Farm First Aid: Essential Medical Supplies for Cattle

Disclaimer: We are not veterinarians. This blog post is based on our personal experiences on the farm and does not replace medical advice. Always consult a qualified vet for medical advice and treatment.

Being prepared means having the right supplies on hand to treat a huge range of issues that might arise on your farm. This is especially important when you need to deal with an injury or illness without delay. Vets in rural areas are often under the pump—while they do a brilliant job, they won’t always be able to get out to you straight away.

What they will often do, though, is ask what supplies you have on hand. If you’re prepared, they can often talk you through how to treat things yourself. That can save you valuable time and money and, more importantly, give your cattle the immediate care they need.

So, what should you always have in stock?

For wound care & preventing infections

Wounds happen —it’s just part of farm life. That’s why we always keep wound care sprays stocked, like Cetrigen, which is an antibacterial wound spray that contains an insecticide to keep flies away. Proper wound care is essential to prevent infections that could slow healing or, worse, make your animal’s condition deteriorate.

The insecticide part really is a game changer too—it prevents maggots getting into wounds. Because let’s be honest, maggots are disgusting, and once they get into a wound, things can go downhill fast.

We also keep saline solution on hand for cleaning wounds. It’s a sterile solution that helps wash away debris and bacteria. You can either pour it over the wound, wipe it using gauze or use a syringe to flush the area properly. It also comes in handy to flush out and cleanse eyes in the event of irritation.

Monitoring Health & Dehydration

A thermometer is another must-have—yes, a rectal thermometer, because cattle don’t exactly open their mouths and say “ahh.” Like with people, a change in temperature can signal something’s wrong. The normal rectal temperature for cattle is 38°C, so if it’s off, you might have a sick cow.

Probiotic paste – Again just like human’s cows can feel under the weather at times and are in need of boost. A probiotic such as BioBoost promotes immunity, recovery and improves digestion. This can be fed to cattle at any stage of stress or illness and during weaning for calves or after taking a course of antibiotics.

Electrolytes are another essential item that you should always keep stocked. Just like us, cattle sometimes need a little pick-me-up. These replace lost fluids and help with recovery when an animal is showing signs of dehydration from stress, illness, or even transport. You do not want to be caught out without these—they can be the difference between life and death, especially in a calf.

One of the biggest reasons we use electrolytes? Scours (diarrhea). It’s a serious condition, particularly for calves, and if not treated properly, it can be fatal. If you’ve ever had a calf with scours, you’ll know just how fast they can go downhill. Having electrolytes on hand and ready to go can make all the difference.

We’ll be doing a separate blog post soon on scours with more detail on causes, treatments, and prevention—so keep an eye out for that!

Fly Strike.

If you’ve been farming for a while, you’ll know flies aren’t just an annoyance—they can be a

serious problem. Just like sheep, cattle are prone to fly strike, especially in the warmer, wetter months. Flies love damp, dirty areas (like around wounds or soiled fur), and if they lay eggs, those eggs turn into maggots that burrow into the flesh. Sounds gross? It is and it can also deadly if left untreated.

For fly strike prevention keep a fly strike powder or Repel X. Flies are unfortunately a pest (especially in Australia) Fly strike is where a parasitic infection occurs due to fly larvae (maggots) infesting the body of the animal and feeding on its tissue. This can cause the animal pain, illness and potentially lead to death.

Prevention is the key, but sometimes is not enough to stop flystrike developing . With our highlands we also use clippers to shave their back ends at the start of summer. This stops bodily fluids from getting caught up in the hair and means that they dry off quickly.  But sometimes, even with the best prevention, fly strike can still happen. When it does, the first step is removing the maggots—yes, manually, which is as awful as it sounds, but necessary. Then, we flush the area with antiseptic solution, apply a fly strike treatment, and cover the wound if needed. If it’s a bad case, antibiotics might be necessary, so a vet consultation is always a good idea.

Prescribed medications- Antibiotics & Anti-Inflammatories

Many illnesses in cattle will be treated with both of these medications. For example, antibiotics for infections such as pneumonia (yes cows get pneumonia!!), toxaemia from fly strike or for general infections.

An anti-inflammatory may be used to manage pain and inflammation associated with many conditions, such as joint pain, mastitis (yes, they get that too!!), pain post operation, lameness and calving related issues.

Both of these veterinary prescribed medications will be administered by injections. If you feel comfortable administering these yourself you could save a lot of money in vet callout bills.  If not, that’s okay too! But when the time comes, you might surprise yourself with what you’re capable of. Like anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. And if you’re ever unsure, your vet can guide you through the process until you feel confident.

Eye care treatments

Sometimes with eye problems it’s something just as simple as giving the eye and surrounding tissue a quick cleanse with some saline or wipe with a cleansing cloth to remove the gunk build up.

Cattle, especially those sticking their heads into hay all the time, can get eye irritations. One of the most common issues? Grass seeds getting stuck in their eyes. If you’ve ever seen a cow with a swollen, irritated, and weepy eye, check for a grass seed first. If you can see it, you can remove it carefully with your fingers or tweezers. If it’s buried too deep, you can’t locate it or its causing too much irritation, veterinary assistance will be required to prevent serious injury to the animals eye. If you have been successful in removing the grass seed without assistance its recommended you treat with an eye ointment such as Orbenin Eye ointment to avoid and infection in the affected eye.

Another Common Eye Problem if your cow has pink, swollen, and runny eyes, but no grass seed is visible, it could be pinkeye—a bacterial infection that spreads fast, especially in dusty or fly-heavy conditions. If caught early, topical antibiotic ointments like Orbenin Eye ointment can treat it effectively. In more severe cases, your vet might prescribe an injectable antibiotic.

General Supplies & PPE

Apart from medical supplies, we always keep general supplies and PPE (personal protective equipment) on hand.

• Disposable gloves (both regular and shoulder-length) are a must when dealing with things like calving or treating wounds.

• Bandages, gauze and tape, for the cover of wounds. Gauze can also be used when cleansing eyes and wounds.

• Plastic aprons come in handy when there’s extra mess involved.

• Scissors and tweezers are useful for cutting bandages, removing debris, or trimming hair around wounds.

• Clippers for quick and easy hair removal.

• Needles and Syringes in various sizes. If you are confident and capable after speaking to your veterinary professional, needles are a must in your kit. Various needles lengths are needed when injecting as some maybe be intramuscular (into the muscle) and others subcutaneously (under the skin). Length of the needles is also taken into consideration when injecting a fully grown cow v’s a calf as well. Dosages are also different depending on the size/weight of the cattle as well so therefore different size capacity syringes are also required. It best to consult with your veterinary professional as to what will suit you needs.

• A good torch is something you don’t think about until you’re out in the paddock in the dark, trying to treat an animal.

One of the best pieces of advice? Keep everything in a portable container. You want to be able to grab your kit, chuck it in the ute, and head straight to where you need to be—without rummaging through a pile of supplies. Make sure that every thing is divided and easily accessible so your aren’t mucking around digging through trying to find what you need. Be sure to follow proper storage instructions for chemicals and medications.

From time to time, issues will come up with your cattle. The best thing you can do is be prepared with the basics—enough to get you through or keep things under control until the vet arrives. So make sure you know your closest large-animal vet and that your farm is on their books. The last thing you want is to be scrambling for a vet’s number in an emergency, only to find out they won’t take new clients.

Remember its always best to consult with a qualified veterinarian when any issues arise with an animal on your farm.

Happy farming!