3 Day Old Cow Wont Eat

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LizHartley1991":juzi5nyh said:
Mira goes to the vet to be looked at tomorrow. It was the only day I could get her in. I'm glad I can finally get her in. You all have said I need to and I've wanted to but they either didn't have an opening or I was working and no one else would take her. But she's got an opening now so I'll be going in tomorrow morning with her and I'm hoping they can tell me something that won't mean culling or worse... I'll definitely let you all know.
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Since she is scoured, just taking a stool sample to the vet, no appointment needed, tells a lot... I rarely take a young calf to the vet because its usually has something to do with the poop.....I don't like taking a sick calf to a vet because they are so susceptible and pick up other things there...... a small sample of poop in a bag is all you need....should have been done days ago...
 
cowgirl8":40md2lyv said:
LizHartley1991":40md2lyv said:
Mira goes to the vet to be looked at tomorrow. It was the only day I could get her in. I'm glad I can finally get her in. You all have said I need to and I've wanted to but they either didn't have an opening or I was working and no one else would take her. But she's got an opening now so I'll be going in tomorrow morning with her and I'm hoping they can tell me something that won't mean culling or worse... I'll definitely let you all know.
Click to expand...
Since she is scoured, just taking a stool sample to the vet, no appointment needed, tells a lot... I rarely take a young calf to the vet because its usually has something to do with the poop.....I don't like taking a sick calf to a vet because they are so susceptible and pick up other things there...... a small sample of poop in a bag is all you need....should have been done days ago...
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I'm probably gonna sound rude when I say this, but I tried this before.

Mira HAS been to a vet. She's physically been to a vet twice. The first Time was the day we got her because of how disoriented and off she was acting and how she wouldn't suck the bottle. The vet gave her an antibiotic shot and the colostrum we fed her. He proceeded to tell me and my parents that getting the colostrum in her and watching her with tough love and care was what would need to be done. We did that. The next time I took her was to get her looked over because she wasn't walking hardly at all. Same dang thing happened. He gave her a shot of penicillin and vitamin B and said these kind of calves either make it or don't.

I was not satisfied with the vets wording or attitude on it.

The next few days I spent looking for a vet to take her to. Couldn't find one close enough to me. Finally a coworker suggested I talk to one fourteen miles from me that I hadn't heard of.

I called their clinic and they didn't have openings to bring an animal in since I wasn't a regular costumer but I could talk to their vets. So I did. They prescribed vitamin b and the thiamin I used for Mira. And she was doing good. But I still wanted someone to physically look at her.

I do not know if Mira has scours. The poop wasn't watery. The poop was thick and slimy but also runny - like thick mucus or like DIY slim that a kid didn't make right. It was a light brown in color and sticking all over her bottom and her tail. At one point during giving her medication, she had mild green poop that was still the same consistency. That lasted a day before going back to being light brown.

I tried the gelatin solution and her pools are still light brown but they're not sticking all over her and coming out in slightly thicker - but still slime like - poop. Which when pop comes out of you, right kind or not, it's gonna be slimy. So I saw an improvement.

Mira's legs are strange and she's swaying around and she hardly seems to be gaining weight even with the better feedings. And after that seizure like episode she had, she needs to go see a doctor. I don't feel like a poop smoke is going to be enough.

I tried multiple times to get Mira in. They didn't have an opening. I've finally got a chance to take her. I'll be loading her in my vehicle and having them do a physical exam. I won't be transporting her in a trailer. She's gonna be in my Escape in the back.

I feel at this point it's as much s physical anomaly as it is internal trouble with Mira. Maybe her eyesight wasn't heeled right from the pink eye. Maybe her legs were injured when she was born. Maybe she's got muscle problems. She needs to be looked at. This is my last try with Mira. If the vet calls her screwed then I'll call in the farm hand to cull her when I'm not home so she won't suffer. If it's surgery she needs, I can't afford that and will just have to do the same thing. If it's a medicine thing, then I can handle that. If it's mild physical therapy she needs, I can do that with her.

I know you're probably thinking I'm an idiot or something and when it comes to this stuff, yes. I'm pretty much an idiot. But I'm trying here. I'm really trying. If Mira dies because of my ignorance then it will be my ignorance. But at least I'm trying
 
I don't seem so long winded anymore do I....lol
All these strange things, wonky legs, muscle problems, you have to ask yourself,"wouldn't that have been evaluated at your previous vet visit?" Basically, a vet can only do so much. Sometimes, they can tell someone isn't..........um....in the business and the animal is a pet. My vet knows us well and if something needs knocked in the head he tells us. Do I always listen, no, but usually regret that I didn't. Your vets are treating your calf like a dog or cat. They are afraid to be honest with you. Only time will tell. I know you're trying, I totally understand. Learn from this. Calf problems are hard for people who do it all the time..
 
This will be the last big thing I'll try with Mira. The rest is fate and nature I guess. I'll feel like I've truly tried everything that can be done after tomorrow I guess. I'll let you all know what the vet says.

Good or bad, thanks to all of you for offering advice and helping to council me and just listening. I stumbled across this place by accident looking for answers and I was touched by all the help. Jan and Dun, you two have been very patient with me and I appreciate that. Same with Jeanne and MRR. Thanks for putting up with me you all.

I think after tomorrow, I'll pull back from posting too much. Maybe twice a month if Mira makes it. I'm sure I'm driving you all nuts
 
Polio. It's polio trying to creep up on her. Mira's treatment is Thiamine for the next three days then to also get her a new bag of feed since even though I got this from orscheln, we don't knkw how long it's been on the shelf so getting fresher feed can help keel from a relapse. So that's the plan.
 
New feed today. Manna Pro Suckle Pro Calf Replacer. She sucked it down with vigor, which compared to this morning is already a good sign. Had her first of six shots done. And she's much more alert and moving about. You can tell she's had a long day from the vet trip ago back home. She's nuzzling the hay right now and even checked out the water. Didn't drink it but sniffed on it.

I didn't really get to give detail about the vet visit. The first thing he asked me is if she had any reaction to the thiamin. Which she did. He then proceeded to check her eyes by waving his hand at them quickly. One eye was faster than the other eye. He tilts her head around and checks her legs and neck before asking me about the formula I was giving her; brand, where I got it, 20-20 status, stuff like that. I explain it all to him and he nods and proceeds to explain that she's on the verge to a relapse from her thiamin treatment because the formula I got her, while 20-20 good, might have been on the shelf to long and the proteins and all the good nutrition and vitamins in it only have so long an active life before it becomes useless (which I'm 95% sure that one of you warned me the same thing, so I feel stupid). So his biggest advice was to do another six days of Thiamine treatment and to go find a feed store and get their fresher made milk replacer that will also be a much better quality.

So that's whats been done.
 
Keep in mind that the thiamine-vitamin b doses you are giving her will only get her over the hump with the polio. B vitamins are not stored in the body, so the animal needs a constant and consistent source of them. Be prepared to give another round of doses of thaimin again at a later point if she starts to regress at all. Some times an animal will snap out of polio quite easily, others will have continued difficulty. The difficulty with motor function, especially control of hind quarters and loss of vision are a dead give away of polio/thiamine deficiency in cattle and goats.
 
Good luck with the new diagnosis and the prescribed treatments. It is better to know. And hopefully you will be able to pull her out of this and she will have a chance to get on track. Keep us posted; hey we all have a vested interest in her by now!!!!!
 
farmerjan":kw3q7zwg said:
Good luck with the new diagnosis and the prescribed treatments. It is better to know. And hopefully you will be able to pull her out of this and she will have a chance to get on track. Keep us posted; hey we all have a vested interest in her by now!!!!!
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I'll do my best to! Thanks for sticking with me on her. I'm really feeling like this could be better. I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket of course, but I feel more confident about this trial.
 
Mira is loving the new formula I got her. She sucks it down eagerly and is more affectionate afterwards, having picked up this hilarious thing where, if I sit down, she buries her head between my legs and just stays there. Sometimes she headbutts this girl in her "girl" but she just seems content to stay there or walks off to circle around then comes back again.

Her eyesight is still pretty weak, but I can tell she can see me and can follow me. Just that she's struggling a little with it.

She got her second of six shots this morning as well. She wasn't as mad at me toda either. The other evening I gave her the shot and she was skiddish and distant from me. Though I also think that's from being carted around and from the vet freaking her out a bit as well.

So far so good. Fingers crossed.
 
3rd of six shots down. Drank the bottle so hard she warped it. She's really liking the new formula and taking to it better than I hoped. And she's reacting more. When I used to give her shots, she'd be still or wouldn't even react. Now she tries to buck her legs or push me off her. She's getting stronger to. And heavier since my foot gets stepped on almost every day by her.

Fingers still crossed
 
Mira's eyesight is better this morning. I've been testing it out every morning and evening. She's feeding so well and today she actually moo'd at me. She hardly ever makes any moo sounds or any sounds besides the clopping of her feet. So this was pleasant. And cute. Though painful when she keeps looking for my utter I don't possess!

It's snowing this morning. Coyotes everywhere too (whiny turds can be heard running around). Tightened the lock on the door.

Should I feed Mira an extra pint since it's colder than normal? I thought someone said it's a good idea to feed them an extra pint when it's cold out to help their body temperature...? Don't wanna overfeed her but want her to be comfy too.

I feel like getting Mira off the bottle in the future is gonna be rough since she shows no interest in anything but the bottle. She'll be a month old in three days so it's not to concerning. But I can tell it's gonna be rough.
 
close the barn door and give her a pile of straw to lay in she'll be fine.

Need to keep soft hay and calf starter in front of her and not an extra bottle. If she's hungry she'll figure out the calf starter and hay. She needs to start eating something else and having her a bit hungry isn't going to hurt and will help motivating her maturing into an adult bovine.
 
angus9259":2il5vc8l said:
close the barn door and give her a pile of straw to lay in she'll be fine.

Need to keep soft hay and calf starter in front of her and not an extra bottle. If she's hungry she'll figure out the calf starter and hay. She needs to start eating something else and having her a bit hungry isn't going to hurt and will help motivating her maturing into an adult bovine.
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I can do the barn door tight. I shut it up this morning and gave her extra hay to lay in.

So basically be a little stubborn with her haha. I'll need to go get calf starter but I got plenty of fresh and soft hay for her to enjoy and water to drink. The starter I'll look into. Glad you reminded me of that!
 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Mira had a good feed this morning and it was her last of the six Thiamine shots. I'll be watching her to see how she is the next few days to see how she's holding up.

Plus side of things is that she's mooing more / has more reaction to things, she now flicks her little tail (which she didn't do before) around when I sit and speak with her, and she feels stronger as she pushes on me or kicks her hooves from a shot. So those are positive sides!

Feeding is still going well and she still keeps warping my bottle when I feed her. So far so good.

Fingers still crossed though.
 

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