Heart Murmur

[CowboyRam]

I had a calf that looked sick this morning, so I took him to the vet. He didn't even attempt to get up when I approached, tried to get him up and he didn't seem interesting in that. When I moved him I noticed that there was a thin line of blood in his poop. Once I got him in the back of the truck he got up once I started driving off. The vet said that he had a heart murmur; not sure what to think about that. I got the pair in the corral, and going to keep there there for a few days.

 

[TCRanch]

That's a new one for me. Did your vet have any suggestions? Benign neglect?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Wonder if it's like humans in that lots of kids have heart murmurs that they grow out of by a year or two old?

 

[CowboyRam]

Her only suggestion was to keep the pair in a small area so it was easier for the calf to keep up with the cow. I'm going to keep them in the corral for a few days, and see how things go. I gave the calf all the shots the vet recommended this morning, and in the process I ended up poking myself with the needle, and yes my blood is still red.

 

[Ned Jr.]

Back in the 90’s I was having Dr. Holt Pap test a group of bulls. One was giving strange readings so he listened to his heart. The bull had a hole in his heart and Tim had me listen. You could hear a swishing sound of the blood going through the hole. I ended up having 3 bulls with holes in their hearts all from the same sire. It was definitely genetic. Tim said as they grew the lack of blood, being properly pumped, would start affecting them. They were great looking bulls who, if not for being pap tested, would have likely never been diagnosed. I remember when I unloaded them at the sale barn the guy that checked them in said. Oohh, this isn’t good. To see yearling bulls that looked as good as they did he knew something was up.

 

[GoWyo]

One of the bulls at the bull test (not mine) Dr. Holt noted had a "ghost vein" and they could not get a PAP test reading. I'm not sure what a ghost vein is, but he got pulled from the test.

 

[CowboyRam]

The calf is doing better this morning. I had to get him trapped in a corner to give him a shot this morning.