Septicemia HELP

[lockmiller06]

My bull calf was born aprox 125-150 lb. He's about 200 lb now. He is now 6 wks old. Never got mom's colostrum. Tubed him at first then went to bottle after 1 week. when doing good takes 3 3/4 bottle on bad days 1/2 a bottle. He developed a pus pocket behind one eye at 4 days old and has never left. has been on Excenel(2 days old),Baytril(2nd wk),Draxxin(4th wk), Nuflor(5th wk), Penicillin(5th wk). Each week we've had to change because his appetite would drop. But with changing the antibiotic his appetite would increase. He also has a joint problem on one front knee. I'm at my wits end and running out of antibiotic choices.

 

[dun]

The only time I had to treat diagnosed septicemia it was with large very frequent doses of penicillin. Treated for a full month under vets direction. Calf turned out to be a darn good cow in the long run

 

[branguscowgirl]

Does not sound good. I have been treating a chicken with antibiotics for a couple of months also, she just finished her 4th. one. I know, CRAZY! :hide: I am done. My chicken is never going to clear the infection. However your calf is much more important than a chicken!
I am assuming that you are working with a vet? An I.V. antibiotic is always going to give you the highest blood concentrations, but I do not even know if that is an option at this point. There is a good chance that there are other organs affected also. What does your vet say about his chances of a full recovery?

 

[lockmiller06]

He actually had an infected navel at 2 days old. His cord finally dropped off a few weeks ago. Was wondering if it could still be infected. He gets up and moves around alot. Urinating where he lays doesn't help things. I try to keep the hay clean as much as possible where he lays. Just gave baytril & penicillin today nuflor yesterday. Appetite is way down. Temp 104.4

 

[dun]

It is going to take large doses, probably off label, and a long time to clear it up.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Yep he's sick. The navel is closed now. That is the least of your worries. The infection has spread from there, through his blood stream, and seeded itself in his joint and eye abscess. There is a good possibility it is in other organs also. All these antibiotics are playing heck on his kidneys too.
I always hit navel I'll hard with LA 200 or 300.
Are you working with a vet???

 

[lockmiller06]

Yes but the vet doesn't seem to interested. Two farm calls but they don't think he's to important. I believe he also had delayed white muscle disease,after much research. His shoulders had relaxed at the girdle. Gave Bose and it has improved so much its hardly noticeable. They just give me a different antibiotic. I was hoping maybe his immune system would kick in. Also giving A&D vitamin shots once a wk. By the way the Baytril last nite brought his temp down and he finished off a 1-1/2 bottle in 3 min. Everytime I change meds he improves but then relapses.

 

[dun]

How frequently can you giv baytril. When he responds to something I would hit him with it again just as soon and as freuent as possible.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Where are you located? What state?

 

[lockmiller06]

N.E. Ga. Have only treated as per antibiotic recommendations. He always seems to respond to each antibiotic well at first then goes back downhill. He was on excenel for the navel infection on day 2 but then developed the white behind the eye. Baytril had almost cured the white behind the eye. When I ran out of Baytril the vet said lets wait and see what happens. Well, it came back even bigger!

 

[lockmiller06]

The vet recommmended today to lay off antibiotic unless fever returns. And add probios. The fever will return with the pus pocket behind the eye i"m sure.

 

[milkmaid]

So I'm hearing that this calf is 6 weeks, has a temp of 104.4, been treated for 4 weeks with no improvement, had failure of passive transfer (no colostrum), attitude and appetite fluctate and may or may not be related to the course of antibiotics disrupting gut flora, he has a navel and joint infection (for 4 weeks?), infection in the anterior chamber of the eye (indication of septicemia), is systemically ill, has relapsed multiple times...

I'd put him down. If this were day 3 you might have a chance. A chronic condition like this, probably not. Shoot him and cut him open, you'll probably find that there's an ascending umbilical infection internally, inflammed umbilical veins (find the bladder, they're on either side), possible internal adhesions related to that infection, joint damage, etc.

Have to know when to call it quits.

 

[lockmiller06]

Well, he's come this far, so I'm not giving up.