crypto, round worm and coccidia

[Mullens]

Crypto, round worm & coccidia treatment:

I inherited a few grass-fed beef cattle from my dad. (We currently have 1 bull, 4 cows and four unweened calves.) I am not a professional rancher. I bought a new young bull. Instead of gaining weight, he's lost weight. After getting tested by a vet, found out he has moderate levels of: crypto, round worm and coccidia. The vet says we need to use an oral drench syringe to treat the whole herd with fenbendazole for 5 days in a row. This includes a couple of month old calves. While we do have a loading shoot, we don't have a squeeze shoot. All of this seems very daunting, due to my lack of knowledge and lack of help (just me and my husband). Also, getting them to go into the pen them for 5 days in a row, when they know something unpleasant is coming, isn't going to be easy. Any suggestions? Or alternative treatments? (I am currently working with a homeopathic vet to increase their immunity.) Also, please note that we live in a suburb of Orlando, FL and not in a rural area where there are other ranchers nearby to provide assistance or advice. Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Does the rest of the herd show any symptoms? I assume the bull has been with them hence the blanket treatment recommendation. How long has he been there and do you rotate your pasture? How often?

 

[Mullens]

The rest of the herd, except for the three youngest calves, have some diarrhea. They are still very plump and healthy looking. We bought the bull in November but kept him at my dad's (much smaller) pasture until March when we moved him to the main pasture at my house. We don't use really use rotation, although I understand the benefits of it when it comes to parasite life cycle.
Our pasture isn't set up for easy rotation. It would take a lot of fence and time (that my husband doesn't have to give) to divide the pasture. We use the pasture at my dad's for weaning purposes or when grass is low at my house.

My dad owned cattle for many years, and he's never had an issue like this one. He used pour on wormer for many years, but the vet said that it wouldn't be effective in this application. Since we didn't have worms in the herd, I use apple cider vinegar as a prevention and only occasionally use a worming block.

Thank you for your help.

 

[TCRanch]

Depending on the docility, you may be able to secure a panel (or panels) to the loading chute and use a halter &/or nose tongs to administer an oral drench. Getting them to come into the pen every day may be as simple as providing grain, cubes or hay. Does the vet understand your situation? A pour-on probably isn't as effective but may be your only option right now.

 

[Ebenezer]

You could mix wormer with feed if all could/would eat it. but the safest answer for you - make some facilities to work the cattle. This is not the only time that you will need to management them with health, prevention, care. Trying to make the almost good enough work is a sure way to get hurt.

 

[Lucky_P]

Veterinarian here. I typically refrain from pointing out what I perceive as flaws in another vet's treatment plan, as I'm not 'boots on the ground'. But... this is wrong.

Fenbendazole will likely be effective against whatever 'roundworm' species your vet saw on fecal exam (I'm presuming something in the Haemonchus/Ostertagia/Nematodirus group), but one dose should be sufficient... no need for 5 consecutive days of treatment.

Fenbendazole will have no effect on Cryptosporidium or coccidia(Eimeria spp.) It would be unusual for crypto or coccidia to cause significant disease in adult cattle (you didn't give us the age of your 'young bull'), as they've usually been exposed as calves, and have developed immunity - but I have seen some outbreaks of clinical coccidiosis in 2-yr old dairy heifers. Corid in drinking water (sole source) for 5 days, or 2 rounds of treatment with sustained-release sulfa boluses to any affected animals would be my aproach - but getting those boluses down any cow, bull, or sizeable calf without them being held in a headgate would potentially be a dangerous proposition.
I'll echo others' sentiments that you need to develop some sort of working facilities that will allow you to attend to your cattle needs without risking injury or death.

 

[Mullens]

Depending on the docility, you may be able to secure a panel (or panels) to the loading chute and use a halter &/or nose tongs to administer an oral drench. Getting them to come into the pen every day may be as simple as providing grain, cubes or hay. Does the vet understand your situation? A pour-on probably isn't as effective but may be your only option right now.

Thank you!

 

[Mullens]

You could mix wormer with feed if all could/would eat it. but the safest answer for you - make some facilities to work the cattle. This is not the only time that you will need to management them with health, prevention, care. Trying to make the almost good enough work is a sure way to get hurt.

 

[Mullens]

The vet said the medicine tastes bad and they probably wouldn't eat it if I mix it with feed?

Thanks for your advice. Definitely don't want anyone to get hurt.

 

[Mullens]

Veterinarian here. I typically refrain from pointing out what I perceive as flaws in another vet's treatment plan, as I'm not 'boots on the ground'. But... this is wrong.

Fenbendazole will likely be effective against whatever 'roundworm' species your vet saw on fecal exam (I'm presuming something in the Haemonchus/Ostertagia/Nematodirus group), but one dose should be sufficient... no need for 5 consecutive days of treatment.

Fenbendazole will have no effect on Cryptosporidium or coccidia(Eimeria spp.) It would be unusual for crypto or coccidia to cause significant disease in adult cattle (you didn't give us the age of your 'young bull'), as they've usually been exposed as calves, and have developed immunity - but I have seen some outbreaks of clinical coccidiosis in 2-yr old dairy heifers. Corid in drinking water (sole source) for 5 days, or 2 rounds of treatment with sustained-release sulfa boluses to any affected animals would be my aproach - but getting those boluses down any cow, bull, or sizeable calf without them being held in a headgate would potentially be a dangerous proposition.
I'll echo others' sentiments that you need to develop some sort of working facilities that will allow you to attend to your cattle needs without risking injury or death.

When the bull was purchased in November he was a year and 7 months old. He was smaller in size seemed healthy. (My brother who knows much more about cattle purchased him on my behalf.)

The vet that I consulted regarding treatment is an equine vet. I have a very hard time getting the cattle vet to respond to me because he's very busy, but I can try contacting him.

Are the other medicines you suggested available over the counter?

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all that to me.

 

[TCRanch]

or 2 rounds of treatment with sustained-release sulfa boluses to any affected animals would be my aproach - but getting those boluses down any cow, bull, or sizeable calf without them being held in a headgate would potentially be a dangerous proposition.

Sustain! Didn't think about that. My cattle (and most of my calves) are hand-feeders and I break a bolus in half and shove them in their mouth with cubes. The exception is one current bull and I treated him for foot rot a few years ago by breaking Sustain into smaller pieces, mixing it in a bowl with cubes, a little mineral with CTC, and drizzling molasses over it. If you look at the bowl, he actually ate the Sustain first (and the wet stuff on his back is Banamine Transdermal).

Worth a try, @Mullens, if you can get Sustain III Cattle boluses from the vet (even if it's equine). 1 bolus per 200 lbs, calf boluses are 1 per 50 lbs.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Corid is over the counter. You can get SafeGuard (fenbendazole) pellets to put in the feed.

 

[Mullens]

Sustain! Didn't think about that. My cattle (and most of my calves) are hand-feeders and I break a bolus in half and shove them in their mouth with cubes. The exception is one current bull and I treated him for foot rot a few years ago by breaking Sustain into smaller pieces, mixing it in a bowl with cubes, a little mineral with CTC, and drizzling molasses over it. If you look at the bowl, he actually ate the Sustain first (and the wet stuff on his back is Banamine Transdermal).

Worth a try, @Mullens, if you can get Sustain III Cattle boluses from the vet (even if it's equine). 1 bolus per 200 lbs, calf boluses are 1 per 50 lbs.

Thank you for all the helpful info! I do have one question; the youngest calf is a month old, and the other young one is less than 2 months old. Are they too young for this approach?

 

[Mullens]

Corid is over the counter. You can get SafeGuard (fenbendazole) pellets to put in the feed.

Thank you!

 

[TCRanch]

Thank you for all the helpful info! I do have one question; the youngest calf is a month old, and the other young one is less than 2 months old. Are they too young for this approach?

Sustain should not be used in calves under 1 month. If you're giving a calf a bolus, I would recommend using a balling gun - they won't just eat it.

 

[Mullens]

Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much better I feel about this whole scenario.

 

[Mullens]

Thank you all for all of your support! I couldn't have done this without you all.

 

[Lucky_P]

Sustain! Didn't think about that. My cattle (and most of my calves) are hand-feeders and I break a bolus in half and shove them in their mouth with cubes. The exception is one current bull and I treated him for foot rot a few years ago by breaking Sustain into smaller pieces, mixing it in a bowl with cubes, a little mineral with CTC, and drizzling molasses over it. If you look at the bowl, he actually ate the Sustain first (and the wet stuff on his back is Banamine Transdermal).

Worth a try, @Mullens, if you can get Sustain III Cattle boluses from the vet (even if it's equine). 1 bolus per 200 lbs, calf boluses are 1 per 50 lbs.

While I have broken the Sustain III boluses in half (they are scored for that purpose) in order to dose appropriately, I'd caution about crushing or breaking them into much smaller pieces or 'powder'. They are designed to dissolve slowly in the rumen... crushing or breaking into smaller pieces may accelerate absorption - and diminish the 'sustained-release' effect, so therapeutic blood/tissue levels may fall before the anticipated 72-hr mark.
While it's probably not a concern in this case, if treating a sick bovine that is 'off-feed', those boluses will just sort of sit there in the rumen, as they're dependent upon normal rumen contractions and mixing to dissolve properly.

 

[Mullens]

Thank you!

The corid comes in a powder and in a liquid.

While I have broken the Sustain III boluses in half (they are scored for that purpose) in order to dose appropriately, I'd caution about crushing or breaking them into much smaller pieces or 'powder'. They are designed to dissolve slowly in the rumen... crushing or breaking into smaller pieces may accelerate absorption - and diminish the 'sustained-release' effect, so therapeutic blood/tissue levels may fall before the anticipated 72-hr mark.
While it's probably not a concern in this case, if treating a sick bovine that is 'off-feed', those boluses will just sort of sit there in the rumen, as they're dependent upon normal rumen contractions and mixing to dissolve properly.

Thank you for the additional information. I really appreciate it.

 

[farmerjan]

Corid is used in baby calves that get coccidiosis, my go to for them, so it will not hurt them. We also use it in chickens and baby chicks a few weeks old, can drink the water without a problem also.