Calf won't eat

[Anonymous]

We received 10 Holstein calves on March 27th, they all had shipping fever. We lost 5 right away. We were giving them LA-200 3cc for 5 days plus sulfamethoxazole (scours) three per day for 5 days. This helped the remaining 5, but the others were to far gone already. Then the other 5 started getting sick again, the Vet gave me Baytril 100 5cc per day for 3 days, plus Flunixamine 1cc also for 3 days. This has helped 4 of them, they are eating and gaining weight as they should be. I still have one calf, that just won't respond, the vet came out and gave this one and another one a shot nuflore and a powder called GLYTET, that I put in their milk for 10 days, and said to give them all 3 bottles (4 pts) of milk a day. This worked fine for all of them but him. Now he hardly drinks more than a bottle a day. He is losing weight rapidly, I'm at my wits end, the Vet won't answer my phone calls (it's hard to get vets to come out where we live), I need to get nourishment in this calf, can anyone help, or give me any advise, it seems he is over medicated nothing seems to help. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you, Jackie

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[Anonymous]

It sounds like besides the complications of having a serious illness, your calf is becoming dehydrated. I wouldn't rely on the bottle for feedings. It's probably because he's too weak to eat and CAN'T nurse, not that he WON'T. Tube feed the calf until he's strong enough to nurse again. It's likely he has a viral infection that the antibiotics can't touch, but they can support him and keep him from catching a secondary bacterial infection. Good luck with your calves.

Rafter L Murray Greys

 

[Anonymous]

Why don't you try some penicillin (DUO-PEN seems to help respiratory problems) and then tube feed him 2 quarts of milk replacer twice a day until he has enough strength to drink again. I'd tube feed him some electrolytes to start off, something like Arrest.