Meet 1/2 Pint

[cowgirl8]

When we brought this calf home, she was limp, about 20 pounds, very early and it was hot. First few days we struggled to keep her cool. Being a preemie, she had trouble regulating her temperature. I think its easier to mess with a preemie when its cold, thats when i usually get preemies. I found her the second day, moved into the sun and almost to the point of heatstroke. She was with her mother who did her best to take care of her, but she kept moving her out into the sun. Thats when i brought her into the house. All this time i've tube fed her with a syringe because of her size and she had no sucking reflex. THEN, she gets explosive bloody diarrhea. Moved her outside right before the bloody explosions, and luckily, she was able to keep from overheating. Contact vet and get meds into her quick and by the next day she was good. Kept working on sucking and finally after a week, she nurses a bottle. I had somewhere to go and was gone all day and first thing i did when i got home was check on her and she appeared to be sound asleep and dreaming. Took a little to get her to wake up but she seemed a little wobbly..hum...Started taking note of how she wobbled when i fed her and during the day and figured out she was having seizures. ugh... Some would last quite a while, some would happen while she was up. Those would show in her whole body wobbling around and then she'd pop out of it and seem normal, then wobble, normal.......Anywho, talked to the vet and he said if it gets worse she'll probably die. ugh....
Today, a little over 2 weeks old, i have not seen any seizures that i can detect so she gets a name. She's still iffy, i hope her outcome will be good, but i do understand that it may not.

Meet 1/2 Pint...

Maggie keeps a good eye on her and makes sure the other dogs dont get too close..

 

[branguscowgirl]

Awe I hope she makes it with no ill effects cowgirl! What a tiny little thing!

 

[inyati13]

I appreciate you caring for her. I love Bovines. They are sweet natured anaimals if they are treated and cared for. Good luck with half pint.

 

[Jessica06]

We had one just like that last summer. About 33 pounds, hairless, and out in the middle of a field on the fourth of july. Sometimes we thought she'd died, she'd be so still and even shaking her wouldn't get her moving. We sold her in the winter at about 350 pounds, after a few months on our Jersey. Sure hope yours makes it!!

 

[Williamsv]

Hope little 1/2 Pint makes it. I know you are taking good care of her. Please keep us posted.

 

[KNERSIE]

Dis you weigh her or was the 20 lbs a guess?

 

[tom4018]

Never had one that small. Usually if we can get them to make it past the 2 week period they make it, not sure why but them first 2 weeks are the hardest. Lost a few just shy of that .

 

[cowgirl8]

It was a guesstimate but, the bottle was bigger than her body and she was tiny next to the dogs. Lugnut is around 30 pounds.
She drank a full bottle today. It was an experiment just to see how much she could drink. I dont know where she put it, she wasnt all ballooned out or anything.
Last preemie i had obviously had stomach issues. She'd eat a tiny bit and grunt for an hour....got her to where she could nurse half a bottle and when she got strong enough she went out to her mother. Lived fine for a week and was out in a pasture to themselves, but i found her dead one morning.
1/2 pint was what i call a rubber legged preemie. Her legs werent fully formed and appeared rubbery when she would move around. I think her size was smaller because he mother was 14 months old. We had no idea who bred her until i remembered that she probably came out of the herd where when we got the cows up to pull the bulls off, the 2 mature bulls in there would not quit fighting. They were 2 miles away from the corrals and we tried many times to get them to move. So, i locked them in a pasture to themselves. They didnt fight unless we started to move them..We were feeding hay so the cows were fine where they were. One day i went though and one bull was at the gate into the pasture the cows were in. He had to go in there to get to the corrals, so i let him in thinking if i can get him out, then i can get the other. Went the next day and got him and the other. That one bull was in there overnight and i guess thats all it takes..Good thing we induced this little heifer, the bull who bred her is huge and his babies are huge. She would have died or needed a C section for sure.

 

[KNERSIE]

You are aware that 10 days before the due date is about the earliest you can successfully induce in the hope to get a live calf?

 

[cowgirl8]

You are aware that 10 days before the due date is about the earliest you can successfully induce in the hope to get a live calf?

Vet was shocked the calf was alive. He said she was weeks early. She had no teeth, very little hair. He laid her in the pen with the cow because she was breathing, it was late in the evening, and said she was standing to his surprise when he got to the place the next morning. I'm going by what the vet told me.

 

[KNERSIE]

How many weeks early? According to your vet, that is...

 

[cowgirl8]

How many weeks early? According to your vet, that is...

He said she was a month early, but that was before he induced. We dont have a date when she was bred, it was obviously not planned..

 

[rockridgecattle]

according to our vet, no teeth is three weeks + premie as the teeth come in at the three week stage.

 

[cowgirl8]

when i picked her up, he said weeks. We did it expecting that it may not live, didnt do it for the calf, did it to save the heifer from a c section....If she had been born in the pasture, she would have died. He gave her steroids to help her body mature.. She would have never nursed and as soon as the sun was out and if she was in it, she would have died pretty quick.