General ill thift in calf

[devonian]

I have a 10 month old calf that doesn't seem well, its had a hard life birth required a vet and its mother died at 4 months of age then it got pneumonia aged around 7-8 months but recovered from that. Now its looking unwell and a bit thin just before moving it to fresh pasture.. Does anyone have any advice on what to do for it (other than getting the vet out)?

 

[TCRanch]

She does look thin and punky. Tried to zoom in but still couldn't tell if she has a snotty nose. It's quite possible she didn't recover from the pneumonia. Have you taken her temp? Any other symptoms? Vaccinated/wormed? Still eating well? Does she have access to minerals?

 

[devonian]

Its a steer it doesn't have a snotty nose and doesn't have laboured breathing and it is eating, I haven't managed to check its temp and it doesn't have access to minerals I will do that. It does have a very mucky rear end all down its legs not sure if thats means anything now.

 

[TCRanch]

Take a fecal sample to your vet for a diagnosis. At that age I'd suspect coccidiosis, especially if you see any blood. Can be easily treated with Corid.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You ignored her question - have you dewormed?? Has he been vaccinated?
Could have permanent lung damage from previous illness. Definitely could have coccidiosis and/or other worms. The lose manure is a good sign of coccidia or just heavy worm overload.
Take temperature and deworm and treat with Corid or sulfa bolus.

 

[devonian]

You ignored her question - have you dewormed?? Has he been vaccinated?
Could have permanent lung damage from previous illness. Definitely could have coccidiosis and/or other worms. The lose manure is a good sign of coccidia or just heavy worm overload.
Take temperature and deworm and treat with Corid or sulfa bolus.

I answered most of the questions but no it hasn't been dewormed but I'm pretty sure we vaccinated against lung worm. We have had quite a few cases in the region including on our farm of coccidia earlier in the year.

 

[TCRanch]

You ignored her question - have you dewormed?? Has he been vaccinated?
Could have permanent lung damage from previous illness. Definitely could have coccidiosis and/or other worms. The lose manure is a good sign of coccidia or just heavy worm overload.
Take temperature and deworm and treat with Corid or sulfa bolus.

I answered most of the questions but no it hasn't been dewormed but I'm pretty sure we vaccinated against lung worm. We have had quite a few cases in the region including on our farm of coccidia earlier in the year.

I meant vaccinating against BRD, IBR (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis),P13 (Parainfluenza virus type 3), BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus), BRSV (Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus), Mannheimia haemolytica, red water, tetanus & clostridial diseases. Vaccines such as Triangle 4+PHK and Covexin 8 (as an example). But clearly I'm not familiar with what is standard protocol in your region.

That said, I had an outbreak of coccidiosis years ago with my retained heifers and I used Corid crumbles in their feed, cleared it right up. Good luck, please keep us updated with the prognosis and treatment/recovery.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You cannot vaccinate for any worms - but, you may have treated for lung worms. If you have had coccidia in the past, pretty good chance that is what you are dealing with.

 

[Buck Randall]

You cannot vaccinate for any worms - but, you may have treated for lung worms. If you have had coccidia in the past, pretty good chance that is what you are dealing with.

There is a lungworm vaccine available in some countries.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You cannot vaccinate for any worms - but, you may have treated for lung worms. If you have had coccidia in the past, pretty good chance that is what you are dealing with.

There is a lungworm vaccine available in some countries.

thanks for that info. I was not aware of that.

 

[TCRanch]

You cannot vaccinate for any worms - but, you may have treated for lung worms. If you have had coccidia in the past, pretty good chance that is what you are dealing with.

There is a lungworm vaccine available in some countries.

thanks for that info. I was not aware of that.

Neither was I.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

There is a lungworm vaccine available in some countries.

thanks for that info. I was not aware of that.

Neither was I.

Maybe not available in USA??

 

[TCRanch]

thanks for that info. I was not aware of that.

Neither was I.

Maybe not available in USA??

Doesn't look like it. Yet! Found this article, specifically for the UK.
https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/2019/03/plan-to-vaccinate-cattle-against-lungworm-six-weeks-before-turnout/
And a site for a lungworm vaccine that says:
This page contains information on veterinary pharmaceutical and biological products that are sold in several different countries and areas where they may be marketed under different trade names and pursuant to different regulatory approvals. Accordingly, TheCattleSite and MSD Animal Health give no guarantee that the details presented are correct with respect to all locations.
http://www.thecattlesite.com/focus/msd-animal-health/2024/msd-animal-health-bovilis-lungworm-huskvac-from-msd-animal-health

That said, Banamine Transdermal wasn't available in the US until fairly recently.

 

[devonian]

My helpful vet says there is a lung worm vaccine in the UK, regardless the problem wasn't that or coccidiosis but round worm problems which have now been sorted, thanks for the help.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Would testing for BVD-PI be worthwhile at this age? He's had plenty of stumbling blocks already, but he be a PI calf that doesn't have the "bounce back" ability of others?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

It is never too late to test for PI. Costs very little. If they are neg., they are neg. for life. Something you would want to know if he has it.

 

[devonian]

Would testing for BVD-PI be worthwhile at this age? He's had plenty of stumbling blocks already, but he be a PI calf that doesn't have the "bounce back" ability of others?

Thats interesting we very recently had a BVD test for the whole herd as some preliminary tests showed some antibodies for the virus, anyway the results proved negative for the herd so we are all clear and that calf died a few weeks after I first made this post so it could possibly have been a bvd -pi yes.