Calf can't keep it's balance - nothing like we've ever seen.

[texansays]

I don't know how to word this very well ... although we've had cows on the farm all our lives (55 years) we -nor any of the farmers around us - have ever seen anything like this.

One of our pregnant cows had a strange bellow so we knew something was wrong. We went looking to see if she'd had the calf and lost it. We found the calf, it had gotten behind the hot shot fence and couldn't get back and the momma cow couldn't get to it. We are not sure how many hours the calf was separated but when we found it - we thought it was dead. It was laying flat out on it's side etc. When we realized it was in fact alive, we lifted it into the back of the truck and brought it up into a pen with the momma but it was clear the calf was too weak to suck.

We got some packaged colostrum, held it up and fed it a bottle. The calf was very disoriented, unstable which we expected for a day or two but as time went on and we continued to bottle feed normal calf supplement along with letting it nurse on momma cow ... it has never gotten control of its equilibrium.

The calf is near a month old now. It doesn't seem to be brain injured as it knows what it wants to do and how to do it .. it just can't stay balanced as if it's equilibrium is off. It will stand but its front quarters sway from side to side. When trying to walk it'll be looking straight ahead to where it WANTS to go but it'll loose balance and go in circles until it finally uses its weight to aim & guide it unsteadily to its destination. Think about it like a skateboard or surfboard - leaning to one side will move you in that direction, it'll try to use it's head to move it in the proper direction but it's front legs (back ones are fine) sway from side to side.

We aren't sure if it fell on the electrified fence and got nerve damage or what but we are trying to find a solution and get it's balance stabilized. Does anyone have any ideas?? :help:

 

[dun]

Is it's head shaped normally? We had a calf with the same probolem a few years ago and it almost looked like it was hydrocephalic. Turned out it wasn;t but had other problems interior in it's head. Of it looks normal, any guess would be better then mine

 

[upfrombottom]

I remember reading once that a calf that has nursed a cow with mastitis, can develop an inner ear infection that can damage the inner ear and its equilibrium within a day or so. Been several years ago and I've slept since then.

 

[texansays]

Hi and thanks for responding!
@ dun - yes the calf's head is shaped normally, it's quite a beautiful little gal actually.
@ upfrombottom - hmm interesting although we didn't notice anything unusual of the mothers bag .. no swelling or reddening etc. Momma cow is partially dried up now as the calf can't hold itself steady long enough to maintain nursing position for long.

We only have around 10 cows on our small farm with all breeding cows having no issues with milk/calves until this odd incident.
The only clue we have is the electrified fence being factored in .. we know the calf had to have landed on it in it's earliest hours after birth (and possible laid on it for some amount of time) as we found it on the opposite side as the momma cow.

 

[hillsdown]

Septicemia / meningitis ? Did you iodine the naval ?

I am really thinking he has brain damage, most likely was starved for oxygen while being born. The problem with that is that as long as they are little they can get up, move around etc. The bigger they grow the harder it will be on them and eventually he will not be able to get up or stand on his own anymore and you will have to put it down.

Good luck with him .

 

[texansays]

Hi hillsdown

Thanks for responding. No we didn't iodine the naval, quite frankly I didn't know anything about doing that before you mentioned it.

Unfortunately I think you are probably right, we've been discussing the same issue about it growing and not being able to hold it's own weight as it matures. I was hoping there might be something we didn't know about or some treatment we overlooked out there to keep the inevitable from happening - hence the reason for my posting here.
Thank you and the others for taking the time to read, respond and wish us well. I'm tickled to have found this forum, it's very nice to know there is a place like this on the internet!

I think we'll try contacting the A & M University and see if they'd like to take our wobbly calf on as a project for the student vets ... I just can't bring myself to put this one down as the 3 young grandkids living with us have come to love her as a pet. At least I won't have to live with the guilt of them thinking I'm a cruel old meany lol

Thanks again y'all!

 

[smilincowranch]

Not quite the same, but....

Years ago I got a premature heifer from the dairy I worked at. Tinest calf I have ever seen. She weighed a hair over 20lbs at birth, very little fur. I was told her mom had eaten lupine weed, and had her early. (not sure if thats why but what I was told) We almost lost her serval times, pneumonia, scours, Allergic reaction to antibotics (than God for epinephren)

Got her to about 6 months old. She go out, and found her way into the garage. My father didnt see her and ran her over. He though he broke her back. She couldnt stand. Took her to the vet and from what we can figgure she had nerve damage. For the rest of her life her head was tilted sideways. SOmetimes shed just move wrong, and would tweak something and her back end would lock up and shed fall over. We also found out at the vets she was Deaf.

Point of the story... She made it ans still had nice babies.

 

[snickers]

we just had a heifer yesterday that has similar symptoms. we found her by the electric fence too but dont think she got into that she just holds her head funny and didnt really want to stand to nurse. we got her to the barn with momma and would hold her up to nurse. this morning my son was checking on her and she actually did walk around alittle bit he got her on the teat and she nursed alittle so she is better today. maybe she fell out on her head we dont know but hopefully when we go back out this evening she is up and nursing on her own. we had another calf yesterday too and that one was out of a heifer and she didnt want him to suck, we got him on mom and this morning the heifer really didnt want him nursing but he wont let her alone so those two will be fine I think. calves really make you appreciate the easy one's and cringe when you gotta help them.

 

[hillsdown]

One way to check for brain damage is to hold their head still, if their eyes still flit all around even minutely ,you have a "special needs" calf. ;-)

 

[Roadapple]

Were all these Mama's on minerals?

 

[snickers]

our little heifer is now standing and nursing on her own as of yesterday evening. I gave her a half of bottle yesterday morning and helped her get on teat, then when we went back out she was up and pretty aggressively looking for supper so I think she will be ok. I still think she might have her balance off alittle bit because she will be standing and all of a sudden she will start falling backwards she tries to catch herself but can't, she lands on her butt like she just sit down like that then she gets her bearings and then gets up again. it's not happening as much so what ever she had brain injury, spinal injury must be getting better.

 

[snickers]

update on the little heifer, she was nursing and standing on her own but the poor little thing had a freak accident friday, she got her head stuck in between water tub and barn and couldnt get out and ended up dying. we never had anything like that to happen before and dont want to have it happen again.

 

[Victoria]

Three thoughts came to mind:
Meningitis
Blindness
Inner Ear Infection

Does the calf have a temperature? If not then it is probably not meningitis or inner ear infection. Blindness can cause a calf to wobble and circle and can sometimes be trickier to discover than you would think it would be.

 

[GMN]

we have had a calf or 2 that were just not right, not able to stand, vet siad polio, give huge doses of Vit B, have to do this right away within a day or 2 of birth or it won't matter.

 

[Betty]

A BVD infection that passes thru the cow at a certain stage of gestation can produce a calf with cerebral palsy type symptoms, sometimes blind too.
If you have 2 out of 10 babies with balance problems it would be something to consider. :!:

 

[GMN]

We had our calves on rock,and 2 had this condition, we stopped using the rock and no more problems, whether that was related or not who knows-but it sure was wierd