Bad milk??

[fourstates]

One of our cows gave birth to very large calf on Sunday. She didn't seem to have too much trouble, but her bag was VERY swollen for several days before calving. He was slow to get up, so I tubed him at two hours with colostrum. That gave him enough energy to get up and try to nurse. The next morning I noticed only one teat was nursed and the other three were very engorged. I figured that he'd get the other teats as he grew stronger.

By Tuesday morning the calf seemed weaker and the cows bag was full to bursting. I put the cow in the chute and emptied all four quarters and filled a bottle that I tubed to the calf. I noticed a slight blood tinge to the milk but figured it was from the engorgement. By this morning, the calf was very weak and started to bloody scour. I have fed him electrolytes and formula all day, plus baytril, banamine.

I put the cow back in the chute to milk and the milk was rasberry colored and the bag was very hot....got more meds from the vet and was able to empty three of the four quarters and infuse with meds. One teat, the one that was originally nursed seems totally blocked, but it was not as swollen as the others. Treated the cow with injectable PCN besides the teat infusion.

The calf in being fed replacer, and is weak but well hydrated.. :help:

My questions are did the mastitis make the calf sick?? and will the systemic Pen save the bocked quarter? Do I have to get it opened? :help: What else do I need to do?

 

[angie1]

Ok, 25 views and nothing. I will give it a whirl, but this is only what I think, I don't know for sure. Maybe someone else will pick it up ~ yes?

I figured that he'd get the other teats as he grew stronger.
Would have been my guess as well.
I have fed him electrolytes and formula all day, plus baytril, banamine.
Ok ~ why the baytril and banamine? Is calf carrying a fever?
Good on you with electrolytes and milk replacer.
I put the cow back in the chute to milk and the milk was rasberry colored and the bag was very hot....got more meds from the vet and was able to empty three of the four quarters and infuse with meds. One teat, the one that was originally nursed seems totally blocked, but it was not as swollen as the others. Treated the cow with injectable PCN besides the teat infusion.
The milk that comes out, are there "chunks" in it (I know ~ is gross, but it happens and may be blocking...)

My questions are did the mastitis make the calf sick??
No. I would say no. I do not know why calf has bloody scours. It really was best for him that you gave him the colostrum in 2 hours. That was a good decision.
and will the systemic Pen save the bocked quarter?
Not necessarily. Who knows why it is blocked? Could be swelling, scar tissue? Does she have a history of mastitus? Could be a blockage. I don't know.
Do I have to get it opened?
I don't know.
What else do I need to do?
Give the calf probiotics, the paste kind, as soon as possible. Do not give antibiotics or banamine to the calf unless there is a fever ~ just treat the scours. Bloody scours? Coccsidiosis (sp?)? Is a special treatment for that, Cortid I think ~ ask your vet. Have scours tested, is less than $20 and comes back in a day. Maybe mom stepped on him and that is why there is blood. But give the probios, is important. Keep him hydrated ~ sounds like you are doing a good job there! Also, is good that you were able to infuse as well as inject the cow. Keep her milked out ~ often!! Strip her milk each time you feed the calf.

Good Luck!!

 

[pdfangus]

Manage the symptoms to get past the emergency.

but put a big red X

beside that cows name and if they both survive for her to raise the calf then ship her butt to market as it will be no better next year.

I had one cow that was a super cow and raised great calves. but her last three I had to assist with nursing and milking the cow daily for weeks until the calves got big enough to consume a good part of the milk. After the third (one who went on to become our cleanup bull for two years) I decided that she had to go.

 

[bigbull338]

the reason youve had 25 look an no posts.is because the people here dont know why the cow is sick or whats wrong with her.now i know whats wrong with her.an im pretty sure dun knows as well.the cow has what is know as bloody poiseness mastitis,her bag is hot with fever.the milk is bloody.so that tells me the poison is in her bloodstream if im right.get the vet out with her now.he might can treat her an save her.but thats very rare.most cows die with it with in 2 to 4 days.

 

[angie1]

bb338 ~ I admit I don;t know much about this, but I don't think so. I don't think it is fatal by any means. I believe permanent scar tissue and damage to the udder will force him to sell her, but I don;t think it is fatal.

CM ~ as pdfangus says, don't rebreed her. Sell her for slaughter or she will become someone else's problem.

 

[bigbull338]

yes angie its very fatal.ive seen how fast it can kill cows.an if if it doesnt kill them.gangreen sets up in their bagg.an will rot the teat or whole bagg off the cow.i know of 1 cattlemen that had a cow with it.an it got gangreen an rotted her whole bagg off.but she lived through it.an he sent her to the sale.

 

[Beefy]

well since you got the meds for mastitis from the vet you already know what you are dealing with so i'll just skip right to the questions you asked.

My questions are did the mastitis make the calf sick?? it sounds like he was a little off from the get-go but mastitisy milk didnt help matters. he may have very well been compromised before he was born though.

and will the systemic Pen save the bocked quarter? it may or may not, really just depends on how long its been like that, and if you can get it opened.

Do I have to get it opened? you need to if you can, but you may not be able to. although each quarter is independent, mastitis tends to spread from one to another until the cow is culled. you said it was milking some tho right? so you can probably get it going again some. maybe.

:help: What else do I need to do? just keep doing what you are doing. stripping the cow is important and also treating the scours obviously. i have terrible luck with regular scours much less bloody scours. good luck to you.

 

[angie1]

yes angie its very fatal.ive seen how fast it can kill cows.an if if it doesnt kill them.gangreen sets up in their bagg.an will rot the teat or whole bagg off the cow.i know of 1 cattlemen that had a cow with it.an it got gangreen an rotted her whole bagg off.but she lived through it.an he sent her to the sale.

How awful! I had no idea. I have had it get bad in one of my goats, took a long time to work through. I never bred her back ~ too much damage to her udder.
Thank you ~

 

[hillsdown]

the reason youve had 25 look an no posts.is because the people here dont know why the cow is sick or whats wrong with her.now i know whats wrong with her.an im pretty sure dun knows as well.the cow has what is know as bloody poiseness mastitis,her bag is hot with fever.the milk is bloody.so that tells me the poison is in her bloodstream if im right.get the vet out with her now.he might can treat her an save her.but thats very rare.most cows die with it with in 2 to 4 days.

Unfortunately I have seen this as it is a little more common with dairy animals. I think our vet called it e coli mastitis and everything that we through at her just didn't seem to do anything and the udder actually rotted right in front of our eyes; they eventually get so sick that they die or you have to put them down.

And the other answer to your question is YES mastitis will make your calf sick especially this kind of mastitis. The more common mastitis that is quite easy to treat will also make a calf sick because they won't be getting anything nutritional from infected milk. If you strip your cow when they have mastitis you will see that the milk is watery with long thick strands that look like pieces of string, how could that be any good for a calf????

Good luck with them and hopefully you will be able to save the calf at least if you can't save the cow.

I have heard that one thing that might work for a cow with this condition is nuflor .Like 100cc's sub. Neighbor had a bad case like this and he used it. He save the cow but she lost 2 quarters that rotted right off.

 

[dun]

yes angie its very fatal.ive seen how fast it can kill cows.an if if it doesnt kill them.gangreen sets up in their bagg.an will rot the teat or whole bagg off the cow.i know of 1 cattlemen that had a cow with it.an it got gangreen an rotted her whole bagg off.but she lived through it.an he sent her to the sale.

How awful! I had no idea. I have had it get bad in one of my goats, took a long time to work through. I never bred her back ~ too much damage to her udder.
Thank you ~

A cow at the dairy came in with mastitis in one quarter, treated her and turned her out. The next milking half of her udder was black and hot. Put her in the sick pen and blasted her with antibiotics. Next milking she was dead and the whole udder was black and stunk. Mastitis even if thought to be fairly minor can be a big dog that bites you hard.

 

[fourstates]

Ya'll are scaring me to death. I never had heard of this until now...I hate learning the hard way.

Today I stripped the same 3 quarters and remedicated the udder. The 4th I could not clear, the blockage is up inside the udder and not in the teat. The teat is small and cool, the udder above is swollen and warm but the whole udder looks much better. I have no doubt however this is a sick cow. This the first case of mastitis I have dealt with..

I do believe the milk made the calf get very sick. He was a big dummy, but he was up and nursing the next day. I had really believed the calf was not getting enough milk cause the teats were so hard and engorged. After tubing him the two quarts of the milk out of the cow, he went down hill very fast. It was not stringy, or clotted, and looked very normal except for the barely pink coloring. I never dreamed the milk would be the problem.

At this point I do think I tubed ecoli infected milk. After a few hours instead of getting stronger he started laying flat and grunting. He would not hold up his head. That is why I got the banamine and baytril and aggressive with the fluids. At one point, I did not think he would live long enough for me to go up to the house and get supplies. His temp was only 100.0 and I got aggressive. His diarrhea came a few hours later and it was very very bloody.

He is doing real well right now and has a full belly of replacer, eggs and probios. His neck is sore from the 120 ccs of ecoli antibodies injected under his skin, along with all the other meds. His poop was nice thick and mustardy with just a few streaks of blood. He is getting up and down pretty well. The only reason I think he is still alive is that his first meal was a belly full of store bought colostrum. I always tube colostrum after two hours if the calf isn't up nursing, if for no other reason is I want to go to sleep and not worry.

I really appreciate the responses.

 

[hillsdown]

Well that sounds promising, I would still infuse the infected quarter and really massage it to kind of break up the clumps. It may come around. Also, keep up with the stripping and infusing all quarters for quite a few more days and use a short acting pen everyday until she has cleared and then hit her one last time with a long acting pen.

I hope that is a misprint regarding the 120cc's of meds for a new baby.
Sounds like the calf should be well on the way to recovery, now you just have to decide what to do with the cow, if you get her cleared up you can get her milk tested before you put the calf back on her.

Good luck with both , I know that stripping and medicating a cow like that is a lot of time and work but when they pull through it is well worth the effort.
:tiphat:

 

[fourstates]

Not a misprint for the antibodies. I use: Arcanobacterium Pyogenes-Escherichia Coli- Mannheimia Haemolytica-Pasteurella Multocida-Salmonella Typhimurium Antibody Bovine Origin Poly-serum. Made by Novartis. The dosage really is 40-100 cc in a newborn over 24hours. I give two 60 CC dosages SQ over two days.

The colostrum does not give full antibody protection, it just "plants the seeds". The calf did not have time to build its own antibodies. The gives it a blast of antibodies, giving the 5cc of baytil time to work on the bacteria. I love the stuff and it really works great on bloody scours.

 

[hillsdown]

Wow, that seems like a large amount but whatever works you've got to do it. I know what you mean though, all mine get oral collimune and calf guard at birth ,even their vitamins are all given orally; the only time I "needle" them is if I want to give selenium or have to hit them with some meds.

Like I said, sounds good hope it all continues to improve.

 

[fourstates]

Here is a pic of, what I thought on Tuesday, was a minor issue.

 

[chippie]

the pink tinge in the milk was blood. That is an indicator of mastitis.
Good luck with the cow and the calf.