A week back, I saw one feeble looking cow sitting alongside the road; not sensing anything, I just passed. Next day, I saw that cow again; sitting in an uncomfortable position on the same spot. Realizing that something was wrong, I stopped my car to check on her. After scanning her, I realized that the cow had hurt one of her legs badly & was also hungry for past couple of days. I called up my worker to get some fodder & jaggery for her which she gobbled up real fast. Then we called up the vet who gave her a pain killer & some antibiotics to recover; I had applied an antiseptic ointment by then which the vet recommended to continue applying. The next important thing was to get her up on her feet. Folks who have reared cattle know that a recumbent cow is at risk of nerve/muscle damage and other complications if she remains down for 24 hours or so. I called up couple of folks to help make her stand; we tried for some time but failed. So we decided to just roll her over to make her sit on her other hind leg. She was eating food which was a positive sign but was not standing on her feet which was disturbing. After couple of hours, I went again to check on her & saw that she had changed sides on her own. That was a relief & a sign that she had a good chance of recovery. Considering that she was out in cold, we got her wrapped in a warm blanket & left for the day.

Next day, she looked a little better, we again fed her, applied the ointment, vet gave her the energy booster; but she was still not standing. Since she was sitting for a long time, we decided to massage her legs with warm water mixed with epsom salt to soothe the sore muscles & relieve the tension in her legs. When I came back to see her in the evening, she was not there. I looked all around but couldn’t find her. As I was about to leave, I saw her standing on the other side of the road. That was a very pleasant surprise & a sign that she was finally on road to recovery. I called up my worker & got her to our shelter. After couple of days, she recovered fully; her leg became much better; she started standing & sitting at will & also recovered her lost weight.

Currently she is in the temporary shelter that has been created for our municipal block & talks are on with different gaushalas to move her to one of those gaushalas.

I am glad that this time around our rescue operation has been successful; next we need to better the score… :).