Hydrocephalic Calf ( MANY PHOTOS )

[CowCop]

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Hi All,

Had one born 3 days ago to my boss's old Hereford cow.

My photos don't show it because of her facial markings, but there is a huge inner lump over the right eye and forehead.
Her right eye is shut. Will get better photos tomorrow.

I did a search on Google and got no information about this kind of thing.
Any of you ever have a calf like this ?

I called my vet and he said the pressure will continue to grow on the brain and that there is a 50-60 % mortality rate.

She hasn't nursed at all, seems dumb.
No sucking action. A difficult calf to bottle feed.
The cow abandoned her right after birth and claimed another calf.
I snatched the abandoned calf and the adopted calf and finally got the cow and the correct calf into a very large horse stall at the "Ritz Hilton" with room service twice a day.

What have your personal experiences been with calves like these? Anyone have any photos or articles they can share ?

I want to get the calf a little heavier and then talk my boss into shipping both of them.
Cow hasn't cleaned yet either, which is very unusual for this good cow.

Cow & Calf both belong to his very beloved grand daughter who is away at college, and its the first heifer calf this cow has EVER had in 12 years. Its the only cow she owns, so I need good info to print and show him so this cow & calf can be shipped SOON.

Its been an interesting 3 weeks for calving.

Thanks for any and all information.

 

[CowCop]

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Here is the scene in the big barn that morning.
G-19 was protecting the red calf and claimed it as her own.

Her real calf is to our right laying down.

It had been raining for 2 straight days up to that point and every cow and calf had been camped out in the barn.

G-19 isn't fond of me being near "her" red calf......

Here is a photo of the calf the moment I found her.

 

[milkmaid]

Found a few paragraphs in one book...

Hydrocephalus
Internal hydrocephalus is common in cattle. It refers to the accumulation of excessive fluid within the ventricular system. Calves with internal hydrocephalus are born dead or die within a few days of birth. Congenital internal hydrocephalus appears to be inherited in many breeds of cattle as a simple autosomal recessive trait. No breed seems to be free of the defect.
A breeding trial in heterozygous Herefords revealed that internal hydrocephalus is due to homozygosity of a simple autosomal recessive gene. Affected calves were stillborn and had internal hydrocephalus, myopathy, and bilateral microphthalmia. In Hereford and Shorthorn calves, congenital hydrocephalus is accompanied by a stenotic aqueduct, cerebellar hypoplasia, myopathy, and multiple ocular anomalies. The ocular anomalies include retinal detachment and dysplasia, cataract, micophthalmia, and persistent pupillary membranes.
The anatomic anomalies associated with hydrocephalus vary considerably. One or both lateral ventricle(s) may be involved, the 3rd ventricle and anterior protion of the aqueduct are usually dilated, and the 4th ventricle is normal. Congenital hydrocephalus in Hereford calves is characterized by a dorsal kinking and lateral compression of the midbrain and stenosis of the middle of the mesencephalic aqueduct. Doming of the skull does not occur in all affected animals.
From Bovine Medicine and Surgery - H.E. Amstutz

(And if you didn't understand all that, don't feel bad - quite a few of those terms went right over my head, LOL. The conclusion I did come to, is that it appears to be caused by a recessive gene, which means yes the cow is at fault - but the bull is too.)

 

[CowCop]

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Close up.

 

[CowCop]

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Milkmaid,

Thank you for that information.

Calf sure does have eye issues~!!

The bull was a reg. Black Angus from a very well known breeder.
His calves this year have been fabulous, up until Wednesday....

I have never seen this afliction in calves. Have seen it in a lot of young adults and children that I worked with in the past.

Will try to get better photos tomorrow now that the sun is suppose to come out.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Very interesting post. I have never seen this with calves, but did see it one time in a foal. And have seen this with several people while working with a therapeutic riding program.

CowCop and Milkmaid, thanks for posting about this. Keep us updated.

Katherine

 

[CowCop]

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Hi Katherine,

I too worked with adults and children with Hydrocephalus
at a theraputic riding program.

Probably why I recognized it so quickly in the calf and everyone else still thinks its a "bruise."

In the past I have enjoyed photographing and learning about the neighbors unusal calving issues. Now we have one of our own.

The cow finally cleaned this morning, and that is a big relief.
She still won't clean the calf or make it get up. She ignores it. Just another sign something is wrong.

Calf is laying in the sun, but doesn't get up. I think she is blind on the right side and has limited vision on the left. She doesnt' see me coming, doesn't acknowledge me and doesn't attempt to move at all. Bottle feeding is still difficult. She can't stand and take the bottle at the same time and still has no sucking action.

I have more photos. Let me upload them and get them on here.

While I was taking the photos this morning, there were new calves being born all around me. I love this time of year and the "lessons" the cows teach us.

 

[CowCop]

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FRONT

 

[CowCop]

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LEFT SIDE

 

[CowCop]

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RIGHT SIDE

 

[CowCop]

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TOP

 

[CowCop]

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I am going to try to get a better photos of the right side.
None of them came out very well.

If any of you want to see photos of specific things on this calf, let me know. I am more than willing to get them.

I guess it is amazing that this calf is still alive, from what everyone has been telling me.

Hopefull they will be shipped Tuesday and won't be discounted on the calf. Do hydro calves get condemned, discounted or treated like regular calves--anyone know for sure ?

 

[andybob]

I have never seen hydrocephalus in calves but have had several piglets over the years, these have all died within hours, your calf is certainly a fighter!

 

[milkmaid]

Don't know as I'd bother messing with the calf or trying to send it through the auction. Cow won't have anything to do with it, it won't get up, won't nurse, appears to be blind, head is swollen...what else did you say was wrong with it? Who would want it? Prolly make the most sense to shoot the calf and then ship the cow.

Thanks for taking and posting those pictures. The only picture I'd ever seen of this was in a foal in another book. Sure, another pic of the right side would be nice. "Black" is sure hard to photograph, isn't it? :lol:

 

[CowCop]

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You are absolutely correct. I would prefer to shoot the calf rather than have it go through all the stress and pain of transport, confusion, bad handling, etc etc etc. But it isn't my calf, so I can't do it.
I am just trying to keep her alive and very comfortable until some decision can be made for her. Trust me, I will "steer" the owners in the direction that I feel is more humane.

This calf had a horrible head tilt right up until I put the tiny yellow ear tags in. I just couldn't put the huge orange tags in her ears that we are putting in the rest of the calves as I was sure it would intensify her tilted head and hurt her. Look at the photos.. The tags balanced her head out.
Who Knew ?

Just kidding.

The calf can actually stand.
BUT when you put the bottle in her mouth she drops like a rock.

Vickie the V, have you ever seen or had to deal with anything like this ?
Is this falling down when bottle fed, normal for this kind of calf ? Ahhh Normal...what IS normal for this calf... ?

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I would have to agree with Milkmaid here. I wouldn't bother to ship that calf. IF the calf were shipped, I am confident it would be severely discounted, or end up in the "deads" pen. (those that don't sell due to being half-dead etc.). I realize these aren't your animals, but perhaps the owner will realize that there would be no point in continuing on with this calf. Of course, I could be wrong.

Thanks again for the posting the pics. Pretty interesting.

Katherine

 

[dun]

Unless it can walk in I doubt a salebarn would let you unload it anyway

dun

 

[cypressfarms]

If milkmaid says to put the calf out of it's misery, then you know it's time. She is the calf wisperer.

On the other hand, I doubt this calf would have made it past a day at Caustic's place.

 

[Lammie]

Poor thing. Better to put it out of its misery. In people, they would have put in a shunt from her brain to her bladder to relieve the pressure. She's just going to get worse. She's probably in pain, too.

 

[CowCop]

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What a difference a day makes.

This morning was our annual spring round up.
After we worked the cattle and finally turned them out to pasture we went to bottle feed the #24 calf.


She greeted us at the gate. Standing & Walking.