How to treat emergencies in livestock

Any animal can suffer a sudden traumatic injury or other medical emergency. In this first part of a four-part series, Prof Cheryl McCrindle, a practising veterinarian and professor at the University of Pretoria, details how to treat cattle, sheep and goats in emergencies.

- Prof Cheryl McCrindle

FAST FACTS

Keeping a veterinary first- aid kit on the farm can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation.

Farmers and farmworkers should be trained to handle emergencies swiftly and effectively.

Bandages and medicines are vital components of a first-aid kit.

Animals are exposed daily to the hazards of the natural environment. They also behave instinctively. In combination, these two factors place them at constant risk of accident, injury and disease. With this in mind, it’s important that farmers understand how to treat certain medical emergencies in livestock, and that they have the first-aid tools at hand to do so. While an intervention may not be enough to ‘cure’ an animal, it can buy time before a veterinarian arrives, and this could end up saving the animal’s life.

PLANNING

Keeping an emergency stock of livestock medications on the farm is all very well, but many farmers neglect to check their first-aid kits regularly, and may only realise that products are missing or expired when an animal becomes sick or injured. So, when putting together a first- aid kit for sheep, goats and cattle, ask yourself:

• What diseases, conditions and injuries are most likely to occur? This will help you choose the instruments, medications and materials you will always need available;

• Who will be using the first-aid kit, and does this person have enough training in first aid for animals?