Milkmaid. Re joint ill

[Sir Loin]

Re:

I don’t know if you remember me posting about a calf that showed up on my doorstep with a broken leg.
Well I don’t think it was broker. It looks exactly like this one.
I tried LA-200 but their doesn’t seem to be any improvement,
What would you recommend I try next?
SL

PS Here is the addy for the warts question.
http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... ms+newbies

 

[rockridgecattle]

I know i am not milk maid sorry,
My to cents. Nuflor and a non steriodal anti inflamatory like anafin. for several (7 to 10) days.
Check the navel to see if it is still swollen, if it is if there is a scab...gloves, iodine...scratch it and squeeze the puss out. iodine again.

but it looks to old for that....

good luck SL.

 

[TheBullLady]

I'm not Milkmaid.. but the only "joint ill" I've ever seen in calves has been in the knees. I've never seen it in this joint.

I would also suggest an anti-inflamatory, like Banamine. It looks more like an injury to me.

 

[Sir Loin]

As I understand it the steer has been this way since shortly after birth and he is a little over 3 months now and is around 200 lbs.
He eats good and gets around fairly well.
I will have to see what we have on hand in the morning.
I know we have some penicillin and Banamine, will that work?
SL

 

[milkmaid]

Hmmm.... well, with that calf in the pic I originally thought the leg was broken too. It was only after my vet examined and lanced it with a needle that I realized it was really infected.

What I found worked best was sodium iodide... has to be given IV, carefully, b/c the stuff is very caustic and can ruin veins. It can also be lethal if given too fast. However, I felt the calf was better after the iodine treatment. Were I to do things over again I'd do an intensive antibiotic treatment (probably Nuflor at 6cc/100lbs daily for 7 days minimum) coupled with sodium iodide IV therapy once per two weeks at approx 100mLs. I'd consider using dex or banamine for a few days at the start of treatment to take inflammation out and try to get the calf using the leg. If they won't use it there's limited bloodflow and the meds won't get where they need to go. Might consider lancing it and putting a drain tube in if feasible too (and the calf was in a clean area).

All done with the consideration that the entire treatment plan may fail too... JMO, but if the calf has gone more than 2-3 weeks, you have about a 1% chance of saving it, especially if he has given up using the leg. The heifer in the picture ended up being put down.