What is the difference between "PumpaCOW" & " Fresh Cow Drink" ?

So, what is the difference between "PumpaCOW" & "Fresh Cow Drink"?

Firstly, and obviously, the main difference is the way you get it into the cow-

• PumpaCOW needs to be pumped in through a stomach tube device, such as our gag set & pump.
• Fresh Cow Drink is a voluntary drink, that most cows will drink from the bucket, but only immediately after calving. If it is not drunk by the cow, it can then be pumped in if you wish.

Secondly, they do slightly different jobs-

• PumpaCOW is to support Calcium, energy and hydration. It is good after calving and in cows that are off their food for whatever reason. I made this because other products available in different sachets are too complicated ! (in my opinion). Fresh Cows and cows 'off-food' need the same things- calcium, warm water, salts including potassium, and energy.
• Fresh Cow Drink is more targetted for the new calved cow, to kick start Calcium mobilisation , rehydrate and help anchor the stomachs in place.

So, before I get into the chemical differences, the simple way to choose is-

• PumpaCOW provides more calcium and energy, but will need to be pumped in. You will always need to pump fluids into sick cows or  cows that are longer calved anyway
• Fresh Cow Drink for an easy way to give cows a good level of calcium and other benefits  immediately after calving, without having to pump it in, in most cases

EVEN SIMPLER- you need both! - PumpaCOW for sick cows, Fresh Cow Drink for new calved cows. So I've done a special offer with 10% off if you order both together on our website.

Similarities - Both products supply-

• Calcium
• Energy
• Water for hydration
• Volume and weight , to help anchor the guts in position

Differences-

• Calcium sources. There is more calcium in a feed of PumpaCOW, however it is unpalatable. There are more, nice tasting calcium sources in Fresh Cow Drink
• Although there is less calcium in the Fresh Cow Drink, it still has more than its competitors in the voluntary drink arena. Some have hardly any!!
• Vitamin D features in Fresh Cow Drink as it is more targetted to the 'freshly calved cow'. Vitamin D increases the uptake of calcium from the diet and realease from the bones.
• Vitamin B12 features in the PumpaCOW, as it is important in cows that are not eating , or with reduced rumen function
• Energy sources- both contain dextrose and propionate;-  

1. Dextrose is energy, but also gives an insulin spike that helps ketosis (interesting story below).
2. Propionate is in both products but features more in PumpaCOW. It smells and tastes fairly bad, similar to the 'PropCorn' of old. However it is an excellent energy source for the cow and used in many ketosis drenches, including our NRG

Finally, the semi-interesting anecdote- When I was vetting, I experimented with injecting insulin into cows with ketosis or a.k.a. 'slow-fever'. Given with a bottle of dextrose intravenously. The theory was that the insulin drives the glucose into the cells, so less of the injected glucose was urinated out. It seemed to work well, but I remmber one cow , and maybe the dose was wrong for that size of cow or the severity of the disease. I injected the cow with insulin and dextrose. It is the only cow I have ever seen lift a front and a back leg off the ground simultaneously, on the same side and it remained standing up. It didnt fall over! I even think it got better too!

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