Pinkeye in cattle, symptoms, how to treat them

Have you ever tried walking around your house while blindfolded? Imagine the difficulties you may experience locating food to eat and water to drink. This is what it could feel like for cattle that suffer from the symptoms of pinkeye. This highly infectious bacterial disease in cattle is caused by Moraxella bovis.

White or light-faced cattle often experience more problems with pinkeye from the ultraviolet rays in sunlight. These rays can sensitize the eye, leading to infections. Flies such as stable, face and houseflies can also transmit the disease from infected cattle to others.

Cattle can get weed seeds, hay leaves, and chaff into their eyes, which may cause excessive irritation and put cattle at risk. Especially problematic are weeds such as cheat grass. If cattle eat from an overhead feeder or from round hay bales, it is easier for these foreign objects to land in their eyes.

Symptoms of pinkeye include inflammation of the membranes around the eyes, excessive tearing from the eye and discharge, cattle seeking shade to get out of irritating bright sunlight, and clouding on the cornea of the eye.

Since the disease often progresses rapidly and can result in blindness, rapid treatment is recommended once the disease is discovered. Treatment recommendations are available from your vet. An eye patch is often put over the eye to help protect the infected eye from further irritation or damage. Or, a vet can stitch the eyelid shut for a period of time to allow it to heal.

There are several steps that can be taken to prevent pinkeye. Control the presence of flies on cattle through the use of pour-ons, fly tags, back rubbers or dust bags. Reduce the opportunity for cattle to eat from round hay bales or overhead feeders. And clipping pastures where tall grass and weeds are a problem.

Pinkeye and foot rot were the two most prevalent conditions affecting all replacement heifers and cow according to the USDA. Approximately 20 percent of all diagnosed lameness cases in cattle are actually foot rot.

Foot rot causes lameness in cattle. This occurs when the tissue between the toes becomes injured mechanically or thins due to exposure to wet conditions such as river or stock pond access, and tank overflows. This allows the Fusobacterium necrophorum bacteria to enter the foot and infect the limb. Toxins are produced that cause the tissues to further decay.

Symptoms of foot rot are lameness, acute swelling of skin between the toes, swelling around the hairline on the hoof, and the presence of interdigital skin cracks.

If left untreated, the disease can run unchecked and move up an animal's leg, causing serious damage to the inner structures of the foot or fetlock. Animals with foot rot should be treated as soon as possible to prevent further damage. The foot should be cleaned upon examination and diagnosis. Treatments are available, check with your vet for dosage and usage requirements.

Like most diseases, the best protection is prevention. Preventing damage to the foot, minimizing the time animals spend in wet areas, dried mud, brittle weeds or brush, and providing a zinc supplement, will all help in preventing foot rot.

Pinkeye and foot rot, two common ailments of cattle, can steal production from a herd at any time. Producers must be aware of these bacterial diseases. Timely and proper treatment can prevent these serious production losses from occurring.

Editor's Note: Delta George is a K-State Research and Extension agriculture and 4-H extension agent assigned to Bourbon County. She may be reached at (620) 223-3720.