Lethargic calf

[millstreaminn]

Had a 3 week old calf go off feed 30 hours ago. He was just laying in the general pen all stretched out. I pulled him into a pen with just his dam, propped him up, covered him with a blanket and gave him 15cc pen (that's all I had). I milked the cow and tried to bottle feed him, he wasn't interested. He just laid there for 8 hours.

I called the vet and she did an exam at 3 pm. Lungs were good with a temp of 102.5. A bit elevated, but no signs of obvious illness. No scours, although he did have some black, tarry crap on his tail. The vet gave him Baytril, BoSe, Banamine, 400cc electrolites sub-Q and we tubed 1 1/2 quarts milk into him. By 8pm he was up and nursing on his own.

I went out this morning and he back to acting lethargic. Won't get up, just lays there curled up in a ball. Temp was 101.5 this morning. I'm going home at noon today so if anyone has anything else I could try, please let me know. I've had cows for the better part of 25 years and I know this one just isn't acting right. I'm at a loss for anything else I can do for him?

Thanks

 

[M-5]

Is he dehydrated ?? I would tube with electrolytes and a give a shot of b12

then tube milk . no less than twice a day .

 

[millstreaminn]

He didn't look dehydrated to me and the vet didn't think so either. She looked at his eyes and did the skin "pinch test". She also said his gums were a bit pale, whatever that was referring to, IDK.

 

[dun]

About all I can think of is a shot of A,D &E. Is he eating and crapping?

 

[millstreaminn]

He was nursing by himself only after the vet dosed him with the meds I stated. I haven't seen him crap since yesterday morning. Mentioning that, the vet also have him something orally in case he was constipated. She really threw all the dice at him.

 

[dun]

If he isn;t eating he won;t crap. But if he's constipated he won;t eat.

 

[millstreaminn]

Yup. I have a call in to the vet now. She is my neighbor and only lives 1 mile from my house, so for her to stop down is no big deal. I'll see what she wants to try today.

 

[alisonb]

No scours, although he did have some black, tarry crap on his tail.

Coccidiosis is caused by a parasite that grows in the cells that line the intestines. If I see black tarry feces it's got blood in it giving an indication of intestine/some internal damage.

Good luck!

 

[millstreaminn]

Thank you. I talked to the vet and we are going to give him a vitamin shot and tube him with electrolites.

He's looking better now, so hopefully we are on the right track.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Koffi Babone]

Black tarry stools is an indication that there is blood loss in the upper GI (blood has time to be digested). If it were in the lower part of the GI, there would be more fresh looking blood in the stools. This can be confirmed by sticking a finger (with a glove) in the rectum and removing some stools to check the colour.

Blood loss would also explain the pale gums and lethargy.

This could be due to parasites, ulcers or anything else that causes bleeding. You need to know where it is coming from to be able to fix the problem.

You can also press a finger on the gums (or any other mucous membranes such as the vulva in females). The area under pressure should turn whiter; relieve the pressure by releasing your finger, then count how long it takes to return to the original colour. If this takes longer than 2 seconds, there is probably a low blood volume as well. This problem is addressed by restoring blood volume, but is only a temporary fix if the cause of the blood loss is not discovered.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[millstreaminn]

Here's the final results.

Vet showed up at 3pm yesterday. The bulls temp was 99.1. Lungs still sounded good. We tubed 1 qt of electrolites into him, then gave him another shot of Banamine and a Sulfa bolus. After that we gave him an enema, because when we tubed the 1 qt of electrolites his belly really seemed to swell up and he was uncomfortable. We ended up getting about a 1/2 cup of manure which was tarry and black like before. It was the consistency of grease, and jet black. Before the vet left, the bull stood up so we put the blanket back on him (It was now 4pm). I went out and checked on him at 9pm and he was dead. He never passed any manure between 4 pm and the time he died.

We did everything we could, it's just difficult to treat them when they aren't showing any obvious symptoms.

Thanks for the ideas-Scott

 

[Koffi Babone]

Sorry for your loss.

You should do a post mortem on the calf to figure out where the bleeding was from and try to see if there was any obvious cause to the bleeding.

 

[millstreaminn]

I planned to. The vet is gonna stop tonight and I'll have her open him up. I'll let ya know.

Thanks-

 

[Supa Dexta]

Did you ever see it have a yellow crap?

 

[millstreaminn]

Sure did. He was three weeks old and doing great. From the first time I saw he was sick until he was dead was about 2 days. I see these cows every day, so I know he wasn't sick awhile before I noticed. Vet gonna do an autopsy tonight to see what we can find. No obvious outward signs.

 

[millstreaminn]

We opened the calf last night and he had peritonitis. She suspected the small intestines were leaking fluid into his body cavity, based on that's where the majority of the yellow, fibrous tissue was. She tried to run the intestines to find the hole, but they were all clumped up and stuck together. We looked for evidence of him being stepped on, but couldn't find anything obvious.

I guess I'll just chalk this loss up to "chit happens" and really nothing more I could have done.

Thanks-Scott

 

[dun]

But at least know you know you did all you could and know the reason for the problem.

 

[Koffi Babone]

The only people who don't lose livestock are those who don't have livestock.....

Thanks for the update.

 

[Son of Butch]

The only people who don't lose livestock are those who don't have livestock.....

Thanks for the update.

+1
It's good to have closure on this calf, for future reference when next calf problem comes along.