Lisa Whitfield - Farm Vet Services

Lisa Whitfield - Farm Vet Services Providing you with Independent Veterinary Services, for Farms and Lifestyle Blocks in the Manawatu She gained her Masters degree in Veterinary Medicine in 2016.

Lisa has worked with all farm animal species during her 15 years as a Veterinarian, including regularly working with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and South American camelids (Alpaca and Llama). She loves using ultrasound in large animal cases to assist in making the most accurate diagnosis for each patient. She is also a highly experienced dairy vet, with particular expertise in managing mastitis in

dairy cattle. Lisa is accredited by the National Mastitis Advisory Committee to provide Mastitis and Milk Quality services to Fonterra and will provide milk quality services to any dairy farms in need of advice. She has developed her own low-cost milk culture technique to enable farms to dive further into managing high cell count and clinical mastitis cases. Lisa completed a 12-month internship in Equine Clinics at Massey University, which provided a great skillset for veterinary care of horses. Lisa established Lisa Whitfield Farm Vet Services in 2020/21. The business has now grown into a sustainable, service-driven, mobile large animal veterinary business. In addition to her veterinary career, Lisa spent 3 years working fulltime on 260 cow dairy farm in the Manawatu as a farm assistant. This experience gave her valuable understanding of the practical nature of farming, and underpinned the seasonal cycles driving decision-making for animal health on farms. Education and sharing knowledge is her passion, and in addition to the educational content written for the LWFVS page, Lisa has written regular 'Vets Voice' articles for the New Zealand Dairy Exporter, covering off health topics and case studies relevant to dairy cattle.

Good babysitters don't come cheap these days...in fact they're more expensive than ever!
20/09/2025

Good babysitters don't come cheap these days...in fact they're more expensive than ever!

Sheep these days...you turn your back for a second and they are in the drivers seat and drinking your coffee. Soon they'...
17/09/2025

Sheep these days...you turn your back for a second and they are in the drivers seat and drinking your coffee. Soon they'll be taking over the world 🙄😬🤣

We were recently asked to take a look at cow #520, a 9 year old Jersey cow, who had been noticed to be off-milk at morn...
14/09/2025

We were recently asked to take a look at cow #520, a 9 year old Jersey cow, who had been noticed to be off-milk at morning milking. 520 had calved without any trouble 3 weeks ago, and had been doing just fine until now.

We headed out to the farm to take a look and see what was wrong with her.

When we arrived, 520 had wandered only a few meters from the shed and had sat down on the concrete - this is not normal behaviour for a dairy cow, and indicates she is feeling quite unwell.

We began our examination by taking her temperature- this came back at 39.8 degrees celsius - a fever. This helps us narrow down what the problem is, because a fever will usually indicate we firstly need to find an infection source, as opposed to the raft of other functional and metabolic issues which could be going on.

We listened to her heart and lungs. She had a heart rate of 100 beats per minute which is high. Her respiratory rate was 25 breaths per minute which is normal. Her heart sounded normal and rhythmic, and her lung sounds were clear and normal.

She was slightly sunken-eyed and moderately dehydrated.

We listened to her gut, along both the left and right sides of her body - everything seemed to be in good working order, with no pings or sloshing present.

At her back end, a vaginal exam revealed a thick, ropey clear discharge - nothing unusual for 3 weeks post calving, and probably indicating a very recent estrus event.

So what was going on with #520, and what was the cause of her fever?

One aspect of an examination for any sick cow, but particularly for a down dairy cow, should always be to check her udder. Doing this is quite awkward as their leg tends to get in the way, and their udder is squashed against the ground. However, all 4 quarters should still be checked - both the udder itself palpated and the milk inspected.

Both of 520s' right quarters were easy to check as they were on top - they were soft and empty, and with normal milk present. She was sitting on her left quarters so with some effort we could feel them - they felt soft. We stripped the back left and found more normal milk. However, the front left quarter gave us dark yellow milk containing fine clots - mastitis!

Source of infection identified ✔️

The final check we did was to measure her blood ketone levels to ensure no secondary Ketosis was present. Her blood ketone level was 0.8, which is fine.

Luckily at this point #520 decided she did have the energy to stand, so we were able to move her to the crush for milk sampling and treatment.

As you can see from the milk samples, the front left milk was noticeably different to the rest. If we had used the RMT paddle on it, if would have thoroughly stuck to the plate!

520 then received 35L of warm water for rehydration, with electrolytes, calcium and magnesium added.

She was given an IV dose of antibiotics to help combat the mastitis infection, as well as IV antiinflammatories to combat toxemia.

In order to full understand what is happening with a mastitis case, we culture all milk samples in our lab. In many cases like this we can have an answer before the end of the day, to help guide the cows ongoing treatment.

In this case, #520 grew E.coli from her mastitic milk.

E.coli is a gram negative bacteria which is a common cause of mastitis in dairy cattle. It is an environmental bacteria which loves wet, dirty conditons, such as what most farms experience over spring.

The bacteria causes such a massive immune system reaction, that cows will usually develop a fever and toxemia as they battle with the bug. Dehydration can be severe, and this is the reason that giving large volumes of fluids via stomach tube is so important in the management of an E.coli mastitis case.

We let ' owners know what she was dealing with, and they were prepared to give her more fluids and antiinflammatories over the next few days as required.

What we think happened is that #520 had been on heat the day before and that the high estrogen levels combined with a day of being distracted from eating, had given the E.coli a window of opportunity to invade her udder, while her immune system had been slightly down.

It was great to hear from her owners a few days later, that 520 was doing well and was well on the road to recovery 🌟🌟🌟

This week we got to visit this cute quartet of orphan lambs who are being reared by a local family. Two of the lambs, Fr...
13/09/2025

This week we got to visit this cute quartet of orphan lambs who are being reared by a local family.

Two of the lambs, Frankie and Daisy, had developed sore legs and were not feeling very well. They were limping quite badly and were not able to keep up with their mates.

On examination, Frankie had a swollen, painful front right carpal joint, and Daisy had a swollen, painful rear left fetlock joint. She also had a fever of 40.5 degrees celsius.

Joint Ill!

Depending on the circumstances of their birth, orphan lambs are very susceptible to serious infections if they miss the opportunity to get day 1 colostrum from their mum. Whether it's an assisted birth, a cold miserable day when they're born, or their mum abandoning them, these lambs will all be on the back foot from the start.

Most often we see sick lambs for joint infections, but navel infections, pneumonia and scours are all also very easily acquired when a lamb has not had first-milk colostrum within a few hours of birth.

Joint infections are very painful and can take quite a few weeks to heal. Pain management is a big part of the successful treatment of these cases, with long acting antiinflammatories helping to ensure the lambs are feeling as well as they can while the infection is controlled.

Frankie and Daisy were started on a 2 week course of antibiotics. They also received an oral anti-inflammatory to reduce pain level and reduce Daisys' fever. The antiinflammatory will be continued as required over the next few weeks.

Joint ill can be caused by a number of different bacteria, including Streptococci and E.coli. It is important to understand that not all antibiotics are capable of treating these bacteria, nor do they all have the ability to get into the joint capsule where they are needed. Consultation with your vet is advisable before you go injecting them with any antibiotic that you may already have on hand.

We were very happy to hear that the lambs were feeling much better a few days later, and we pleased to see Daisy and Frankie were zooming around again!

We were recently called to examine this 6 year old Jersey cow who had had a rough time the day previously. Her owner had...
09/09/2025

We were recently called to examine this 6 year old Jersey cow who had had a rough time the day previously.

Her owner had found her tangled up in a live electric fence - this is one unlucky but lucky cow!

The cow had received serious injuries to the top of its front left leg, where the wire had cut in to the skin and cut off circulation to the soft tissues below.

As you can see, the injury was severe, with skin damage and the area above it becoming quite swollen.
By some miracle she was actually walking soundly.

So how do we approach a case like this?

Your first instinct would probably be to jump in with creams and bandages and try to cover the wound up. However, wounds in cattle can be quite difficult to manage in the way you would prefer - as you can imagine, bandages and dressings will have a very hard time of it in wet and muddy paddocks and could actually make the original injury much worse by trapping bacteria against the skin.

Few cows in New Zealand would be able to be confined to the clean, dry areas needed to keep a bandage in healthy shape, as well as for the cow to continue to be milked without having to walk to the shed each day.

We take a much less intensive approach to managing a wound like this, and try to keep the cows stress to minimum. Antiinflammatories are used to help manage pain and inflammation. Clean cold water is used for cleaning and soothing the injured skin. And for an injury as bad as this antibiotics are given due to the large area of skin involved and the risk of cellulitis developing.

This cow had her leg gently cleaned with a hose, and this was to be repeated each day when she came through the shed. She received pain relief and was to have more as required, and was given a course of antibiotics to prevent secondary infection.

She was incredibly lucky that only the back half of the leg was damaged by the wire, rather than the full circumference. If it had been the full circumference the outcome would have been much worse.

Cleaning wounds gently with clean cold water helps to remove dirt stuck to its, as well as remove the inflammatory discharge that will be produced as the body heals itself. We also applied a bland salve to the skin to help protect it and make it easier to clean.

This cow has a long road to recovery ahead with it likely being a few months before the wound has healed up completely. She was however, a great patient and was not phased by what we had to do to her 🌟🌟🌟

This beautiful cow is #281, a 4y/o Fresian cross and one of the many friendly cows in a local dairy herd.281 started ca...
06/09/2025

This beautiful cow is #281, a 4y/o Fresian cross and one of the many friendly cows in a local dairy herd.

281 started calving today but was not making progress in the timeframe that she should have been, so she was brought in by the farmer to find out what was going on.

They could feel two legs coming out the right way, but were unable to locate the head. Her cervix was also quite tight so they decided to call us to see if we could help her, rather than persevere further.

When we examinined #281, we could feel there were two front legs and a long smooth expanse of neck along the right side of the calf, heading back deep into the uterus. This calf position is called a head-back, and is one of the most common causes of calving difficulties.

Unfortunately for many calves being born in this position, they are rarely found to be alive, as was the case here.

When we attend a calving we have a couple of additional things we can do to make our lives easier:

1) Place an epidural which will numb the back end of the cow so she isn't able to feel what we are doing. This is a much easier and faster process than in most other species.

2) Use a smooth muscle relaxant to relax the uterus and ease the cow from straining against us.

281 received both of these interventions, as well as a few litres of lubricant into the uterus before we began our manipulations.

With a head-back calving, it is critical to create space for the head to be brought into the correct position. This was achieved by actually gently pushing the calf back into the uterus and tucking the two front feet back under the calf, so they were out of the way. This job is made a lot easier by the uterine relaxant!

One space was created, we could reach alongside the calf, following the neck and found one of the calves ears. Just below this we were able to stretch to reach the corner of the calfs mouth - the perfect handle-hold for bringing the head around into the correct position.

When turning the head we made sure to be careful so the calfs front teeth didn't slice the cows uterus or our fingers. Calf teeth are like a sharp knife!

Once the calfs head was around the right way, a headrope was used to pull to ensure the calfs neck was straight, before the legs were brought back up into their original position.

Luckily for 281 the calf was the perfect size so was easily extracted, along with the calving membranes. 281 was given oxytocin to contract the uterus down, as well as an antiinflammatory for pain relief.

281 was a great patient and handled the invasion of personal space without any fuss, as you would expect of a good friendly cow ❤️

And a big thank you to Jolanda Amoore for her assistance with this case!

05/09/2025

We recently met this beautiful little heifer calf, who had just been born a few hours ago, when visiting a farm to see another animal.

The owner had come across the calf and seen that it was constantly shaking, which is clearly unusual in a newborn.

As you can see from the video, the calf is bright and trying its best to be active and stand up, as they are driven to do. It also had a strong suckle response.

Unfortunately this calf was never going to be able to stand up.

Shaking calf syndrome is a neurological condition which occurs due to BVDv infection. BVDv stands for Bovine Viral Diarrhoea virus. In a very similar fashion to Hairy Shaker disease in lambs, Shaking calves have had exposure to BVD virus while they are still a fetus in their dam.

The virus attacks rapidly dividing cells in the growing fetus, such as the part of the brain which controls movement.

As the virus is infectious and a huge risk to the productivity of a herd, control and prevention of spread of the disease is very important.

As this calf was showing classic signs of BVD virus infection, as well as having symptoms which were not conducive with a healthy life, a blood sample was taken to confirm the disease, before it was euthanised and donated to Massey University for a post mortem examination.

The findings from the post mortem were remarkable. A decent proportion of the calfs brain was replaced by a large fluid filled cavity, with those parts of the brain remaining being small and compressed by the fluid. There were a raft of other changes present too.
It makes you wonder how the calf was able to have any normal body function left at all, let along having been so bright and active.

Unfortunately for this farm, the presence of a BVD calf means there has been a breakdown in biosecurity somewhere along the line earlier this year when the cows were a few months into their pregnancy. There will be a costly process to go through, including finding the original source of infection, finding any other new calves which have been born infected but aren't showing neurological signs, and protecting the herd from further infection, given we are only 6 weeks away from the next breeding period.

If you own cattle, and particularly if you breed cattle or are neighbors with someone breeding cattle, please be aware of BVD virus and ensure your stock are not harbouring the disease. There are very good tests available for finding infected individuals, as well as good vaccine options available.

A big thank you to the Massey Veterinary Pathology department for their assistance with the case 🌟🌟🌟

It was lovely to receive an update on how one of our recent patients is doing today. This photo is of the Angus Cross co...
04/09/2025

It was lovely to receive an update on how one of our recent patients is doing today. This photo is of the Angus Cross cow who had trouble with calving a schistosome calf 10 days ago.

When we left her in the dark that night she was still down and had a big recovery ahead of her.

As you can see from the photo she is up and about and looking hreat considering her ordeal, and has some foster calves to love and look after as well. And it turns out her name is Susie! ❤️

We love getting updates on how our patients are doing during their recovery :)

Not every sick animal is able to become saved, but we still try to learn what we can from the cases wherever possible. W...
03/09/2025

Not every sick animal is able to become saved, but we still try to learn what we can from the cases wherever possible.

We recently met an 11 year old fresian cow #689. She had calved a day ago, and had required some assistance from her owner as the calf was coming backwards.

After a tough but successful calving, she had been treated for milk fever later in the day by her owner and had been ok.

The next morning when the mob were checked, she was seen to go down and was unable to get up. We were called to examine her and see what was going on.

When we got there, #689 was sitting in the paddock. She had a faint heart beat, and an S bend in her neck. Her temperature was only 35.1 degrees celsius (extremely low) and she had a smelly retained afterbirth present coming through her semi-closed cervix.

After our examination we concluded she was suffering from milk fever and from a significant uterine infection called metritis.

She was treated with intravenous calcium followed by antiinflammatories, and received antibiotics. She was drenched with 30L of warm water containing electrolytes, calcium, magnesium and other goodies.

We left her still in the paddock and expected that she would make a decent recovery. Unfortunately we received word later that day that #689 had just died.

Unexpected!

The news came as a surprise and we knew there must have been something else going on with her. We offered to perform a post mortem to see what had gone wrong.

We headed back to the farm and began the post mortem - we were immediately met with orange fluid present in the abdomen - not normal and a sure sign of peritonitis. As we looked further, there was fibrin present all around the caudal abdomen encompassing the surface of the rumen and thick over the uterus. We knew there was something major going on.

The uterus was dark red and angry looking. As we continued our exam, we found a large hole in the wall of the uterus and could feel the membranes of the afterbirth poking through it.

Unfortunately #689 had a torn uterus which had resulted in contamination of the rest of her abdomen with infected fluid. This would have occured at some stage during the calving process, and is not an uncommon issue with assisted births.

While we had put her low body temperature down to the frosty morning conditions, it had in fact been the only clue she gave us that she was so gravely ill. Unfortunately the tear was too deep inside her to identify it at the time of examination. Had we used ultrasound we would have been able to identify that she had fluid in her abdomen where she shouldn't have - it most likely wouldn't have changed the treatment process but would definitely have changed the prognosis!

A post mortem is a really valuable learning tool for all involved, especially when unexpected outcomes occur. It is worth thinking about how you would feel having an animal opened up in this situation - its not something everyone is comfortable with, but can provide a lot of information when its unclear why an animal died unexpectedly.

Today we got to meet a beautiful hen called Caramel. Caramel is an Araucana x Leghorn hailing from the mighty Naki! She ...
02/09/2025

Today we got to meet a beautiful hen called Caramel.

Caramel is an Araucana x Leghorn hailing from the mighty Naki! She moved to the Manawatu a few weeks ago and not long after she arrived, her new owners noticed a large, persistent, soft mass under the skin on her breast.

Caramel has also been feeling poorly - lacking energy and not eating properly. She was also severely underweight.

What could be wrong with Caramel?

Caramel had developed an impacted crop!

This condition can develop if a chicken eats foreign matter such as plastic, or dry fibrous grass. The crop is a storage compartment in a chickens digestive tract. When a chicken eats, the crop usually fills up, and then gradually empties over the next few hours. If the chicken eats something that is too fibrous or hard to break down, it will be retained in the crop and can lead a blockage.

The owners had identified the impaction and tried to manage it medically, using a variety of things to try and break up the mass.

Unfortunately, nothing was resolving the problem, so we were contacted to see if we could help.

I am by no mean an avian vet however, Caramels problem wasn't going to resolve itself and needed surgery, so I agreed to try and help her.

Caramel was brought to us for surgery today. She only weighed 1.5kg, about half of her expected weight.

A small area was cleared of feathers over the side of her crop. Under local anaesthesia, the skin and the crop were opened, and the contents carefully removed.

The smell was terrible!

We removed piece by piece of the crop contents, and it just kept coming! In total, the fibrous ball weighed a whopping 192 grams - 13% of her current weight!

After clearing out the contents, it was flushed with saline and the incisions closed with sutures. A crop bra was put on Caramel to help support her digestion until the surgical site has healed.

She also received pain relief and antibiotics to stave off infection from such an invasive operation. She will be restricted to liquid and soft mushy feeds for a while too.

All fingers and toes are crossed for Caramel as she starts her recovery journey. She was looking a lot brighter at her discharge and enjoyed some fresh water. The owners reported she was very hungry when she got home.

Caramel was an incredibly tolerant patient and took her vet visit very well. All the very best Caramel! 🌟🌟🌟

Its that time of year where the seasons are changing again and there are lots of animals around the district battling wi...
01/09/2025

Its that time of year where the seasons are changing again and there are lots of animals around the district battling with a variety of illnesses at the moment.

Calf #192 and a few of her mates have been dealng with a scours outbreak recently.

Her owners have been diligent managing the sick calves, with pain relief and electrolytes being provided constantly to help the calves through their sickness.

A calf scours outbreak creates a huge amount of work for farms, and sometimes despite doing everything right, calves will succumb to their illness and can crash with dehydration.

Calf #192 had being managing ok with supportive care for her illness, but had taken a turn for the worse overnight. She was found near death and unresponsive in the morning.

When we got to her we actually had to double check she was still alive as she was so flat. Luckily she was still with us, so we got to work setting up IV fluids to give her a chance of being saved.

IV fluid therapy is the only way to save a calf when they are as flat as this. Serious metabolic disturbances mean their body starts to shut down, and fluids given via stomach tube are just not enough to turn them around. The mixture we administer is given directly into the bloodstream, and is necessary to counter the effects of these serious metabolic problems.

An IV catheter was placed into 192s' jugular vein. Over the next 45minutes we administered 2L of intravenous solution which contained a few different goodies and crossed our fingers that she would respond...

Calf scours can affect calves at any stage in the first few weeks of life but is most often encountered from 7-10 days old. Immunity against the infective agents which cause infectious scours is gained through the calf receiving enough high quality first-milk colostrum, in the first few hours after birth. There are lots of reasons why a calf may not receive enough antibodies in this critical time frame, and this manifests itself through diseases such as scours, navel ill and joint ill in young animals.

So how did #192 fare?

Her owner continued to support her over the rest of the day, and thankfully she was able to stand with some assistance for a small feed later that day.

It really made our day to hear that #192 was up and waiting for her breakfast the next morning! While she is not yet out of the woods, it is great to get her back on her feet and in a with a good chance of recovery.

We think this amazing little battler is deserving of a name - do you have any suggestions?

These 3 cool dudes are Mac, Jack and Tonic. They are 2 1/2 year old Huacaya wethers, living the life on a local lifestyl...
31/08/2025

These 3 cool dudes are Mac, Jack and Tonic. They are 2 1/2 year old Huacaya wethers, living the life on a local lifestyle block.

We have known them since they were youngsters, and have provided regular health checks for them as required to ensure they stay in good shape.

This week saw a visit for a general health check, f***l worm egg count monitoring and a lice treatment.

Routine f***l worm egg count monitoring is a great way to decide on whether your alpaca need drenching or not. These 3 boys are checked every few months and haven't needed drenching for well over a year now which is testament to how well they are being looked after!

There are also lots of animals around the district carrying full fleeces at the moment, as we head out of winter and into spring.

This time of the year is the peak season for lice on all animals. It is also the start of tick and mite season. Anything carrying a full fleece will be finding it particularly itchy at the moment, if they have external parasites along for the ride too!

The owner of these alpaca had noticed Tonic was scratching more than usual. Being aware that he has sensitive skin from previous seasons, we went to check him his companions. Luckily no significant areas of scabby skin were present.

Alpaca tend to develop scabby areas around the tail head, elbows and the backs of the legs so these are good areas to feel right down to the skin if you are bringing your animals in for a closer look. They will also spend a lot of time scratching around their front feet using their hind claws, and can end up with red, balding skin down the back of their front legs if they are sensitive.

All three were treated with a long-acting oral lice treatment to keep their fibre in top shape until shearing takes place later this year when the temperatures have improved a bit.

We have effective lice and mite treatments available for all of your livestock species, so if you have noticed your animals itching, get in touch to discuss the best treatment options.

Address

1293a Roberts Line
Palmerston North
4478

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+6421770685

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