suturing and cows

Question 1

How do you hold a Mayo needle holder?

Answer 1

ring finger and thumb in rings- two other fingers (middle and index) supporting length

Question 2

How do you hold the Treves foreceps?

Answer 2

in the pencil grip

Question 3

How do you ‘palm” a thumb foreceps or needle holder?

Answer 3

palm downwards (prevents thread getting caught )

Question 4

when you thread a needle, you may lose the thread when suturing, how do you prevent this?

Answer 4

use ya lil finger like so

Question 5

remember to suture towards or away from yourself?

Answer 5

towards yourself

Question 6

How long should your suture ears be?

Answer 6

about this long

Question 7

How do you do a square knot?

Answer 7

single x4

Question 8

How do you do a surgeons knot?

Answer 8

double, single x 2

Question 9

Where in the caudal region of the cow, if a good place for IM injections?

Answer 9

right next to the tuber coxae, (if you go further caudal you risk hitting the sciatic nerve)

Question 10

INJECTION SITES FOR CATTLE- intramuscular

Answer 10

• caudal cervical muscle
• gluteals (Avoid the sciatic nerve area and care especially in calves and poorly conditioned animals)
• semimembranosus and semitendinosus (however these are generally quite dirty!!)

Question 11

List Subcutaneous Injections in cattle

Answer 11

avoid the ribs- mid thorax- caudal to forelimb

Question 12

Intravenous Injections in cattle

Answer 12

• jugular vein
• middle caudal vein (‘tail vein’)

Question 13

The borders of the site for intramuscular injection using anatomical landmarks are …

Answer 13

1- the nuchal ligament
2- Ventral border = Spine
3- cranial border of the scapula

Question 14

What are these 2 pelvic landmarks ?

Answer 14

the hook bone (left)
pin bone = tuber ischium (right)

Question 15

where is her hand on ? (bone name)

Answer 15

head of the femur

Question 16

BCS of this cow?

Answer 16

2.75 or lower

Question 17

BCS of this cow?

Question 18

Is the AHDB Body Scoring chart suitable for heifers?

Answer 18

no, usually undervalues them

Question 19

What 2 ligaments do you use to assess BCS on a cow?

Answer 19

• sacral ligament
• tail head ligament

Question 20

when the sacral ligament appears to disappear on a cow, what score would that cow definitely be above?

Answer 20

BCS 3

Question 21

BCS of a cow is a score on what scale?

Answer 21

score is from 0-5
in increments of 0.25

Question 22

when should the BCS of a cow be undertaken? (what moments in the dairy lifecycle)

Answer 22

• at calving
• 60d post calving
• 100d before drying off
• at drying off

Question 23

what is the first step in determining a BCS score of a cow?

Answer 23

V or U?

Question 24

If a cow has a V shape between hook and pin bones, what is the next step in helping us determine a BCS score?

Answer 24

are the hooks rounded or angular?

rounded hook= 3
angular hook= 2

are the pins padded? if yes 2.75

Question 25

In a thin cow (ie BCS under 3), what are other physical factors that help us determine the BCS of the cow?

Answer 25

- palpate pin to determine fat coverage - evaluate the ribs, are they covered?

Question 26

In a cow > 3 in BCS what other factors can we look at to determine BCS?

Answer 26

tail head and sacral ligament, in this picture they are not covered so 3.25

Question 27

What is the BCS of this cow?

Answer 27

tail head covered, sacral ligament barely visible so 3.75

Question 28

What is the BCS of this cow?

Answer 28

sacral ligament and tail head ligament not visible so BCS is 4

Question 29

What is the BCS of this cow?

Answer 29

BCS 5 tail head and sacral ligaments are covered fat deposits are visible on rump and legs tail head buried in fat

Question 30

Overconditioned cows may incur what problems?

Answer 30

- metabolic disorders - problems calving

Question 31

Underconditioned cows may incur what problems?

Answer 31

- metabolic disorders - decreased fertility

Question 32

what is a normal RR for a cow?

Answer 32

12-36/min

Question 33

distance exam of a cow- list criteria

Answer 33

- mentation - behaviour ie chewing the cud - standing ie. even weight bearing? - RR/RE?

Question 34

close exam of a cow- list criteria

Answer 34

- BCS - on the back: take temp and check CRT on the vulva - check paralumbar fossa for rumen fill, put fist into fossa and wait for contractions (3 rumen contractions per 2min) as well as measuring fill - listen with stetoscope to rumen in the paralumbar fossa on left side - move stethoscope around abdomen and flick (listen for percussive noise) - listen in lung field (very small, cranial to forelimb) - HR - listen to trachea - check hydration status on neck - check eyes, nose.. - go to otherside (never underneath head) and repeat Heart and lung field - listen and flick in the paralumbar fossa - rectal and vaginal exam - mammary exam

Question 35

what side is the rumen on a cow (right or left)?

Answer 35

left

Question 36

what is the HR of a cow

Answer 36

50-80 beats/min

Question 37

How can you stand when doing a mammary exam?

Answer 37

close to cow, like this ->

Question 38

what are you looking for on a cow mammary exam?

Answer 38

- heat - swelling - redness

Question 39

What do you do after a milk strip on a cow?

Answer 39

- teat sealant to prevent infection

Question 40

Udder exam- what are we checking?

Answer 40

- cleanliness- environment contamination - if 4 quarters are of even size (no swelling or shrivelling)to compare sizes and feel for lumps and bumps - check for teat lesions

Question 41

what is this vet feeling for here?

Answer 41

the supramammary lymph node PS there is one for each quarter (we re just feeling the hindquarters)

Question 42

CMT examination steps

Answer 42

- prep a bucket ( paddle, paper towel) - gloved hands - use paper towels to cleans the udders - in the bucket strip the milk for each quarter (to remove stagnant milk) - take paddle with left hand and with right hand squeeze each tits milk into their respective well (2-3 streaks each) - apply teat sealant - check for clots in milk in paddle - add CMT reagent and check for viscosity

Question 43

what do we do a sterile milk sample for?

Answer 43

bacteriology

Question 44

what do we do a california milk test for?

Answer 44

somatic cell count- milk quality

Question 45

what equipement do you need to perform a CMT on a cow?

Answer 45

- Water/paper towels (if teats very soiled) - Disposable examination gloves - CMT Paddle (a hand held 4-well mixer) - CMT Test Liquid + pipette Teat dip

Question 46

what is the grading scheme for CMT?

Answer 46

- negative - T- trace - 1+ -2+ -3+

Question 47

If a CMT is negative, how many SCC is estimated?

Answer 47

<200 000

Question 48

if a CMT is 3+, how many SCC is estimated?

Answer 48

5 million

Question 49

if a quarter has a high SSC, what is the next step?

Answer 49

- take a sterile milk sample for test for bacteria present

Question 50

Steps involved in a sterile milk sample

Answer 50

- (wipe down with paper towels if there is alot of dirt) - surgical spirit empregnated cotton, clean the teat only - strip teats of stagnant milk into bucket - you want to unscrew lid of sample tube without contaminating (unscrew with left hand using little finger) - express milk into sample tube - use teat sealant - label tube

Question 51

on a sterile milk sample label what should be on the label?

Answer 51

- cow number - which quarter - farm name - date

Question 52

before doing a sterile milk sample, teat needs to be visibly .... and .....

Answer 52

clean dry

Question 53

after you have done a sterile milk sample do you put it into freezer or fridge?

Answer 53

fridge

Question 54

Why dont you clean the entire teat when taking a sterile milk sample?

Answer 54

increases likelihood of contamination