700# sick heifer not responding to antibiotics

[Anonymous]

I pulled this heifer out of a small herd of replacement heifers and began treating her for what I thought was pneumonia 5 days ago. She has had LA-200 and Nuflor and has not improved. The other heifers show no signs of illness. The sick heifer has a foamy discharge around her mouth but her nose seems clear and she is breathing through it. Her breathing is somewhat labored though not as rapid as it was several days ago. She has had no appetite for about 4 days now. Today I started giving her drenches of electrolyte because I suspected she was getting dehydrated. I have been giving her banamine the past two days and today started her on Vit. B12. I plan to try using Micotil tomorrow since she has not responded to the other antibiotics. Does anyone have any suggestions for other things to try?
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[Anonymous]

Have you ever had any problem with blackleg on your place? If not, how many shots of LA-200 have you given the heifer? LA-200 needs to be given 3 days in a row to get in the blood stream. Did you raise the heifer yourself or did you purchase her recently? Because the symptoms sound a lot like shipping fever. Is she doing any coughing? The foaming at the mouth are signs of respiratory problems. Also, is she scouring?<p>: I pulled this heifer out of a small herd of replacement heifers and began treating her for what I thought was pneumonia 5 days ago. She has had LA-200 and Nuflor and has not improved. The other heifers show no signs of illness. The sick heifer has a foamy discharge around her mouth but her nose seems clear and she is breathing through it. Her breathing is somewhat labored though not as rapid as it was several days ago. She has had no appetite for about 4 days now. Today I started giving her drenches of electrolyte because I suspected she was getting dehydrated. I have been giving her banamine the past two days and today started her on Vit. B12. I plan to try using Micotil tomorrow since she has not responded to the other antibiotics. Does anyone have any suggestions for other things to try?<p>
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[Anonymous]

: Have you ever had any problem with blackleg on your place? If not, how many shots of LA-200 have you given the heifer? LA-200 needs to be given 3 days in a row to get in the blood stream. Did you raise the heifer yourself or did you purchase her recently? Because the symptoms sound a lot like shipping fever. Is she doing any coughing? The foaming at the mouth are signs of respiratory problems. Also, is she scouring?<p>: : I pulled this heifer out of a small herd of replacement heifers and began treating her for what I thought was pneumonia 5 days ago. She has had LA-200 and Nuflor and has not improved. The other heifers show no signs of illness. The sick heifer has a foamy discharge around her mouth but her nose seems clear and she is breathing through it. Her breathing is somewhat labored though not as rapid as it was several days ago. She has had no appetite for about 4 days now. Today I started giving her drenches of electrolyte because I suspected she was getting dehydrated. I have been giving her banamine the past two days and today started her on Vit. B12. I plan to try using Micotil tomorrow since she has not responded to the other antibiotics. Does anyone have any suggestions for other things to try?<p>She was raised on the farm and was vaccinated twice 6 weeks apart for blackleg/H. somnus. She is not scouring. I gave her a large initial dose of 35cc of LA-200 and then the vet told me to switch to Nuflor the next day. I agree with you that it sure seems like shipping fever brought on by a sudden change in the weather. Thank you for your ideas. I have had just a couple cases of what I thought was shipping fever in the past, but in those instances the antibiotics brought about rapid improvement--this time there is no apparent responese to either of the antibiotics I've tried so far.<p>

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[Anonymous]

If she has an infection caused by a virus, the antibiotics aren't going to kill the virus. But, they will help keep her from catching a secondary bacterial infection, or will help kill any bacterial infection she already has on top of a viral infection. <p>Have you taken her temperature with a thermometer? Has anyone listened to her lungs with a stethoscope?
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[Anonymous]

: If she has an infection caused by a virus, the antibiotics aren't going to kill the virus. But, they will help keep her from catching a secondary bacterial infection, or will help kill any bacterial infection she already has on top of a viral infection. <p>: Have you taken her temperature with a thermometer? Has anyone listened to her lungs with a stethoscope?<p>Thanks to all those who sent me suggestions on what to do. This heifer died on day 6 of treatment with antibiotics. The vet and I did an autopsy and found the cause was BRSV, Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus, sometimes called "fog fever." For anyone wanting more information on BRSV, I recommend you take a look at a web site of the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension, http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/animaldisease/g1144.htm<br>That web site gives a great description of the clinical signs of BRSV and also suggests some methods of treatment (such as dexamethasone) that can help if the animal is in critical condition. I wish I had known about that possibility in time to try it. I sure agree with their statement a "sick calf does not show signs of typical shipping fever pneumonia . . .." If I saw the symptoms again in another animal, I might be able to recognize it as BRSV.

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