Pneumonia

[Missy]

I just lost my dear little heifer "Molly"

She is the 2nd calf from the same place that i have lost from pneumonia. I have been treating her with penacillin(sp) for the last 4 days but this morning she crashed.

I am to go to the vets this arfternoon and ask for somethign stronger than penicillin as it did NOTHING!!!

I am so upset,out of 17 i have bought in the last 4 weeks,2 have gotten sick then died.I'm not very confident that either got colostrum,if they did was not much!

If anybody in Australia is reading this,are there any suggestions as to what i may ask the vet for in terms of treatment.

RIP MOLLY

 

[IluvABbeef]

This may be a crazy idea, but is Nuflor available around there, if that is suitable for a calf that size?

Just a suggestion, but correct me if I'm wrong nonetheless...

 

[msscamp]

I just lost my dear little heifer "Molly"

She is the 2nd calf from the same place that i have lost from pneumonia. I have been treating her with penacillin(sp) for the last 4 days but this morning she crashed.

I am to go to the vets this arfternoon and ask for somethign stronger than penicillin as it did NOTHING!!!

I am so upset,out of 17 i have bought in the last 4 weeks,2 have gotten sick then died.I'm not very confident that either got colostrum,if they did was not much!

If anybody in Australia is reading this,are there any suggestions as to what i may ask the vet for in terms of treatment.

I'm not in Australia, but I've certainly treated more calves than I can count for pneumonia. I believe I would be trading in the penicillin for Baytril if it is available in your area. Fall of 2005 we ended up with about 50 head of very hard weaners, then we bought another 75 head of weaning calves through the sale barn - went through 2 100 mg bottles of Baytril inside of a week, and finally started buying in the giant, 'economy' sized bottle. Went through a couple of those, too. The point of this ramble is that the Baytril was given at the one-dose recommendation, and very, very few of those calves needed to be treated twice. The 2 or 3 that did got penicillin as a follow-up. Be aware that records need to be kept if you're using Baytril - when, and how much - because it will destroy joint cartilage if you don't keep track, and too much is given.

 

[Missy]

Thankyou very much for your replies,will look into it!

Though just coming home from the vets,he doubts it is pneumonia and heaven forbid we get another one,he is to do an Autopsy ASAP as the symptons are not the same as pneumonia and they are crashing hard and fast.

Will definately keep you all updated!

 

[Bez+]

Pen does not do a good job on pnemonia. Further, the animal almost always grows to a lesser potential if they make it.

Any that survive here are bound for shipping when they mature. I never keep them for breeding.

Nuflor and Baytril are the weapons of choice here - with Baytril being the preferred.

If there are better solutions I am all ears

Regards

Bez+

 

[dun]

I don;t like to give antibiotics willynilly, but if it was me I would blast the little buggers with a strong antibitoic (nuflor or Excenel being my choices) as soon as I got them and would probably treat them again a couple of days later again just obe on the safe side.

 

[larryshoat]

Missy, I'm sorry for your loss, there is nothing harder than trying to raise those high risk calves . I'm suspicious that scours are playing a part in this, but if you say pneumonia we'll go with that for now . I like Draxxin in a calf that age for respiratory, but the ones listed by the others will work too . Pen is generaly not effective for pneumonia . I give calves a shot of Excede in the ear on day 1 and give a shot of Draxxin on day 8 .

Larry

 

[Missy]

Hi larry,
Thanks very much!

Re my post above,after consulting with the vets we both think it is not pneumonia,definately not scours.
The first calf passed a tar like stool 3 days before she passed.Was hard and sticky.The calf that died yesterday,well im not sure what she passed as there are 9 calves were she was but not scouring as nothing on her tail or butt.
Vet told me yesterday he had done blood tests on some cattle from the farm i got the hereford heifers from and found that calves age 8-10 months were dying from liver failure. Because they were eating anything and everything from such a young age as their mothers had no milk due to being so poor!
I wonder if something toxic could have been passed down from mother to calf? Is it possible and if so would it take 2 weeks for a calf to die? 2 calves that seemed normal and then just crashed,both age 2 weeks??

 

[larryshoat]

Well Missy, sometimes you don't figure out what went wrong . We'll keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again . Just as a word of caution, the overwhelming majority of serious scours cases never show anything on the tail or butt, it is so watery it misses the tail .

Larry

 

[Missy]

Hi larry,
Yep i seen her pass manure the night before and it was fine.Not scoury. I actually treated a couple with scour tablets and they clean up really well! I have another little one coming from the same farm on Monday. I am being prepared this time and the vet will be on call the minute anythin goes amiss!

Very upsetting when you get attached to the little buggers,i know they are only calves but a few of them are just extra special!!

 

[dun]

Plan on getting at least one shot of Nuflor or other serious antibiotic and giving it to the calf as soon as it's unloaded. Sometimes by the time a porblem becomes effident it's too late. I would hazard a guess that the calves have whatever the problem is before you get them.

 

[hillsdown]

I don;t like to give antibiotics willynilly, but if it was me I would blast the little buggers with a strong antibitoic (nuflor or Excenel being my choices) as soon as I got them and would probably treat them again a couple of days later again just obe on the safe side.

Yep, I am the same way when they all start getting sicking I don't waste time...Hit them fast with a really good drug, there are many to choose from and all work quite well, but all vary in cost as well.

I would probably treat all the newbies when they come in. Also quarantine anything new..

Good luck with your babies.

BTW the only thing I use pen for anymore are things like foot rot, a mild infection or a post op antibiotic.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I was out of Nuflor and lost three myself out of all of those I bought. One was down and couldn't get up. He died while I was with him. I should have cut a trake.

I bought trailers of light weight calves. The only ones that I lost came out of the same load and all were sick. It wasn't until I got a new bottle of Nuflor that I cured them. It is prescription only and hard to get from the new vets around here.

Banamine is needed for fever. A thermometer is your best friend when you are dealing with new calves like this.

 

[SRBeef]

I have another little one coming from the same farm on Monday. I am being prepared this time and the vet will be on call the minute anythin goes amiss!

Very upsetting when you get attached to the little buggers,i know they are only calves but a few of them are just extra special!!

Do you really want another one from the same farm?? I think I'd be looking for a different source for my calves. You don't want to go through this any more than you have to. Consensus seems to be the calves have whatever it is when they arrive...why take more?

 

[Missy]

SR Beef,
I cant stand the thought of them dying in the paddock. 2 more calves died Saturday when this one was found. While yes it breaks my heart trying to save them, if i dont take this little one then it is going to just die in the paddock,most likely from starvation than anything else.
I hate nothing more than cruelty to animals, and atleast if it dies under my care i know that i did the best i could to save it.

Some probably think i am silly but the least i can do is try!

 

[Missy]

Little calf died before i could get it. Was in good hands too as my pop had it.
Hope they find out soon what is killing all these calves :?

 

[Keren]

Missy, fwiw, I use Tetra Vet Flexi Dose which is an oxytetracycline, and Triprim, which is a Trimethoprim sulfa (and I am in Australia). You should be able to get these or something similar from your vet.

Wish you more luck than you have had recently. Sucks to lose them. And I understand completely your wanting to try to help those calves.