprised with out poorly they treated patients it’s sad.
It's clear that both her farmer and you care about her a lot, and I appreciate that; I know some people who would think an animal like this isn't worth keeping alive, but her owner must love her to make sure she has a trimmer who cares about her comfort this much. Great job as always!
If the animal is still profitable in calfs and milk, there is no reason not to keep it. The farmer of course could ignore the foot, but most farmer care about their animals.
I admit seeing some of their cute side makes me feel guilty for eating them =( Atleast with something like a chicken or turkey, they don't have the same mammalian cuteness thing.
It bothers me that there aren’t more common sense restrictions on antibiotic use. Taking her out of the food chain for a period of time if antibiotics are used seems more reasonable. Wholesale blanket use is one thing, medical use is another.
Something like this wouldn’t be treated with antibiotics anyway. Only in the case of amputation which I’m not a fan of anyway. I agree though that there should be some leeway when veterinarians treat the cows.
@@gerhardsmith7892 It really depends on the exact product we're talking about. A lot of very powerful medication has organic origins. As proven by the many powerful poisons that exist in plants. In low doses they are often used as pain relief, tranquilizers, neurological stabilizers and hell, in the case of penicillin (though not plant-based, but fungal based) as one of the first effective antibiotics.
If this cow were a horse, she’d be a prime candidate for maggot therapy. Maggots are the best at getting rid of necrotic tissue, and getting into places a knife wouldn’t reach. I never heard of disinfected maggots being used on cattle, but it might be worth a try.
I don't see why not, they're phenomenal debridement miners. The problem is cost (maggots aren't cheap and neither will the surveillance of her treatment) and finding what maggots respond best to this type of injury on this type of animal.
A farm I trim for has a cow we've been doing the exact thing for about 4 years now. Only problem with her is her tendon is pulled out and it does no good to put a block on because she rocks back on it. But she gets around great. I agree with this method in this isolated case.
Great explanation, as usual, Nate. I appreciate the honesty about the limits of our powers to fix everything. She's walking great on that block. I have bad knees, which no one but God can truly fix. Still, I do exercises and my doctor does what she can to help me. For cows as well as people, we get the help we can get and we get along as comfortably as we can. Perfection is not the object of living.
I've always wondered, whenever I see a label saying "no antibiotics", what would happen if the cow got an infection or something that required it. I'm glad to see that care is taken to avoid the risk of infection in the first place, and that if the cow DOES get an infection that required antibiotics, that she's still got a future at a non-organic farm.
Same here! But it's good to see that, with a skilled set of hands at the helm, even with all the organic guidelines in place, that something that's as terrible as that cow's toe can be managed with a surprisingly simple system of vigilant upkeep and she can live a fairly regular life for however long she's got left in her.
@@willofthewinds3222 no she still dies? once her milk dries up in a year or two, she will be sent to slaughter. Thats the final stop for all dairy cows after 4-5 years of milk production if they dont get rescued and sent to a sanctuary. Theyre a product, farmers dont care about their product unless it will cut into their profits. Once they cant get more quality milk from them, they sell them to a slaughterhouse for more money, how can you not know this? Theres no future for any farm animals, they will all be killed for money, because animals arnt beings, theyre things and property.
@@maiadraconica6488 There are many people in the inner city that lead more stressful, uncomfortable and less productive lives than a dairy cow on a small farm.
My wife likes to watch the cows walk away after all the hard work you do. We thank you for showing us the end results and showing how the cows are you worked on previously.
I didn't remember the actual cow but I did remember that case and it's fascinating to catch up with her. She walked out so well! She is a tribute to your - and the farmer's - persistence in trying to get her as comfortable and healthy as possible. What a fantastic job, Nate.
It's so bizarre and beautiful how animals can just... Live with things like this. You'd think something called toe necrosis would lead to the claw self-amputating at some point, but with some amazing knife work and TLC this cow can live happily
My dog broke his K9 tooth chewing on a bone. I took her to a vet and he is like "Well she is 6 years old, the stump will probably be ok for rest of her live." Me: "But i can see exposed root canal, won´t it get infected?" Vet said no a sure thing, 5 years later and no problems. Human would be crawling up the wall from pain after a week.
I just want to add that these things also are caused because of us. Sure if it were a wild cow there would've been no cure but the chances of something like this happening to a wild cow are already pretty slim.
@@tarnvedra9952 but is she in pain all the time though. I feel that might be the more important question. Dogs just ignore pain unless they absolutely cant
@@tarnvedra9952 That's quite interesting, especially since animals like cats and dogs have some REAL nasty bacterial loads in their mouths. Probably the reason it's less likely to be infected is due to how wolf/dog diets differ from human ones! Since they ancestrally would often be eating raw meat from the weakest (sickest) members of the herd, or rotting meat from old carcasses, obligate carnivores (aka they HAVE to eat meat) like hyenas and lions, or domesticated obligate carnivores like dogs and cats have their digestive system and immune system built around giving bacteria as few chances as possible to make them sick - so super high stomach acid pH, and a much shorter digestive track than omnivores like us, which means less chance to absorb nutrients but also less chance to develop infections. I wouldn't be surprise to learn that they developed various tricks to keep all the mouth bacteria from causing infections.
I'm glad you work closely with the farmer and that he trust you enough to help him make the best treatment decision for the cow, as possible. She looks like a good ole girl..🐄💖👍😊
Hi, I know nothing about cow's feet, but I have a fair amount of experience treating infected and necrotic wounds in humans. When antibiotics can't be used for some reason icing sugar works well. The powdered sugar soaks up any fluid that leaks, making a solution with an osmotic (sucking) force high enough to suck the water out of microbes. Use like the salicylic acid, change every 2 days; flush the sugar & debris off and reapply. The solution & the occlusive dressing also creates an acidic environment which is bactericidal and encourages necrotic tissue to separate and new tissue to grow. Might help Ms Cow's foot and keep the organic status.
I do enjoy your videos. I’m addicted. You are so thoroughly professional and knowledgeable. You are truly a hoof doctor and I love your clear and simple explanations (which all make perfect sense). Your narrations are informative, unlike other similar channels where they make it all about themselves and are in camera more than the work itself. Your explanation of your tools and “medicines” were again interesting and well explained. I know so much more about this field now, and appreciate the high degree of veterinary science, anatomy, and experience and am fascinated by the decision making and treatment decisions. That said, though I know problem hoofs are the exception, it seems like there’s a lot. Interesting how hard surfaces and “unnatural” environments may play a role. Also impressed you even consider metabolic factors such as when it’s nursing, etc. Very well done and endlessly interesting. You’re a pro.
It doesn't hurt for a trimmer to make an appearance and talk about their involvement a little bit. Too many trimmers don't explain enough about what they are doing. They seem to think that the viewer will understand everything just by watching them work. I (we) need words of explanation to inform us of what we are seeing. Nate does this explaining very well, indeed, which I really appreciate.
I understand the “organic” rule...but I also feel like the cow is suffering more because of it...maybe they should have a percentage rule. If 99% of the cows are antibiotic free, they should be able to still call it organic. Who knows though.
Best solution is to buy from people you can actually trust or get the food yourself. if there’s a local farmer or a farmers market that ethically treat their animals you should support them
If you feel bad for animals, rethink meat and other animal products. There's no other way around it. That person up there says that even vegans contribute to pesticides and such, which seems to imply they think cows themselves don't eat a whole bunch of pesticide laden corn. We would be able to feed the world on way less farmland if we would stop feeding it to livestock for our consumption, which would in all likelihood, bring down pesticide use and stop us from damaging natural habitat. But humans are a net bad and are individually terrible as well, so we're not going to do that.
I always Hated people who thought organic is good. I use to think they were stupid, now I know they are evil. Regardless they are a real problem that we have to deal with.
The fact that cows are made to live suboptimal lives without surgeries that could help them out just to avoid giving them antibiotics is beyond silly to me.
I'd say experience is the best teacher when dealing with toe necrosis.👨🏫 You don't have to justify your actions in light of past outcomes. We just want a happy cow!🐄😁
Why am I binge watching these videos?! I don’t have a cow, or work on farms, or work on any farm animals, or have anything to do with this remotely 😄 Grinders are awesome tools though
You respect a person not giving a cow effective definitive treatment because of a self imposes arbitrary standard that objectively doesn't make sense? Why? So you can buy organic milk and savour the extra suffering?
I had a cow exactly like this! White line fracture up the axel wall and popped a wooden block on every 6 weeks and she was going strong 6 lactations before I left the farm. Was a cross bred Belgium blue that was in a fairy herd
These ‘organic’ farms just seem terrible. Because of us humans wanting ‘organic’, veterinarians are unable to give these cows the treatment they need. It’s sad.
She’s probably thinking on the way into the chute: 🙄 sheesh, Nate! Thank goodness you’re here! Time for my podiatrist to do his magic! On the way out: “Ahhhhh!!! Now THAT’s what I’m talking about!!!” Great video! Thx 🙏
Dairy milk is actually better to the environment than almond milk from the precious almond trees. Cows drink water from rain, and the grass grows on crow's manure that was made from the rain. I have never heard of cows grazing on ground water irrigated pricey crops in a desert.
My only question is...does that area stay infected all the time because of where the infection is? You're right though...it's cheaper to have you clean things up and use a block on a regular basis, keeping things all organic and helping the cow as well as the farmer.
Organic farming restricts options.what you've done and do is the best option for her continued comfort and productivity....pretty sure you have the education and experience to give the best outcome for man and cow so I don't understand the repeated questioning of a method that obviously works. You do great work in a hard industry
I noticed in one of your other videos you specifically mentioned that your blade was a cutting blade so less heat is generated and here you said grinding blade. I was wondering if this means you have different blades for different applications or if you were just using grinding blade as a sort of figure of speech
This is what bothers me about situation like that is the fact that the farmer will not do which should be done to cure or fix the problem permanently for the cow because it involves giving them special treatment medically that would affect their use as either dairy or beef at that point ethical and moral value should kick in at the cow will have a better chance of a long, healthy comfortable life by selling her to somebody who will help her then that’s what they should do simple as that!! How many cows does this particular farm half one cow out of commission once in a while it’s not gonna make or break the bank for these people the mass producers ethically, and Morley sell the cow to somebody who will give her a good quality of life and give her the medical treatment that’s needed for her to have that good quality life
Interesting to learn how organic farms deal with medical issues in their cows. Normally I’m against the use of antibiotics for cows (they’re often used to offset the rampant disease that comes from cramped conditions and corn feed, causing widespread antibiotic resistance in the process), but I can’t see how a humane farm using antibiotics only as needed should be an issue. It’s a little unreasonable to expect that not a single cow on a properly run farm should ever have any medical issues. I feel like there should be some middle ground in the regulation.
Unfortunately, it’s the misinformation in your second paragraph that has led to widespread fear of antibiotic use. Farmers don’t administer antibiotics when they’re not necessary and a visit to a modern dairy farm would help you understand that your second paragraph isn’t actually true.
@@NatetheHoofGuy thanks for the reply, out of curiosity does the same apply for raising cows for meat? Usually when I hear about widespread antibiotic use it’s in the context of CAFOs
Imagine being a farmer and genuinely thinking "EW, I can't sell people milk from a cow who's had antibiotics", then selling people milk from a cow with a terminally infected foot instead. Yeesh.
They should still be considered organic if one cow has to get antibiotics to get treated for a bacterial infection one time for something like this, the farmer shouldn't have to part with their cow because they can't treat it
I’m not a farmer and Don know that much about this of stuff with cows, but I have been watching your videos for about a month or so now. I find it fascinating what you do. I’m wondering, would salicylic acid powder wrap do anything to help heal that claw? Or is there anything else you can do that you’re not already doing for this cow? I’m just curious. Poor girl must have a hard time.
Poor girl, you could tell that deep fissure was causing her pain, first on of these that the cow looked like the cutting was causing pain. Hope she feels better😔
Is there any value in removing the damaged area before keying the inside walls of the fissure and making a little mould around the whole hoof with thick tape and then replace all the missing material with epoxy….ha ha you’re kind of answering my question as I’m typing…I’m still leaving this..👍😁
Horses are so much softer than cows. When horses get seedy tow and U have to cut the whole hoof wall out, keep them in a stable, treat it daily and give supplements to get that hoof wall to grow back as soon as possible
I’m a semi new subscriber- but watch your back videos regularly and I recently happen to watch this 🐮 so it was nice to get an update to her. Question: I also watch other hooves animal vids, & was surprised to see they have a method of using resin on horses for stability and endurance. Do they ever use resin for cows to aid in healing? Why can’t cows make use of shoes?
On average, a cow yields 7.5 gallons of milk every day. They produce milk only after having a calf and they are able to do this at around 2 years of age. They stop producing milk when the calf is 10 months, but they soon deliver another one and the process starts over again. This cycle can be repeated just a few times, so the average cow that lives on a farm can only produce milk for 4 years before being slaughtered. On average, large farms show the most profit per cow at about $275 per cow. Farms with less than 200 cows have profits of about $160 per cow. Herds with 200 to 500 cows are seeing profits of just $84 per cow
@@downhomesunset this is now... it’s all easily researchable information. What does the statement “too much of a business” even mean? The production efficiency of a cow drastically drops after a few years. Never said the cow couldn’t have more calves.
