Calf quit drinking off the bottle?

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robuga

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Jan 20, 2009
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Location
Chatsworth,Ga
I have a 1week old dairy bull calf that has quit eating off the bottle good ,I feed it twice a day once in the am and once in the pm?I got another 5 week old dairy bull calf in the same stall with 1 week old and every since I put him in there,the younger one has not been eating that great(mostly the best in the morning ,but nothing in the evening).I notice the big calve droppings are solid and the younger one is more like liquid and a lighter color?I'm new at this and wanting to learn a lot more about this and sure don't want to loose the young calf.He drank a little over a half bottle this morning and drunk nothing yesterday evening.And oh yeah I also have a 5 gallon of water in there also with some sweet feed(they have been eating the sweet feed also) and I saw him drink out of the bucket(Both of them have). Any info would be helpful,please?

Thanks,
Robbie
 
ok heres 2 things you can do.1 is since the calf manure is loose.id go get scour meds an treat him.2 put his milk in a bucket an see if he will drink it.
 
Do you see in the blue bar where you go to log out? There is a "search" option. Push in that and enter "scours" and read all you find. Then enter "bottle babies" and "dairy calves" and read all you find. By the time you are done reading your calves will be ready to butcher! :lol2: Nah, really ~ there is a TON of information for you on here. You will get answers to questions you didn't even know you had. Search through that, if you want anything confirmed or have questions that are not answered go ahead and ask. Often times reading the search results is much faster than waiting for answers. Good luck, bottle babies are a challenge, but can sure be rewarding!
 
Just found out it was the scours and have already got medication for him.Just got finished giving the young one a shot(5mg of LA-200) and a half bottle of warm water mixed with electrolytes(he did not drink out of the bottle or out of the pan)) and will continue tomorrow with the same thing.I will also give him his second bottle for this evening of his usual milk bottle,which i doubt he will drink.I hope he does as his dropping now are solid liquid,like water coming out.

He also has poorly balance and can barely stand on his feet.I will try to feed him out of the pan though if he don't drink from the bottle(milk)then i will try to give him more liquid electrolytes out of the bottle in warm water.Does anyone know how long it takes the shot(la-200) to kick in or another way to get him to drink the electrolytes??

Thanks for all your help and suggestions and hopefully this will get him back to where he needs to be.
 
Who told you to use a pen..did you consult a vet?

That calf need serious help , sulfa boluses a real med to fight off secondary infection. Remove and quarantine it . Now about the electrolytes if it does not drink tube it, do the same as well with its milk.

What is the weight of the calf?

You need serious help or you are going to lose it that calf is SEVERLY DEHYDRATED.
 
I got the tube down him and just to let you know I got the electrolytes from the feed store,so its the good stuff and just a reminder I gave him 5mg of La-200 and gave him 4 pints of electrolytes mixed in warm water down the tube.I will give him 5 more MG tomorrow of La-200 and keep giving him electrolytes also tomorrow threw the bottle or the tube what ever it takes and he weighs about 75-85 lbs.I also have him in a stall by himself with a heat lamp on him.I'm in north Ga and its about 20 degree's here.Thanks for everyone's help and will update in the morning.
 
robuga":prp4a1u5 said:
Does anyone know how long it takes the shot(la-200) to kick in...?

Yes - never. LA-200 is completely useless against anything except possibly foot rot. You need something along the lines of Sustain 3, SMZ, or even terramycin scour boluses to knock out scours. The terramycin is questionable on whether it would do the trick or not, depending on where this calf came from(salebarn vs private treaty from a closed healthy herd). They have been around for quite a while, generally aren't very effective for salebarn calves, but they beat the hell out of LA-200! He won't eat/drink anything until you get his temperature down, and get him to feeling better. I would suggest you have a conversation with your vet, and while your at it I would also suggest talking to your vet about Banamine. It will lower his temperature, and help him get back on track and eating. You might also want to consider either watering down/cutting down this calfs milk replacer for a bit, until he recovers completely. Good luck!
 
Ok,he's up and moving and but not real sturdy but a good sign(he's up),still want take the bottle,So I tubed him again with electrolytes.And he seems to be improving and gave him another shot of La-200(5 mg) and we will go from here.I notice everyone is saying different things,wow its hard to try to figure out which one to go by..I seen in another one where they said to use La-200 and now everyone is saying not to!This is crazy so i going to stick with what I'm doing and hope for the best,god knows I tried....Thanks for all your comments and will keep everyone updated on his condition.
 
Everyone is telling you to consult a vet. I'm surprised the calf made it through the night. Once they go down it seems like they just give up, and some calves die easier then others, especially at this volatile age.
 
Toby L.":3pcojw0c said:
Everyone is telling you to consult a vet. I'm surprised the calf made it through the night. Once they go down it seems like they just give up, and some calves die easier then others, especially at this volatile age.

I have consulted a vet and he said to give him a shot of La-200 and electrolytes(no milk),which is what I'm doing?
 
If you read my post about 6 weeks ago about a sick calf, everyone chewed my butt for useing la-200, and with the advise from a vet I continud to use it, along with banamine. After the sick calf died I beat myself up a while because I didn't get any stronger antibotics in the calf. Sometimes you can only do so much. I hope everything turns out o.k. for you. It sounds like your calf is showing improvment, but sometimes they can do a turn around and go down hill just as fast.
 
robuga":36xv2iq4 said:
Ok,he's up and moving and but not real sturdy but a good sign(he's up),still want take the bottle,So I tubed him again with electrolytes.And he seems to be improving and gave him another shot of La-200(5 mg) and we will go from here.I notice everyone is saying different things,wow its hard to try to figure out which one to go by..I seen in another one where they said to use La-200 and now everyone is saying not to!This is crazy so i going to stick with what I'm doing and hope for the best,god knows I tried....Thanks for all your comments and will keep everyone updated on his condition.

:roll: That is why you need to consult a vet, who can actually see the animal, take its temp etc. and properly assess the animal, not a bunch of people who can only make guesses over the internet.
 
Just wondering what you guys use besides LA-200? We usually give them a shot to help with stress and we have a calf with a cough. What would you guys use? I have some Pen-g also. The calf isn't scouring and is the first in line to eat. They are all eating grain good. Seems a little lethargic tonight. Sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread but I also used LA-200 and this is first I have heard of it not being any good.
 
You need to consult a vet to begin with. Have you ever gone into your local LA vet and just introduced yourself and explained where you are and what you have and what you are trying to do ?

You usually can even make an appointment and have a cup of coffee/hot chocolate at their practice for them to get to know you and your operation PRO BONO..

All of us differ on how we treat our calves and what our go to meds are..each vet will differ as well as they are not unlike MD's with the "influences" from certain pharmaceutical companies..

It is hard enough in this business to break even let alone make a profit so "we" do not mess around with OTC meds for an urgent problem, and calves when they become ill is always urgent.

On a side bar if your newborn infant was ill would you by OTC drugs or would you take it to your pediatrician or GP and get a real diagnosis and some real meds ????????

Yes ,calves are not the same as human babies, but if you take one under your care it is your responsibility to be prepared and knowledgeable to look after them as their needs require; if you are not then you had best get out of the biz or do what you are told and consult a professional ,a Large Animal VETERINARIAN..

I am sorry I a curt but it is what it is...
 
Hillsdown, I'm not sure if you are replying to me, but if you are then we don't have a good cattle vet in the area. They work with dogs and cats. We do have one vet but he charges more than animal is worth most of the time. People said La 200 not worth using I was just wanting to know what they used instead. Sorry didn't mean to step on toes.
 
We use either Nuflor or Excenel. You have to get it from the vet or a perscription from the vet to order it, or if there are any dairys around you can probably get it from them if you have a good relationship with them.
 
Great news!!!!!!!!!! He is up off the ground doing great and moving around great and mooing!! Maybe it was the prayers from god answered!But I gave him a bottle of Electrolytes and he only drunk 1 pint of it,thank he was wanting the milk really bad.So called the vet and they said to go ahead and give him a bottle of milk.Took the warm milk to him and he sucked the bottom out of it......... Thank god! He is moving around a lot better. I would like to think all of you for the info you supplied.Hopefully he will stay healthy and keep doing great,I have also mixed some electrolytes in his water bucket. Just to let you know these was the steps I done below:

Day 1:(AM) Gave him 5mg of La-200/Tubed him with one bottle(Warm) of electrolytes
(PM) Tubed him again with one bottle warm water/Electrolytes
Day 2:(AM) Gave him another 5mg of La-200/Tubed him again(Warm Water)Electrolytes.
(PM)Tubed him again(Warm Electrolytes)
Day 3:This morning he is up and a mooing and moving around great,Gave him a bottle of Electrolytes(Only drunk a pint),Called the vet and they said to give him some milk.Gave him a bottle of milk(4 PT) and he sucked the bottom out of it.
 
dun":rlddxhsj said:
We use either Nuflor or Excenel. You have to get it from the vet or a perscription from the vet to order it, or if there are any dairys around you can probably get it from them if you have a good relationship with them.

The Nuflor,my local feed store carries it in the pill(Big pill)I think blue color...
 
sigpros":2wjd0zog said:
Hillsdown, I'm not sure if you are replying to me, but if you are then we don't have a good cattle vet in the area. They work with dogs and cats. We do have one vet but he charges more than animal is worth most of the time. People said La 200 not worth using I was just wanting to know what they used instead. Sorry didn't mean to step on toes.

Wasn't referring to you just "you" in generality. .Nuflor ,excenel, banamine etc are prescription meds only and you must get them from a vet. I suggest that you make a trip to your LA vet sit down with him/her and then get some good go to meds that you have on hand if you have a small operation get little bottles and check expiration dates . Like if you have 5 calves do not buy a 250ml bottle of Nuflor that will expire in a couple of months.

Also your vet can give you a prescription where you can order meds on line for much cheaper.

My must have meds are Nuflor, predef, banamine, trivetrin and calf span boluses (the ones you can only get from a vet)..I have a lot more on hand but these will do everyone with calves also always have electrolytes on hand..

Robuga what your feed store has is not nuflor it is otc so at best it is a pen. I am glad your calf is doing better, the electrolytes you gave him are what saved him. I do however think you gave him to much milk for his first feeding back from being so ill. I hope he continues to get better... :)
 

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