Eye problem in older cow

[rosie]

My old longhorn cow started having trouble with an eye 3 weeks ago. Tried eye wash and it appeared to remove the inflammation and discharge has since stopped. Suspect the growth itself might be cancer. Anybody seen this before? It's not something we've had around here. I sent the picture to our vet last week but haven't heard from him yet. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Dsth]

it does look similar to an eye problem on an older cow I had a few years ago. Vet said cancer as soon as he looked at it without any further testing. I kept the cow since she was bred and one of my favorites. she had her next calf but started loosing her balance and ended up stepping on the calf's hoof and breaking it off. ended up loosing both the cow and calf.

 

[TCRanch]

Yes, looks like cancer eye. Little further along than my cow but your vet may still be able to successfully treat it by removing the third eyelid if it hasn't metastasized to the lymph nodes. BTW, this pic was in 2017 and she's now 12 years old, still one of the first to calve.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

I'd say cancer eye too!

 

[Lucky_P]

Certainly looks like 'cancer eye' - squamous cell carcinoma - originating on the 'third eyelid'. I've removed smaller ones like that, if they're well-circumscribed, and bought the cow some significant additional time. One that small has probably not spread, and from that one pic, doesn't appear to be affecting the eye, itself, yet. Removal could possibly be curative.
Have your veterinarian examine it.
Or, it may just be time for her to take a trip to town...

 

[TCRanch]

Or, it may just be time for her to take a trip to town..

Always an option and the OP didn't define "old cow" but when I took my girl in, the vet bill was something incredibly low, like $25 if I recall. And he also removed the 3rd eyelid on the other side as a precaution because it was a little red. No meds, just cauterized.

 

[rosie]

My old longhorn cow started having trouble with an eye 3 weeks ago. Tried eye wash and it appeared to remove the inflammation and discharge has since stopped. Suspect the growth itself might be cancer. Anybody seen this before? It's not something we've had around here. I sent the picture to our vet last week but haven't heard from him yet. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!View attachment 15470

This completely cleared. Truly amazing. Vet wrote her off. Said it was likely cancer. We tried some stuff we had in the barn: MicrocynAH (for pink eyes) as a last ditch effort. Tumor disappeared after about a month. Still clear today. She's a nice cow so we're happy to have her around a little longer. I don't know what's in this stuff but it did the trick.