Blood in calf scours

[ivan.strilk]

I nave a 5 day old calf that has been scouring, i got some shots from the vet to help with it and it seems better, but now i can see the are little spots of blood in the scours. What does this mean? how should i treat it?

 

[backhoeboogie]

Sounds like a case of coccidiosis. That's what I'd treat it for or ask the vet to treat it for.

 

[jillaroo]

I believe coccidiosis is more of an issue in calves 3 weeks and older.
Sounds like your scouring calf has some irritated intestinal lining. If there's a lot of blood, it could be an ulcer. Is it fresh blood (bright coloured) or dark?
We treat our scouring calves with Excede and Banamine. Excede seems to work really well with our strains and the Banamine gets them feeling better and back to eating.
Unless the calf is dehydrated, not eating, or acting sick, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Lon]

if its little spots like some speckles i wouldnt be to worried about it. i dont know the truth to this cause we dont get it much but was told if a calf has bad scours can cause some blood spots after to long/ :???: like i said not positive myself though. give a sample of the **** to your vet he can tell you if your calf has coccidiosis or not. but was told it usually more than just a couple spots of blood.

 

[ivan.strilk]

this calf seems perfectly healthy its alway running around, its also eating,and it seems fine, the only problem is it that it has scours and there is little spots of blood in it, the weird thing is that i got a shot from the vet to treat the scours, and i have been giving it a scour bolus pill 2 times a day for 2 days and it is still scouring?? what does this mean? why is there blood spots in the scours?

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

If the calf's ears are still perky, and it's still running around like a wild hooligan -- leave it alone.

The scours irritated the intestinal lining and it's shedding a little bit of it... it will all stop at the same time - giving the bolus' can also be an irritating and stressful process for the little bugger.

Let him go for a few days and make sure he keeps active and energetic - don't treat anymore unless you see him start to slow down and I bet you he will be just fine.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[djinwa]

Jilleroo is right, a calf can't have coccidiosis before 3 weeks of age, as it takes that long for the bug to complete it's life cycle after ingested.

Scours doesn't necessarily mean infection. Osmotic diarrhea happens when being overfed, or poor milk replacer is used and the calf can't absorb it all. Undigested milk replacer goes to the large intestine and pulls fluid out of the body. The milk replacer can ferment down there and cause irritation of the lining, which can result in the blood spots you mentioned. The irritated areas are also more susceptible to infection by a number of bugs waiting for an advantage.

Poor quality milk replacers have ingredients which aren't digested as well, which can cause problems. They also don't form a curd in the stomach as well, allowing nutrients to pass too quickly down the intestines. A calf can't digest non-milk ingredients until 3 weeks of age, so milk replacers should contain ingredients from milk.

As others have said, ignore the scours if calf is perky. If anything, make sure you are mixing and feeding properly. You can do more harm than good with treatment. Antibiotic boluses can upset the normal bacteria in the gut making the calf more susceptible to worse bugs.

Unless you like playing vet and spending money on an assortment of drugs, at some point you have to focus on PREVENTION. If you do everything wrong, there are several diseases waiting to cause illness and death – which ones they are doesn't really matter.

Success starts with getting calves from a good source – ones that for sure got adequate colostrum. They should also not be shipped long distances while not eating or drinking. Without nutrition, calves can't have an immune system.

Calves should be kept separated without direct contact so they can't spread bugs to each other. Pens should be cleaned and sanitized between calves, and cleaned regularly to eliminate manure as a source of disease.

You also need to wash well your hands, any bottles, nipples, boots, etc, to keep from spreading bugs.

A few references.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Kqw2gC ... er&f=false

http://babcock.wisc.edu/sites/default/f ... _29.en.pdf

 

[TexasBred]

Is it a bottle calf?? You didn't say.

 

[ivan.strilk]

yes it is a bottle calf, and i dont get why it is scouring because it drinks from the bottle fine, and it seems perfectly healthy, but it has been scouring for a while?? also a drop of blood or two in the scours?