calf update

[Anonymous]

I agree V. It's a $ thing, would if I could. I've been getting 4 pints down her. Trying the bottle for 45 min. then tubing it down her. Her eyes are focusing, her ears are responding to noise again, she is licking at her belly when she's patted on the side. She dosn't have the runs yet. Her mouth and tongue warmed up over night. Fri morning she was still shaky on her legs, next time she was steadier, Sat morning she was shaky legged. I feel like I'm flogging a whipped animal.Then later in the morning I walked her a few steps without stumbling (what I do is keep my leg by her shoulder and nudge her to move keeping, beside her without pressing her). She seems more responsive. Tonight, 3a.m.'WE'(I'm getting some help now) gave her the electro-lite mix again. She isn't having such hard spasms now. I've noticed that when I massage the neck, forward of the leg, this will bring on one. More like a contracted muscle spasm now. It still draws her hind legs forward, and she stretches her neck, with her mouth open. When it passes, less then 5 seconds, she'll shake out her head. She's done this from the beginning. Like she trys to unpinch something????? Neighbors came looking, had a friend who knew alot about calfs, said she was dieing. I'd been falling asleep sitting on the couch, went to check on her. Had to call them and say, no she's still looking better then she was. THAT went thru me, have to remember, not everyone has seen a calf SO down. NOT something I ever want to repeat. My consern now is the 'on her feet time'. She still trys to get on them and when she does, she always eliminates. Takes her a good 2-3 min to wet. 1/4-1/2 cup soft stool, this is an estimate. Should I try getting her on her feet more????? When she's sleepy (always) she doesn't put out much effort. I fold her legs under her and get her body centered on them and lift her front. She puts out all kinds of effort then. Her balance is off centered but after a min. or three she finds her center now. Thur, she leaned on the wall all 3 times, she could not find a balance, thats why I have more hope for her. I'M TRYING.

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[Anonymous]

Is she getting any milk or just electrolytes? She needs the protein and nutrition in the milk, and will definitely starve and die if all she gets are electrolytes. The spasms you describe could be several things, spasms from toxicity, seizures, muscle spasms from electrolyte imbalance... probably a lot more but I'm really tired right now!

Ok, so the battle plan should be 1)electrolytes, at least 2 litres per day, likely more 2) milk (from a cow not a store) or milk replacer ~ twice daily. Preferably sucked not tubed. Amount may be anywhere from 1 L to 1.5L per feeding to start. See what you can get in her--anything is better than nothing, but watch for aspiration pneumonia if you force her to drink. If she looks better after milk, consider calcium deficiency or magnesium deficiency to be causing the spasms. Increase to what she can handle without scouring over a few to several days. 3) Keep her clean and dry. This is essential--maggots are a major problem if there are any flies around. At this point, they'll definitely kill her. 4) Antibiotics may or may not be required. I'm really not great at physical exams via modem... Oh a translation on my metric measurements. If you're American, 3.8 litres (L) per gallon. If using Imperial measurement, 4.5 L per gallon. Otherwise, you know what a litre is...

Good Luck! V

 

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to say that I give you a big thumbs up for putting out such an effort for the calf. Please keep us informed on how it does!!!



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