Bottle feeding causing phlegm in lungs?

[Ole' McDonald]

Hi,

I have a 3 week old bull calf I have been bottle feeding. After feeding him is bottle, he seems to have some phlegm build up. This AM I went out to feed him and when he breathed it sounds like a gurgling noise and he is not interested in eating. This has happened 3 time in the past week or so. (Im thinking he cant breath when he drinks and is just not interested) Can anyone give me an idea of what is happening here? Maybe milk is going down wrong pipe or ...

Any solutions?

Thank you very much for your time

Cheers

 

[Farmerjon]

We had a jersey heifer this year that always coughed at least once in the middle and a couple of times after finishing her bottle. Always like she brought something up. I think she was sucking real hard and some did go down wrong. We put her on her own bottle with a smaller hole in the nipple (I usually take my pocket knife to nipples and make the cross a hair bit bigger so calves don't get discouraged). Seemed to help her. Check for pneumonia.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you holding the head at an upward angle when feeding? Check for a temp. Sounds like the start of pneumonia

 

[angie1]

Check for a temp. If there is a temp, assume infection and treat it aggressively. Saw dun recommend Nuflor Gold or Resflor Gold in another thread (a combination of Nuflor and Banamine), that would be a good idea ~ you need to pair the antibiotic with an antiflammatory regardless of which you choose. No temp, no meds.

Often, shortly after they are given banamine, they are feeling well enough to eat. I suggest treating, waiting an hour then feeding (yes, I did, in fact, have all the time in the world and nothing better to do. I understand it might not be an option for you). Not eating is not an option of course.

If you can tip the bottle upside down and the milk drools out ~ the hole is too big, and will create problems.

 

[alisonb]

It sounds like there is milk in the lungs (aspiration pneumonia). An antibiotic will not clear it up but will help in the case of secondary infection such as bacterial pneumonia. As Angie said make sure the hole in the nipple is not too big. All you can basically do is pamper the animal like keeping out of the elements etc. and hope for the best.