Calf stopped nursing .

[hillsdown]

I have a week old Holstein calf (dob June 30) that went off milk on Thurs. I thought she had summer pneumonia and treated her for it as well as electrolytes and milk ,no scours just very hallow. Her fever is down from the antibiotics but she refuses to nurse now, and will not take a bottle either . I am stumped, I thought she would get hungry once she feels better but she has no interest in anything. She is still a little week but up and moving around, and her eyes are bright and her coat is shiny. It is quite warm here ,but they have plenty of shade and she usually stays there. This morning I hosed her down jic it was heat stroke , she has not changed. I have given her selenium in case she was deficient for some reason, but it seems to have made no difference. I am tubing her so she does not get dehydrated or starve and hoping she will come around again and nurse from her mom, who by the way that was the first thing I checked and all 4 quarters are good and the calf obviously had no problem with her before . Never seen this before totally confused . :?

Any ideas that I have yet to try ?
Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Any swelling around her throat that would cause her to associate pain with eating?

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Will she even try to suck your fingers? Have you tried to get her "interested" by dabbing a bit of honey or molasses on your fingertips or the teat? Sometimes a taste of 'sweet' can get them "interested" again. The only other suggestion I can think of, at the moment, would be a shot of vitamin B (I believe B-12) which is often used as an appetite stimulant for both animals and people.

Like your experience, most times I can get them up and sucking again after I've gotten them to feel better, and have used the sweet-treat method.

Good luck with her Hillsdown. Let us know how she does.

Katherine

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks Hook and Katherine !

I have given her the whole antibiotic spectrum as well as a steroidal anti inflam to stimulate her appetite ,no navel infection or signs of any illness. Mouth is good, no sores or swelling. She will not even suck my fingers or even have any interest when I tried to feed her her own dams milk. It is like she has decided to become anorexic ,first thought it was because of pain ,but she shows no symptoms. Even my 3 day old calf with a broken pelvis this year drank from a bottle eagerly .

Thanks again for the ideas , I sure appreciate any help I can get .

I will keep trying to get her to respond although tubing her twice a day sure must be hard on her little throat ,but better than starving to death. If she was older I might try a little hard love, but she is much too young and too emanciated to even think of that right now.

Thanks again.

 

[milkmaid]

How dehydrated is she? sometimes I've seen dehydrated calves/foals refuse to eat or drink. Not quite bright enough to know what they need.

Other than that... what's her manure look like? everything is coming out the other end, right?

What's her temp?

How much banamine have you given her? calves with ulcers may refuse to eat; have you tried giving her something to coat her stomach so she feels better?

 

[hillsdown]

How dehydrated is she? sometimes I've seen dehydrated calves/foals refuse to eat or drink. Not quite bright enough to know what they need.

Other than that... what's her manure look like? everything is coming out the other end, right?

What's her temp?

How much banamine have you given her? calves with ulcers may refuse to eat; have you tried giving her something to coat her stomach so she feels better?

Thank you Milkmaid for responding , I was hoping you would have some advice for me IIn all my years with dairy calves I have never seen this before ..

Her poop looks great, no scours not hard but the consistency of what a calf should have at this age . No fever ,temp is normal now. No banamine ,gave her predef and she gets probios twice a day . She is too young for an ulcer even with meds as the symptoms were before any antibiotics or anti inflams. I was thinking the same as you MM ,when they are dehydrated their brain is deficient but I have had much worse cases where I have had to even run 2-3 IV's (LR's) in them were that emaciated and they came back to drink right away. She was not that bad. 2 courses of esauphagal electrolytes was enough to rehydrate her .

I am hoping for a miracle here . :help:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

She was not that bad. 2 courses of esauphagal electrolytes was enough to rehydrate her .

I am hoping for a miracle here . :help:

How's she doing today?

I understand your thoughts on her throat. Where I used to work we had a few that needed tubing for several days , afterwhich it took some time for their throats to be less sore.

I wish I could have been of more help.

I hope she 'comes out of it' and gets back to normal.

Katherine

 

[M5farm]

i've got the same issue with a calf. I have had sucess with a bucket of water the calf will drin k water out of a bucket but will not drink milk. so now i get him a bucket and let him drink a few swallows of water then take it away and he has started to suck again althogh not much but he is sucking. mine will be 2 weeks old tommorow. Like you I have never had one this hard headed.

 

[milkmaid]

I've run across cases of calves with ulcers when someone gave banamine at birth, wouldn't rule it out completely. No cleft palate, oral lesions, or other oral abnormalities? It's possible she has gastrointestinal abnormalities you wouldn't find until a necropsy; ie constriction at point(s) along the GI tract, but I'd try treating for something normal before assuming it's something unusual.

I think in your shoes I'd put her on an IV or at the very least SQ fluids and see if it helps her attitude. In this heat they get dehydrated easily, as I'm sure you know, but feeding 2x/day isn't going to be enough to keep her hydrated. Had a colt I was feeding 4x/day and his skin still tented far too much at the end of the day. Also- I read an article recently on ulcers; increasing blood flow and mucous secretion is important to healing ulcers. If she does have one, good hydration will help in healing.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Put that calf in a chute with no restraint. Get in there with a rough towel and rub her down from front to back. Rub her wit vigor and simulate the tongue bath her mom would have given her. That usually inspires them and gets them jumping all over the place. Then try the bottle. It works.

 

[hillsdown]

She was perkier last night and showing interest around moms udder and this morning she was very bright and Magic's one teat was clean and the quarter was emptier than the rest. She also eagerly drank a few pints from the bottle . Thinks are looking up I hope .

Thanks everyone . :tiphat:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Sounds good so far. I hope all gets back to normal quickly.

Katherine

 

[rockridgecattle]

We have had the same thing happen to our bottle calf "prime". It took almost two weeks before he would take the bottle 2x a day. He is on his momma too, but she does not have enough milk due to a bad case of pre birth mastitis.
Treated calf for summer pnemonia, scours (he did get the squirts for a few days) Finally he would take a half bottle 1x a day, then gradually moved up. Have to admit, he is not gaining like he should now. But he is drinking it. Up to 2x aday again. I hope he gains back
Might be some type of crazed bug which we seem to have going around.