July Newsletter
CLIENT APPRECIATION PARTY
Most of you will already have enjoyed our annual Client Appreciation Party by the time you get this newsletter in the mail. We hope to see all of you at the clinic on Friday July 28 from 3-8 pm.
We will have free food and beverages and fun and door prizes and lots of things for kids to do. We are planning on having food and activities in a tent on the south lawn, so everything will be easy to find. In case of rain, we will move into the clinic garage.
Of course, you are welcome to tour the clinic and see the new tile in the kennel and the exam room improvements. Kids will be able to bring their stuffed pets and practice bandaging them. We will have a duck pond and bounce house and a cow to milk. You may even win a prize!
We will have some special visitors from the Humane Society and lots of kittens to see. You can also tour the new dog park taking shape north of the clinic.
Everyone is welcome! Please bring the family, have supper with us and join in the fun.
GET READY FOR THE FAIR!
It doesn’t seem like it should be time for the fair already, but here it is. Sally will be helping check in animals on Thursday August 17. Please call if you have any questions about the paperwork that you need. Sally will be taking care of on farm pig inspections, so just call and make an appointment for her to come out and look at your pigs.
Good luck to all fair participants!
EXCEDE CAN BE A PROBLEM WITH SLAUGHTER HOLD
Many of you like using Excede in your milk cows because you do not have to hold the milk during treatment. Excede is approved for treating metritis, BRD and foot rot. The approved treatment for BRD and foot rot is 1.5 ml per 100 lbs one time under the skin at the base of the ear. Metritis is two doses, 72 hours apart.
Even though Excede is approved for lactating cows with no milk hold, it has a 13 day slaughter hold. You need to make sure that you are keeping track of which cows have received Excede so that you know when they are able to be culled, if necessary.
For instance, a cow calves on July 30 and you give her Excede on July 31st because she had a dead calf and now has a retained placenta and a rotten uterine discharge. You repeat the treatment on August 3rd. The cow gets over her metritis, but never does come into milk very well. You decide after a couple weeks since calving to cull her. Even though you have never had to hold her milk, you cannot sell her until after August 16”13 days from her last treatment, 17 days since she calved.
Another problem with Excede is how you give it. If you give it under the skin AT THE BASE OF THE EAR, according to the label, the slaughter hold is 13 days. If you give it in the muscle, the meat withdrawal is 90 days. If you give it under the skin elsewhere in the body, the hold is 140 days.
Please call if you have any questions about Excede and how you are using it in your cows.
DOG PARK NOW OPEN
The dog park north of the clinic is now available for you and your dogs to use. The city has been working on the water fountains and the dog wash area. They may not be working yet, but you are welcome to bring your dog to play in the fenced in area.
OUR SYMPATHIES TO FLOOD VICTIMS
The heavy rains throughout the county have resulted in mudslides, bridges out, roads washed, driveways destroyed and fences damaged. Many people have lost their homes and other property. Thankfully, no lives have been lost as of now.
We extend our sympathies to all those who have suffered losses in the recent storms. The Grant County Humane Society is currently caring for 2 cats and a dog whose owner’s homes were destroyed in the most recent flooding in Cassville and Glen Haven.
FEED COLOSTRUM FOR 4 DAYS
Have you ever wondered why beef calves grow so fast and seem to do so much better than dairy calves? One reason is the constant source of milk from the mama cow, but recent research from Cornell University shows that more days of colostrum are important for calf development.
The studies show calves benefit from being fed colostrum at more than just the first feeding. Colostrum contains more than just antibodies. It also contains non-nutritive factors like hormones that have a significant impact on pre and post-weaning efficiency. Glucose is absorbed better and the calf gains weight better.
How can you make feeding colostrum to calves for 4 days practical? Your calves should have at least 2 quarts of first milking colostrum within 6 hours of birth and another 2 quarts again at 12 hours. Then second milking colostrum fed on the second day and 3rd and 4th milking colostrum for days 3 and 4.
If you are feeding pasteurized milk, you can add any extra colostrum or colostrum that does not test well enough for first feedings to your milk for all the calves and get extra benefits that way. The first 4 days are the most important, though, to feed the colostrum factors that will enhance glucose uptake and improve growth.
NOT TOO LATE FOR WEST NILE VIRUS VACCINATION
With all the rain and flooding and standing water, we will be seeing a lot more mosquitoes the rest of the summer. If you have not already vaccinated your horses against West Nile Virus (WNV), you still can get them protected.
An unvaccinated yearling horse in Clark county in central Wisconsin was euthanized and confirmed to have had West Nile Virus. This case was the first in Wisconsin for 2017. Horses that are infected cannot infect other horses. The virus is only passed by mosquitoes and other biting insects.
Horses that have WNV show signs 7-10 days after infection of weakness, off-feed, paralysis, depression, colic and death. There is no cure, only treatment of symptoms. 40% of affected horses will die.
Please call if you have questions about whether or not to vaccinate your horses.
HAPPY HAYMAKING!