Hoof Injury: Need Advice!

[duffontap]

Hello Everyone,

Last Thursday I did the hoof trimming and, in an effort to get the base of the hoof leveled out, went a little too deep in the toe area and now Penny is limping. We tried to keep it clean and gave it frequent treatments of Coppertox, and her limp decreased for two days. Then, while we continued to keep it clean and treat it with Coppertox, her limp got worse and now she is barely putting any weight on it at all. Yesterday I very carefully disinfected it, treated it, and put a rubber boot on it to keep it clean and gave her the annual CD&T. No improvement in the last 24 hours.

Her temp is 102.8, which is fine. Her appetite is somewhat diminished (she still comes in and jumps up onto the milk stand, but I can see that it hurts) and her milk production dropped about 10-20%. She is up and about all the time but she'll even stand there with her hoof held off the ground.

Questions:

Should we start giving her antibiotics?

She is our source of family milk--do we stop drinking it when she's on antibiotics?

Is the hoof better off the with rubber boot on it, or exposed?

Anything else we can do that we haven't thought of?

Thank you in Advance, JD

 

[ksalvagno]

Do you see any infection or anything? What does the cut actually look like now? It sounds like you are treating it fine.

 

[duffontap]

Do you see any infection or anything? What does the cut actually look like now? It sounds like you are treating it fine.

It actually looks like the trimming was ok, except a diagonal slit that bled a little when I pulled back the flap and cleaned it. I squeezed it looking for pus (none found), and couldn't smell infection. I'm just wondering how she could be experiencing so much discomfort if there is no infection.

 

[ksalvagno]

Maybe where the cut is really hurts. I would take the boot off if there is no infection. I'm thinking the open air would be better for it. Keep an eye on it. You could give her some aspirin or Banamine. I don't know dosage for aspirin since I aways have Banamine on hand which is 1cc per 100 lbs.

 

[redtailgal]

If you quick your fingernail far back enough that it bleeds, it gets sore. Imagine having to walk on it!

 

[duffontap]

Maybe where the cut is really hurts. I would take the boot off if there is no infection. I'm thinking the open air would be better for it. Keep an eye on it. You could give her some aspirin or Banamine. I don't know dosage for aspirin since I aways have Banamine on hand which is 1cc per 100 lbs.

Alright, thank you very much.

If you quick your fingernail far back enough that it bleeds, it gets sore. Imagine having to walk on it!

Fair enough.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I think the open air would be better, We have also snipped too far, and they do get pretty tender for 4 or 5 days. I would just give her some time. We also put koppertox on if we cut too far, but I just do it the one time and then leave it alone. I have trimmed their feet and noticed it getting more and more sore, and checked it and found a peice of hoof stuck between the two halves of the hoof. So checking between the halves is always a good idea.

 

[SDBoerGoats]

I have had horses trimmed too short by the farrier and they would be lame for days. We put iodine on the soles of their feet to harden them. And the does we bought last month, the lady said she would bring them in and trim them before she hauled them up to us. When she loaded them up the next day 3 of the 7 were lame! When we got them home, 2 of them wouldn't put weight on their foot, the other limped really bad.
We cleaned their feet out and put iodine on them for a couple of days. One of them was lame for over a week, I was pretty ticked about that, as they are pregnant and the stress from the pain is not a good thing. It sounds like your doe got trimmed too short or nicked, like if your toe nails got cut too short. it hurts.

 

[duffontap]

Pulled the rubber boot off yesterday and was pleased at how clean the hoof was. Hit it with another treatment of Coppertox and filled the muddy spots in the yard (again). Penny's limp is dramatically reduced today and it sure seemed like her appetite was up. We'll see tonight on milk production but that usually follows appetite.

Thanks again for the help. JD

 

[redtailgal]

What kind of rubber boot are you using?

I'd love to see it and know where you got it. I've yet to quick one.......but lol, the day will come, I know.

I quicked the Mastiff the other day, but she has a dew claw that grows funky, and I nor my vet can trim it without quicking it. She's such a trooper though. Goats are sooo dramatic about everything, lol.