Hip Dysplasia and our Scottish Highland cows

The main factors about the animals we rescue is that they are either coming from less desirable situations, whether they were abused, not well cared for or have disabilities.

Here you see our dear Brody who came from a farm that gave little attention to him, his mom and siblings. Unfortunately because of breeding and the lack of care they endured, disabilities were almost inevitable. Brody, Grady and Cody (may he rest in peace) have/had hip dysplasia.

Hip dysplasia is a skeletal disease of large animals including dogs, cattle and horses. This is where their hip joints and muscles around the hip don’t work properly and are in fact degenerating. You can actually hear and feel the clicking of their hips as they move. This can be a very painful and debilitating health issue.

Cody’s situation was so bad we took him to Cornell’s Nemo Animal Hospital in Ithaca New York. They gave him great care but could not heal him. We brought him home and with the help of Country Companions Veterinary he was able to be with his cow family and loved by all of us until the end. We were so sad that we lost our beautiful boy and as we were still living in our Newtown location we brought Cody to the Litchfield farm to be buried so he could be close to us.

Grady, went through a rough spot last year but like Cody and Brody he is on a pain management program that keeps the spark in his daily activities.

Brody is still facing challenges as he is having problems with his mobility. Cows are very heavy so not an easy task to help them up. We started to find that when we went to check on Brody he was unable to get up, scared and stressed. That is why it was critical for us to find a solution to help him get up and to lay down. Britt and team came up with an idea to pack his room and make a hay wall. This lets him lay up against and on the hay so he can get up and down more easily. His pain medication should relieve him but this is something we will continue to manage. He is doing better these days eating, drinking and adventuring out of his room even though his hips remain problematic.