What to Do When a Cow Has Difficulty Breathing? Detailed Guide to the Correct Treatment

When raising cattle, people often encounter situations where a cow has great difficulty breathing. Some cases are accompanied by a rise in body temperature, while others involve the discharge of some unidentified fluid. When a cow inexplicably has difficulty breathing, severe cases can lead to death. So what should be done in these situations? First, you need to know what is causing it. Below, Qinongwang introduces several causes of difficulty breathing in cattle and their solutions.

1. Bovine anthrax

This is an acute septicemic infectious disease, and both its contagiousness and harmfulness are extremely high. When it strikes, it reduces the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity in cattle, and the organs secrete some mucus that obstructs the cow's breathing. Body temperature generally rises as well, and in severe cases bleeding may occur around the cow's mouth and nose. After discovering the above symptoms, it is best to isolate the animal first, then disinfect the cattle shed. Affected cattle should be injected promptly with medication; anti-anthrax serum or antibiotics both have a certain therapeutic effect, though the former is relatively more effective and more targeted.

2. Bovine pneumonia

Bovine pneumonia is also a fairly common disease, with very obvious symptoms, caused mainly by inflammation of the lungs that triggers a series of symptoms. In the early stage, the cow will occasionally make some abnormal sounds, and then gradually develop difficulty breathing. In the middle and late stages, string-like transparent mucus flows from both the nose and mouth, secretions at the corners of the eyes increase, and the whole cow looks very listless. In the early stage, penicillin can be injected; in severe cases, it is necessary to administer Huanglian Jiedu tablets orally and inject ribavirin or antitussive factors for treatment.

3. Calf diphtheria

This is mostly caused by worsening inflammation of the throat. The cause is that the cow's throat is cut by a hard object and then becomes infected and inflamed. In the early stage, the cow gradually eats less; as the throat becomes inflamed and swollen, it eventually presses on the organs, and the mucus secreted afterward also seeps into the organs, causing the cow's breathing to become increasingly difficult. At this point, swelling can clearly be seen on both sides of the cow's head. In severe cases, the breath exhaled by the cow carries a foul odor, which means the interior has already rotted. First use anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the inflammation, then inject sulfa drugs together with penicillin, and also inject the cow with some nutrient-supplementing drugs such as glucose to boost its resistance. In severe cases, it is best to surgically remove the necrotic affected areas of the cow.

4. Sinusitis

This is mostly caused by external factors. Generally, some foreign object enters the nasal cavity, causing inflammation of the nose or secretion of mucus, which then leads to difficulty breathing. The situations more likely to cause this include the following: some grass debris during feeding, or everyday insects, accidentally entering the nasal cavity and getting stuck inside, unable to come out. This then damages the epidermal layer of the cow's nose, causing inflammation and even bleeding. For this, the first step is surgery to remove the foreign object, then inject anti-inflammatory drugs such as penicillin.

When you find a cow having difficulty breathing, it is best to first examine the symptoms carefully to see what exactly is causing it, and then prescribe the right medicine. After all, there are many diseases that can cause this kind of condition, and using the wrong medication can have rather serious consequences. Everyone should also do good preventive work in daily life, and vaccinations and the like must be administered properly.