calf down please help!

[doova]

hi,
calf went down about 2.5 weeks ago, spoke to vet who said he was prob just weak so feed him up(also gave him multi vit shot) also been giving electrolytes. he is now to the point where he scoots around (crawling) the backyard but still cannot stand. He is eating grass,pellets,chaff, hay and is being fed water from a bottle twice daily(about 5lts each time is this enuf?) He has been drenched and did have lice. I'm at a loss, do I keep going or is it time to give up?
My partner helps me get him on his feet each day and he can stand on own for a while but when he tries to walk he stumbles and falls down again.
When he crawls around he lifts his belly clear of the ground and all four legs do a job but he is on his knees.
he also has a bit of hair loss under the chin and around the stifle area.
he is about 5-6 mths have had him 3mths
he is extremely bright just cant get up?
Pls can anyone give me any advice?

 

[angie1]

You got him 3 months ago~ and this started 2.5 weeks ago? Why would your vet think he was weak? Did he have some type of illness prior to going down, or that caused him to go down? Are you aware of any type of injury he may have suffered? Did this start out of the blue?

 

[doova]

he didn't seem to be doing as well as the others so I decided i'd bring him home into the house yard, i went up the farm with the trailer the next evening and he was down. there were a couple of marks on his hindlegs near his fetlocks(like gravel rash on the fronts) but he was out in the middle of the paddock, not caught up in anything, nor near anything. the only other difference was we had a bull get in his paddock the night before-whether he attacked him?
Vet didn't see him, just guessing cos i said same as above.
He didn't appear 'sick' before, just wasn't putting on weight, he was really easy to pick out from the others weight/growing wise.
tonight i was able to get him up by myself-just picked up under his flanks and he got straight up and stayed up for a good 20 mins, walking around a bit but i have to help one leg along, he is knuckling over a bit which seems to be getting worse cos of all his crawling around.
the main worry is a lot of the time he will lay stretched flat out which i'm guessing is not a good sign.
pls help as he has a name now and i'm so attatched to "Tommy"

 

[angie1]

pls help as he has a name now and i'm so attatched to "Tommy"

Ugh! I hate when that happens to me.

He is eating good, and seems to be ok otherwise you are saying. It is important that he spend as much time up as possible. I am wondernig if there is not some type of nerve damage from a potential injury. If he were sick, he should have gone one way or the other by now. The only thing I can think of to try is maybe a shot of banamine, an anti inflammatory drug. Could reduce any swelling causing pressure creating this situation ~ but that is a shot in the dark.

Continue getting him up as often and for as long as you can. Hopefully someone will come on and give you more help than I have been able to.

 

[doova]

thanx i will try talking to vet again re anti inflammatory, have put off calling him again as i think he will tell me to stop pushing s**t uphill/worried he will say i'm wasting his/my time and tommy shood be shot.
I really do appreciate you taking the time to reply.
PLEASE EVERYONE ELSE WITH ANY SUGGESTIONS PLS POST AS I WILL TRY ANYTHING
:help:

 

[larryshoat]

I'm with angie, Banamine . On the water, he should have water free choice at all times .He will probably still drink out of the bottle, maybe put a little of something like resorb in it .

Larry

 

[milkmaid]

Calf has been down for 2 1/2 WEEKS and you are asking for advice online???

Either get your vet to come out and figure out what's wrong with the calf, or put it down. It's part of humane management and part of owning livestock.

 

[doova]

thanx for your replies. he does have access to buckets of water as well as the bottle. vet is coming out this way later in the week and I do thank milkmaid as well for honest reply. every time i decide enuf is enuf he goes and gets a bit better, like now he hardly needs any help to get up. Vet was very good and said he doesn't think i'm doing any harm as calf is bright and has progressed.
I know I need to develop a thicker skin and do not want to be cruel by keeping things alive when they shouldn't be. I only have 8 head that I have raised over the last 3 yrs (and only lost 1), I have a dream to farm and I'm trying to follow it.
I'm asking for help online as a last resort-I guess I was hoping someone would say "yes a similar thing happened to a calf we had you should give....a go"
thankyou everyone, I will post vet's conclusion.

 

[grannysoo]

You're attached, but the vet is coming out "later in the week"???

Either you're not attached enough or you need to find a new vet.

 

[Beefy]

yes i had a similar thing happen to TWO calves this winter. one experienced hair loss above his hooves --he died. the other one just got down and couldnt up by himself but after a week or so of getting him up and give him feed him he started getting back up on his on. keep getting him up. dont let him lay on his side too long. keep plenty of water readily available. you didnt mention what you have used to worm him with, what hes been eating, why you suspect he is poor doing or what your weather conditions have been like. is it summer or winter where you live?

 

[angus9259]

had a young bull (yearling) get in with the 2 year old. next day he couldn't stand on his front feet and the 2 year old was trying to rid him. I assumed the ol boy broke him somehow. the yearling hobbled around on his front knees for a couple weeks or months . . . gradually came back. don't know how. banamine didn't work in my case. odd, never seen banamine not do anything.

 

[doova]

Either you're not attached enough or you need to find a new vet.

this was not helpful, not justified if you had any idea of my situation and not appreciated.
Milkmaid said pretty much the same I guess but at least it was written in an informed helpful and realatively kind way-which I really did appreciate and take notice of.

To everyone else, thank you very much for your help - unfortunately Tommy is going tomorrow. :cry2:
Nerves damaged in right hind leg too much for a good prognosis and vet says the straining to get up and around may eventually cause a prolapse which would be very painful.
The hair loss was presumed to be from crawling around.
Nerve damage basically put down to falling down the wrong way,whether from bull,playing or just slipping over in paddock.(its winter here and our property is rocky,hilly and slippery when wet)

One good thing to come of all this is finding this forum, so thank you all again.

 

[spinandslide]

Either you're not attached enough or you need to find a new vet.

this was not helpful, not justified if you had any idea of my situation and not appreciated.
Milkmaid said pretty much the same I guess but at least it was written in an informed helpful and realatively kind way-which I really did appreciate and take notice of.

To everyone else, thank you very much for your help - unfortunately Tommy is going tomorrow. :cry2:
Nerves damaged in right hind leg too much for a good prognosis and vet says the straining to get up and around may eventually cause a prolapse which would be very painful.
The hair loss was presumed to be from crawling around.
Nerve damage basically put down to falling down the wrong way,whether from bull,playing or just slipping over in paddock.(its winter here and our property is rocky,hilly and slippery when wet)

One good thing to come of all this is finding this forum, so thank you all again.

I had the same thing happen with my old horse afew years ago, nerve damage in his hind end, he couldnt get up. That vet stuck him 50 times in the hind legs with a needle and the horse never flinched. Mentaly, he was bright and eating hay and grain, so it was hard to put him down, but the right thing to do.

We had a longhorn steer get super ill one time and we had to hoist him up with one of those hip pulley things..HE lived like that for about a month while we medicated and tubed him. If he was mine, I would have shot him, but he was leased as a roping steer..not mine. the hip pulley was a good thing, kept him up off the ground..although not much help in your particular situation. Sorry about that.

 

[larryshoat]

Sorry about your calf . When you hear of a calf this age with these kinds of problems it's never good . You did the best you could and I respect that .

Larry

 

[doova]

thanks everyone
i shall plod along