,_i”^ va ” aUgh ’ Bovtoe Podiatrist Talks While He Works
u- , “I was on a roll with those he pulls no punches about outlin-
5 K ‘TL cows. It was a traumatic thing to ing that philosophpy.
SSm afarm bCm ’ do -” be ttmmhea., “But forming "Legs and feet in cows have
Stopping <*e day at Kingstead was a business We don't have
Dmhvik Vim iv«n aeavon. good flat-boned cattle any more.
svlvanfotoSSrLS JdS Slk Kavanaugh’s early years of We never used to trim the feet of
"Hie idea of beine able to imnrove trinipiillB, the profession was one two-year-olds. Our genetic base is
Mssrs; £f^sEr sofb^-
der Ernie’s iSmictiOT Sfo came an industry introduction that Then he adds with a classic
1974 1,6 outspokcnly P^P o ™* “ the touch of Kavanaugh dry humor,
brining of an upswing in the “We’re just so grateful; Acre’s no
8 “Bd **
, - Along came the magnetic us foot tnnuners.
cLnT 8 feeder,” says Kavanaugh,” and “I often trim feet 364 days a
Rut W Kavananoh KaH some of those would P** ll in year. Christmas is the only day
ButJocKavanaughhadalways and st t d L f ve never foot * B '
wanted his own herd of dairy fn.mrw ” i ' V , “ Ul
cows In iQXi he and his wife . ro “ n<ter * there are some days when I only
Jeannette nnihaLTa S-n Tin oflier &ctons hc atlributes to do 15 or 16 head, due to the seri
westem Maryland's Garrett Coun fhc downfoU of cattle foot health ous amount of foot work they ra-
MaryMd SOrottCOun- include the use of Total Mixed Ra- quire.” he adds
?S Cn^and^ C,U S in for die bovine
herd had sunred° S a feed "! g * nd for PT oduc - 8P«a« makes him a stickler for
15 OW-TOund c l vcls of . 8™“ perfection in his work. Each ani
mg quicKiy, mierni rates were year-olds. Those type radons have hoof. Usine socialized tools Ik
running to levels as highas22 per- so much starch i n them that if af- trims away unhealthy tissue, pares
H e^r^hl^. llk n V f S 10 *i 1 » pcr fects * e circulation to die leg,” away misshapen puts of a*foot,
hundredweight. Bebeving that re- says this longtime observer of cat- removes imbedded stones or gra
mammg md« business dc feet and their problems. vel and St
e S ** addition to fecdin 8 and hous- that have needed aggressive trim
tte to scUthc ing changes. Kavanaugh also ming due to serious infection are
s“* 10 65 md | an B blames modem dairy breeding wrapped with heavy-duty bandag
head head of young stock philosophy with putting hoof trim- ing materials to keep them clean
averaged »i,iuu. ming service in such demand. And and dry while healing.
Before setting the “patient”
back uptight and releasing her.
Kavanaugh meticulously checks
with a small, flat footboard that
every part of the outer rim of the
trimmed, shaped hoof touches the
board. If it does not, he will retrim
until satisfied that the hoof is
shaped to his perfectionist
“A properly-trimmed foot
should leave a perfect ‘horseshoe
shape’ track behind when that cow
walks away,” he says.
Foot warts, a plague which af
fects many dairy herds, create
many of the problems Kavanaugh
attacks daily on the hoof end of his
patients. While the virus remains
dormant in cold weather, warming
weather can generate an epidemic
of the painful warts.
He counsels his clients to deve-
Kavanaugh trims and shapas a dairy cow’s foot to remove
damage wrought by viral warts, stone damage or a variety
of other afflictions which cause the animals to limp.
.ig Jng pi v
problems are carefully wrapped and bandaged after trea
ment to keep the foot clean and dry while It heals.
A sharp, curved hoof knife is one of the key tools of a
foot trimmer’s trade. On a few rare occasions, Joe (Cava
naugh has missed a hoof and carved Into his own hand,
one of the physical hazards of the profession.
lop a schedule of at least semi*
weekly use of a footbath. He also
blends a mix of oxytetracycline
with sterile water for use in spray
bottles to spray ontffected
his clients to use as a safe treatment
on cows’ feet as the animals move
through milking parlors.
He also blends a mix of oxyte
tracycline with sterile water for
use in spray bottles to spray on af
fected hooves, which he recom
mends to his clients to use as a
safe treatment on cows’ feet as the
animals move through milking
parlors.
“Barnyards need to be kept
scraped and clean and cows turned
out on ground as much as possible
in good weather. A couple of
hours of sunshine on a cow’s foot
ImaMer' Fdwilhg, ’SitiMiy, > WWh a l >
helps tremendously. The more
time out on dirt the better,” he
suggests. “God didn’t make cows’
feet to stand 24 hours a day in a
sloppy, damp environment. Wet
problems.” Kl “
As might be expected, working
with the kicking equipment of a
cow has had its dangerous mo
ments in Kavanaugh’s 24 years of
experience.
“I got kicked in the head one
time that you could hear my skull
crack. I looked away while fasten
ing down a cow’s foot to talk to
the owner and she got me,” he ex
plains, adding with a grin, “I still
talk, but I never look away from
those feet until they’re secured.”
A key tool of his trade, the
sharp, curved hoof knife, has like-
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