Respiratory distress secondary to upper airway disease is not uncommon in cattle. There are many causes of upper airway disease in cattle, including infectious processes, mechanical obstruction, congenital deformities, neoplasia, and frontal sinusitis. While this case report focuses on respiratory distress caused by an extralumenal foreign body obstruction, the emergency tracheostomy procedure described is a life-saving technique applicable to many causes of upper airway distress in cattle. Temporary tracheostomy is an economically sound procedure when used to maintain an animal to allow antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory therapy to take action. Also briefly described in this case report is the tracheolaryngostomy procedure used to create a permanent tracheal stoma in cattle with laryngeal obstructions.