Yesterday AM I was feeding my "boys" when Grey, my Brown Swiss ox, came from the field looking extremely large. He came into his feeding area, I hooked him up, offered him his grain, which he did not eat. Called Vet. Vet could not come, but I went to his office to pick up some meds. Bloat treatment by Sparhawk Labs, plus Banamin injection. Hubby & I never did this before. Liquid treatment not a real big problem, injection a bit much. Long story short liquid went down pretty well, injection took about three tries. Poor guy probably thought he was a pin cushion. Anyway, all ended well. He was up an about this 6:00AM feeling better. At the worse his pin bones were nearly swollen over.
We really don't know what caused it. same pasture for years, fresh hay, about 1 1/2 apples per day, plus a few dry corn stalks. Pasture is non exitstant. He did eat grass along the shed line where there was some moldy leaves. Usually, the cattle don't mess with that area.
Vet came by today to check him out. He found him to be OK. Just a fluke thing.
The meds worked within a 12 hr period. so if anyone else encountered the same situation, there is hope.
By the way, Grey is nearly 14 years old. He is in good shape for his age.

Be sure to check the archives for some interesting ways that people have handled this. Anyone that keeps livestock should probably learn how to give injections before an emergency takes place. Plus, it will save you money to give most of the routine shots yourself (except rabies). Unless that has been outlawed, too.

if the bloat is advanced you might have to stick the ox with a knife, ice pick, or an instrument you can buy..you go to the left side of the steer..slightly below the spine and behind the ribs..this is the triangle area in front of the pinbones that sinks in a lot in milk cows..go to about the middle of the triangle and stab the steer right through the hide into the inside of the steer..this will let out the gas..you will smell it and maybe hear the gas coming out..the steer will actually deflate in front of your eyes and experience releaf..some others on the porch may be able to explain the operation better...i recently had to do this to my jersey milk cow..after the cow reaches a certain point in the bloat it will be too late for medicine...

Virginia Gal, you are right about giving the injections. Vet usually comes once a year for shots, including rabies. This all done in one visit, unless something else crops up, like this situation.
Anyway, we had "on the job training, so to speak". I am just glad it all ended well.

We had a shorthorn calf, maybe 6-7 months old, that bloated several times. We had to have the vet put a bloat whistle in him, it was a plastic pipe that was sutured in to let off the gas. It was winter & you could see the steam coming out of it in the cold air. Had to keep it clean as the liquid in his gut would spill out of it. It was disgusting to say the least, nasty to clean & smelly. The vet eventually took it out but the calf never really thrived after that, stayed skinny & was just rough looking, we ended up shipping him. Never could figure out why he kept bloating up. Dry hay, in a dirt paddock, & some grain, vet thought that the bacteria levels in gut were out of kilter & gas was the by-product, resulting in recurrent bloating.

One of the easiest way to prevent frothy bloat (caused by foam in the rumen trapping the gas and not allowing it to be expelled when belching) is to not turn the animals onto legume pastures until the dew has burned off. This is different than free-gas bloat (which is often an obstruction of the airway). I saw a vet remove a hedge apple from the esophagus of a cow the other day when she swallowed it and could only get it down part way.

A neat trick that i was taught for looking for bloat is to stand in front of the cow and look at the profile. If it looks like a "papple", a pear on the animal's right side and an apple of the animal's left side it is a good sign that it is bloated.
Good luck,
Dan