Plants can inflict eye injuries on cattle out on range

Brandon Smith, a graduate research assistant with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, says really any plant growing out in the pasture has the potential to cause issues if they are not maintained properly. Bahiagrass in particular can cause problems in southern states.

Wendy Sweeter

In more northern states, fescue can cause problems. Ragweed produces fluffy seeds that can also get lodged in the eye.

“The big issue that we see is extremely fluffy seeds that can come in contact with the eye and get lodged in the eye or hard seedheads that form a spike like you see in fescue or in ryegrass or bahiagrass,” Smith says. “They’re going to be stiff enough that they’re going to scratch the eye and cause issues.”

Early in the growing season, the plants are green and not going to cause concern. Cool-season grasses have the potential to cause the most problems in late spring. Warm-season plants can cause the most troubles in late summer.

“Whenever that grass is going into its reproductive stage – trying to reproduce itself, produce a seed for the next year – that’s when we’re going to see the issue because it moved out of that leafy vegetative stage into seed set, and that’s where it’s going to pose problems,” Smith says.

Dry and droughty weather conditions can contribute to grasses shutting down production and producing seeds.

The South, mid-South and Southeast likely have the most eye injuries from grasses because of the stiffness of the grasses growing there. Smith says grasses in the southern states are firmer-stemmed and stand more upright.

Tom Hairgrove, associate professor and livestock specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, says seeds or sandburs that get lodged in a cow’s eye need to be removed as soon as possible to stop the most damage from being done. Cattle have a third eyelid where some of those things can get stuck.

“It’s not just a brush against the eye. They get caught in that pocket down under the third eyelid, then every time the eye moves, it scratches the cornea. That animal is in pain. It’s just real uncomfortable,” Hairgrove says.

If producers see a cow out on pasture with an eye that’s watering, they need to get that animal up in the chute to see if it has something stuck in there, pinkeye, a tumor or cancer eye. The only way to know what could be irritating the eye is to examine it up close.

If a cow indeed has something stuck in the eye, producers need to either remove it themselves or call a veterinarian for help. A producer can get the object out himself or herself if he or she has some experience with it, but if producers are inexperienced, calling a veterinarian to either talk them through it or physically come out will get the job done.

“A lot of the time, you have to pull that back and feel it and then get the offending object out of there,” Hairgrove says. “Luckily, cattle’s eyes are tougher than ours. Once you get that offending object out of there, cows’ eyes are pretty forgiving. They tend to heal a lot better than most other animals.”

Hairgrove says if the object has not been lodged in the eye for long, the eye will not show any scarring. He notes that removing the object is all that needs to be done. In some cases, where there is evidence of damage to the cornea, they may need to administer an antibiotic. In that case, they will need to confer with a veterinarian.

Producers may also want to cover the eye that has damage to the cornea. Hairgrove notes that most of the time the cow will rub it off in a few days. However, if they do not get the patch off themselves after a few days, the patch could trap dust and grass in it and cause more problems.

Besides eye injuries, Hairgrove says producers should be on the lookout for pinkeye, cancer eye and bovine leukemia. Pinkeye can spread to other animals if not treated. Cancer eye cows, if not treated, will need to go to slaughter right away or they will be condemned. Those with bovine leukemia usually develop a tumor behind the eye.

While there are no preventable steps producers can take, they can maintain the health of their pastures. Smith recommends not letting grass go to seed. Not only does that hurt the nutritional value of the grass, but it also poses a risk for eye injuries.

“You’re losing quality of that pasture, so your animals are not performing as well because it’s lower-quality material. As soon as it puts on that seed, now you’re running into that risk of these eye issues from a medical standpoint,” Smith says. “It’s almost a double whammy.

You’re getting two different issues popping up at the same time. Managing your pasture to keep it in a vegetative state as long as possible is best for your operation from all perspectives.”