Animals

How to treat an abscess in a cow

A cow has been living next to man for more than a millennium. In order for her to be a reliable nurse, it is necessary to take care of her health, since she is susceptible to many diseases. One of these is an abscess, which can appear as a result of many causes and lead, without lack of treatment, to quite serious health problems.

What is it and what parts of the body are striking

An abscess (abscess, abscess) is a cavity with pus that appears as a result of inflammation of different parts of the body. It occurs after the introduction of infections or bacteria of various types, as well as fungi. In addition, the problem may arise from the influence of various chemicals.

The disease can occur in such parts of the cow’s body:

subcutaneous tissue;
muscle
bones;
organs;
lymph nodes.

Quite often an abscess of the udder is diagnosed.

Important! When detecting and treating an abscess, the wound must be carefully monitored, washing it inside to avoid re-accumulation of pus.

Causes of occurrence

Most often, abscesses result from mechanical damage to the skin. This can happen as a result of a puncture or scratching of the skin with a sharp object during grazing and subsequent penetration into the wound of the infection.

As you know, the struggle between bacteria and white blood cells in a weak body leads to the appearance of pus (a mixture of dead bacteria and white blood cells) and to tighten the damage site on the skin, which prevents the contents from coming out. The result is a limited capsule with pus inside it.

In addition, an abscess can appear as a result of damage to another part of the body, since pathogenic microorganisms are carried throughout the body and can settle in any organ. Such suppuration is very dangerous, since overflowing of the capsule with pus leads to its spread inside the body, which leads to the development of sepsis.

A giant abscess at break can even lead to the death of the animal.

Signs of the disease

When forming an abscess, it is quite difficult to determine, since there are no serious deviations in behavior and general condition.

However, over time, the following symptoms appear:

decreased and even loss of appetite;
increase in body temperature;
weakness and depression as a result of intoxication;
constant anxiety, especially when approaching the lesion site;
the appearance of a round seal under the skin;
soreness and fever on contact.

Did you know? An abscess can grow to a sufficiently large size. There are cases when the amount of pus reached several liters.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of the disease occurs according to clinical signs and is specified by puncture of the swelling. Any skin seal is felt, when pressed, a small indentation appears, which spontaneously restores to its original state after a few minutes.

It is almost impossible to diagnose the presence of an abscess in the liver during life without the appearance of specific symptoms.

How to treat

Consider what methods can be used to treat abscess.

General recommendations

If an abscess is found on the body, it is recommended to consult a veterinarian immediately, however, before its arrival it is important to observe the following general recommendations:

provide the sick animal with maximum peace;
isolate the cow in a separate room with a new litter;
in the absence of aggression, they warm the affected area;
give sulfadimezin, previously combined with food.

Important! It is strictly forbidden to use cold compresses and massage, as this can lead to the movement of microbes to other healthy organs with their subsequent infection.

Dissection of the abscess

Opening an abscess is necessary in the case when the damage leads to a sufficiently strong tension of the organ wall, it is carried out after local anesthesia.

This can only be done if the education is benign:

First, without fail, they pierce it with a trocar with a tube through which some of the purulent contents is removed.
Then a scalpel is inserted into the most convex part and dissected to a granulation shaft.
The cavity is thoroughly cleaned and dried, at the end it is filled with drainage with Vishnevsky ointment and a sterile dressing is applied. You need to change it daily.

Diagnosis of a malignant abscess includes the following treatment:

incision with excision of the affected tissue;
stopping bleeding;
prolonged irrigation of an opened abscess with a solution based on any disinfectant;
dusting the wound with tricillin;
drainage with proteolytic enzymes.

It is impossible to remove the huge abscess in other ways, in this case you have to resort to an autopsy and subsequent excision.

Drug treatment

The following compounds are considered popular drugs for the treatment of abscess:

ASD-3;
Balm Dorogova No. 10;
Desi spray;
Ghent-100.

In addition, Vishnevsky ointment showed itself well, the cost of which is much lower than other drugs, but its effectiveness is not inferior.

Did you know? Today, about 1.5 billion cows live on Earth. For example, in Australia, these animals are 2 times more than the inhabitants.

Prevention

Purulent inflammations appear in cows that have weakened immunity.

You can reduce the likelihood of ulcers by the following actions:

improve cow conditions;
diversify the diet not only with high-quality food, but also with vitamins and mineral supplements;
conduct regular inspection after grazing;
timely treat skin lesions with antiseptics.

All of the above information once again confirms that any purulent inflammation is quite dangerous and, upon detection, requires an immediate reaction from the owner. However, it is important to know how to do everything correctly so as not to harm the cow even more.