I have a 16 month old heifer in fantastic shape that just went blind. Both her eyes are fogged over. She just jumped in my 1 1/2 pond and finally swam to the opposite side. Do you have any idea what could cause this. I run 30 to 40 head of cattle for the past 50 years and have worked and vaccinated 100's of cows?????
Welcome to JustAnswer, this is Dr. Christie.
I am a licensed veterinarian and would like to try and help you with your heifer.
One of the most common causes of sudden blindness and fogging over in the eye is pinkeye. If the infection gets bad enough it actually causes eye ulcers. The fogging over is the eye's response to the infection. It can cause a temporary blindness until the infection clears up.
Treatment involves getting fly tags in the ears and treating the eye. You can take a mixture of penicillin and dexamethasone (50:50 mix, so 1 cc:1 cc) and drip it in the eye. Even better would be to have your vet out to confirm it is pinkeye and inject the solution subconjunctivally so that it slowly releases over a few days giving constant treatment.
A few other differentials include IBR virus, photo eye (a hyper sensitivity related to ingesting certain plants
If she has a pink skinned face, certainly a cancerous plaques, though she is awful young for this differential.
How is your heifer doing? Were you able to treat her eyes?