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© Dukes Vet Practice 2013, 2014, 2015
Case Report
We have always been interested in challenging cases and this was certainly one of those!
The picture is of a cow that had an extensive abscess that had under-run all of the sole. The infection had invaded the underlying tissues right to th
e bone at the tip of the toe. A tourniquet was applied to the limb and an intravenous local anaesthetic procedure was performed to anaesthetise the whole foot.
Although it looked hopeless initially and amputation of the claw was considered, following further exploration and careful removal of the dead, diseased and infected tissue, a dressing was applied to the wound and a support block placed on the other claw to lift the w
ound off the ground.
As can be seen from the picture the cow was immediately able to stand and walk on the affected leg. The cow was put on a course of antibiotics and the dressing changed by the farmer twice a week for the next fortnight. At the follow up examination the wound had started to heal and clean healthy tissue was growing all over the wound. Once this had hardened off the dressing was removed and the cow was monitored. Amazingly a virtually normal hoof grew back and the cow has remained in the herd going on to produce several more calves.
Whilst these radical procedures are not always successful, they work often enough to make them well worth trying in young and otherwise healthy animals.
© Dukes Vet Practice 2013