autumnb125
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- Dec 3, 2012
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Help!
We have a shorthorn calf, born Oct. 23, 2012, so she's 5 wks old. We live in central okla and it was pretty cool when she was born. A couple of days later, it warmed up considerably and the calf showed signs of breathing distress (severly panting like a dog). We called the vet out (Sunday afternoon of course) and he treated her for pnuemonia, she was running a temp of 104. The next morning, the calf seemed much better toward the afternoon as it warmed up, she started having difficulty breathing again (panting, head down) and temp came back up. She continued this same cycle everyday, fine in the morning when it was cool, temp and distressed in the afternoon when it was warm, then fine in the evening when it cooled back off. We continued with the antibiotics for 5 more days. She seemed to recover and started 'acting' like she felt good. The weather in Okla turned cooler during this time too.
The temperature here has stayed cooler, in the 50's and 60's for the last several weeks, then yesterday the temperature reached almost 80 degrees and we noticed the calf had not come up to the barn with mom. We went to find her and found her down, showing severe signs of breathing distress, panting, hot to touch, nose dry, and darker color around nose. Vet came out, checked temp, it was 105, gave her a couple of shots, we put her in front of fan to try to cool her off. Toward evening, she seemed to improve a little, same this morning. Haven't seen her nurse or drink water as of yet.
Vet is pretty much completely stumped. Says, it could be brain not regulating temp, or heart issues but, admits that he is just guessing at this point.
To top it all off, we are raising our own show cattle that my son shows in FFA and she is by far the best calf we've ever had
It was suggested that we take her to Oklahoma State for research but we are just grasping at straws, any direction would be appreciated.
We have a shorthorn calf, born Oct. 23, 2012, so she's 5 wks old. We live in central okla and it was pretty cool when she was born. A couple of days later, it warmed up considerably and the calf showed signs of breathing distress (severly panting like a dog). We called the vet out (Sunday afternoon of course) and he treated her for pnuemonia, she was running a temp of 104. The next morning, the calf seemed much better toward the afternoon as it warmed up, she started having difficulty breathing again (panting, head down) and temp came back up. She continued this same cycle everyday, fine in the morning when it was cool, temp and distressed in the afternoon when it was warm, then fine in the evening when it cooled back off. We continued with the antibiotics for 5 more days. She seemed to recover and started 'acting' like she felt good. The weather in Okla turned cooler during this time too.
The temperature here has stayed cooler, in the 50's and 60's for the last several weeks, then yesterday the temperature reached almost 80 degrees and we noticed the calf had not come up to the barn with mom. We went to find her and found her down, showing severe signs of breathing distress, panting, hot to touch, nose dry, and darker color around nose. Vet came out, checked temp, it was 105, gave her a couple of shots, we put her in front of fan to try to cool her off. Toward evening, she seemed to improve a little, same this morning. Haven't seen her nurse or drink water as of yet.
Vet is pretty much completely stumped. Says, it could be brain not regulating temp, or heart issues but, admits that he is just guessing at this point.
To top it all off, we are raising our own show cattle that my son shows in FFA and she is by far the best calf we've ever had
It was suggested that we take her to Oklahoma State for research but we are just grasping at straws, any direction would be appreciated.
