Not sure what's going on

[TCRanch]

I have a steer that was born 4/8, all good until mid August when he was suddenly away from the herd with what appeared to be a limp but couldn't really figure out which foot/leg was giving him problems. Temp was normal, no signs of foot rot, didn't flinch when I ran my hands up-n-down his legs, nothing felt hot, no noticeable swelling, good appetite. Gave him aspirin, watched. Joined the herd a few days later & seemed much better for a couple weeks but still lagging a bit. Suddenly away from the herd again, this time with noticeable swelling on/in his right shoulder so we took him to the vet. Temp still normal, no signs of infection, didn't appear to have any broken bones or torn muscles, still no signs of foot rot, vet thought maybe he re-injured himself and gave him Dex, which we continued for the next week & have been keeping him/his mama at the barn. Shoulder is no longer swollen but zero improvement in how he walks. He's not favoring a leg, just looks like it's hard for him to walk but doesn't appear to be in any pain (no teeth grinding, etc). Thoughts?

 

[dun]

Most likely just got the crap knocked out of him and has a deep muscle type bruise. I know in humjans it can take up to a year for a really bad deep bruise to heal completly till it isn;t noticable.

 

[TCRanch]

Thanks - nothing else made sense. Didn't wean him with the other spring calves & will probably have to feed him out for slaughter but can really only do that until mid-Jan because we'll move the bred heifers to the barn in Feb. Plan B, which is actually preferable, is to sell him private treaty as a feeder (and full disclosure).

 

[Waterway65]

I had a calf last fall sort of like that. At first she tagged along with her mom. I could tell she had been stepped on but I didn't realize how serious it was. She laid around more and more. Finally the vet told me she had nerves damaged and the muscle was deteriorating.

 

[TCRanch]

I had a calf last fall sort of like that. At first she tagged along with her mom. I could tell she had been stepped on but I didn't realize how serious it was. She laid around more and more. Finally the vet told me she had nerves damaged and the muscle was deteriorating.

Did you put her down? I'm assuming she didn't recover.

 

[Waterway65]

Under the vets advice I did.

 

[TCRanch]

Was talking to the vet today and he said white muscle disease was unlikely but at this point it's worth shot to try Bo Se & gave me 21cc. Hoping for improvement but not overly optimistic.

 

[TCRanch]

I have no idea if the Bo Se helped or just time but huge improvement. Opened the gate to let them join the herd last Mon but they didn't leave until this morning, found him happily grazing with the other calves .

 

[True Grit Farms]

That's a good ending we need them every so often.

 

[slick4591]

Good deal!