In early December, livestock submitted for necropsy at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station demonstrated various signs of declining nutrition. Not coincidentally, most of Texas received the first frosts and freezes of the year within this same time period. Despite the fact that generous rains in Texas produced an abundance…
As part of the process for weaning, a group of 400 calves were given a parenteral injection of a mineral preparation. Four calves were unexpectedly found dead within 24 hours following treatment. Due to marked pulmonary congestion, there was a suspicion of acute pneumonia. Fresh and fixed tissues (liver spleen, lung, and kidney) were submitted…
A biopsy from a 7-month-old cross breed bovine steer with a large mass was submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in Canyon. The mass had been surgically removed from the right cervical region just in front of the shoulder. The mass had dimensions of 8-10 inches in diameter, very firm and…
A herd of 14, six-month-old crossbred cattle was turned out into a new pasture. Within five days, five head died suddenly. An old barn with various abandoned and discarded metal and equipment was noted to be in the pasture. Chemical poisoning of an unknown origin was suspected. A 500-pound steer was submitted to the Texas…
Since the onset of winter, the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) has seen quite a few cases of intoxication in cattle that have consumed the coffee senna (Senna occidentalis) plant. Most of the cases involved adult cattle that were found dead by the owners. The diagnosis was made by finding evidence of the plant in the…
A 1-year-old heifer became weak and went off by herself in mid-April. The heifer was examined by the submitting veterinarian a few days later and was described as being lethargic, having a drooped head, oculonasal discharge, conjunctivitis/scleritis, mild mucosal petechiations, and frank blood in the urine. The heifer was weak and ataxic and would fall down…
The Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) frequently works on Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) cases. Multiple factors lead to a BRD diagnosis, leading many to refer to the syndrome as Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex (BRDC). Affected cattle commonly display signs of fever, lethargy, nasal discharge, and coughing. Some of the factors involved in BRDC are stressors…
Approximately 40 head of Hereford cows were grazing on 12 sections of land with oil production activity present. In one particular section, four to five cows were found dead within 12-24 hours. Another cow was observed by the owner to be shaking and trembling, had fallen and gotten up, fell a second time and became…
A cattle owner in eastern Texas noticed several of the 50 weaned calves in his coastal pasture had diarrhea and didn’t seem to want to eat. The pasture had been sprayed with monosodium methyl arsenate (MSMA) to kill weeds about 10 days prior and was fertilized at 300 lbs per acre three days before the…
A two-month-old, 150-pound, Brahman-cross heifer calf was observed with neurologic signs following application of what was believed to be a permethrin-based insecticide. The calf died following symptomatic treatment. Fresh and fixed tissue samples were submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) for testing. A portion of fresh brain was extracted and analyzed…