Sick calf - runny nose, cloudy/yellow eyes

[Betsy]

This morning a neighbor gave us a week-old Devon bull calf. The neighbor said that the mother cow had rejected it at birth and he had been putting her in the headgate twice a day to let the calf nurse. As the calf is going blind (he said its eyes were fine at birth) and he doesn't have the time to mess with it, he offered it to us.
So anyway, what do I do with this little fellow? Both of his eyes are a cloudy yellow in the middle; he can sense light, but not other objects. His breathing is labored as if he was holding each breath. His nose has a clear discharge, and he keeps blowing it. I have been bottle-feeding him, and he can stand up for that. No scours, although his poop does smell really bad. The neighbor was keeping him in a dirty room in the barn that he takes his sick cows through on the way to the headgate, so I don't know if the calf contracted something that way.
We gave him a vitamin A/D injection in hopes of that helping his eyes. We also moved him inside the house since he was shivering and cool to the touch. Is there anything else I can do for him? What are his chances of survival? I have been around cattle for less than a year, so I still don't know much, especially about young calves.

 

[dun]

He needs serious antibiotics ASAP. The stuff you need to get from the vet is what you need to use. Not the stuff the you get at the feedstore.

 

[rockridgecattle]

call the vet now, the calf does not have much longer without becoming chronic. Isolate from all others, including water and feed source. clean you boots when you leave his pen.
Vet now even on sunday evening

RR

 

[Betsy]

The vet told me to give him some oxytetracycline, which I did. We'll see if he's still alive in the morning.

 

[milkmaid]

Do you have anything else besides oxytet? it's OK sometimes, but then there's cases where you need something that'll work fast and consistently get the job done.

Dun- what's your thoughts? IBR?

 

[Beefy]

IBR is sure my thought.

 

[dun]

Do you have anything else besides oxytet? it's OK sometimes, but then there's cases where you need something that'll work fast and consistently get the job done.

Dun- what's your thoughts? IBR?

IBR or any number of other oddball combinations of problems.

 

[shorty]

From what you said I would assume he has a fever, since you gave him oxytet keep checking his temp if it's not coming down talk to the vet to hit him with something else. Whenever I give antibiotics I always keep checking temps for a few days to see if it helps.

 

[angie1]

If calf is still alive, you need bigger meds than oxytet, consider Nuflor for an antibiotic. Also suggest banamine for an anti inflammatory. Use both of them together. Also calf will need probiotics to keep his stomach healthy with these or any antibiotics, if you ignore that, you will just get a new set of problems. You need to hit this harder now. Don't wait to see if tetra works, it won't.

 

[Betsy]

He's still alive, and doesn't seem better or worse. Yesterday his temperature was 102.2, and today it is 102.6. The vet said that he could give him Re-Covr and Dexamethasone, but I am not sure if these drugs would actually help the root cause or would just alleviate some of the symptoms and maybe create more problems.

What is IBR? Are there any good links about it that anyone recomends? The neighbor said he thought the calf was getting pnumonia, and the vet didn't say what he thought the problem was.

Has anyone heard of or tried putting cod liver oil in a calf's eyes for pinkeye? I have the book Natural Cattle Care, and that is what the author recomends doing.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

 

[angie1]

Your vet should maybe be choked I think. Ask for nuflor, fine with the dex, but it can compromise his already down immune system, but is better than nothing, just not as good as banamine. Banamine will alleviate the sysmptoms, that is a good thing. Helps keep the calf in the fight.

IBR is a respiratory infection, do a search on the boards, there is alot of info.

The eyes are secondary. Forget the cod liver oil, try triple antibiotic eye med if you want to squirt something in there.

Don;t forget probiotics and hydration.

Good Luck!! Glad to hear he is still alive.
Let us know.

 

[Roadapple]

Betsy, was just up to the Vet clinic, so asked about your problem. She said it was probably a liver problem. Asked if there was any treatment for it and unfortunately, she said probably not. Said it could also be losing blood and is anemic. She was real busy so I could'nt press her for more info. Could ask your vet tho. But in the meantime I would check its gums to see if they are real pale indicating loss of blood. Could have been kicked, butted, or some such while they were moving a sick cow thru.

 

[milkmaid]

Based on what the vet suggests... dex and re-covr... he's treating for pneumonia. Dex has a multitude of uses, but is generally used as an anti-inflammatory. Since it's a corticosteriod it will suppress the immune system - not a big deal as long as he's also on antibiotics. Re-covr (aka Rally-O) is an antihistamine; I've used it before, works ok, but getting some decent antibiotics into that calf will do more for him than treating the symptoms.

102.5ish is normal for a calf, which runs a higher temp than a mature cow does (around 101.5). The combination of a relatively normal temp and cloudy eyes makes me inclined to think it isn't pneumonia that the calf's suffering from, unless that's a secondary infection. Run a search for IBR online (Google, perhaps) and you should have plenty of reading material and pictures.

 

[Betsy]

He has been going downhill in the past few hours, getting weaker, refusing his bottle, and temperature up to 103.1. The vet just gave him some penicillin, Re-Covr, and Dexamethasone. The steroids seem to have perked him up a little, but the vet says that the calf has a good chance of not making it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.....

 

[rockridgecattle]

Besty, I am sorry for what you are going through. It is hard to do.

I hate to say this but i am going to anyway

This is where the pencil meets the paper.
Add up what you have paid in expenses, medications and vet fees as well as electrolytes and what have ever else was spent and determine if you are going to do anything more or make the decision to sink or swim on her own or to do what all cattle people hate to do.
Realize what you think you might get for her if she lives and grows out for six months. But when doing the math realize she will never reach her full potiential at six or seven months when you wean. Add to that that when you wean and stress her out she might very well get good and sick next time.

I know i will get shot for saying this but so be it. Been there too many time to count. Forgot the lesson and did it again...The lesson of spending to much to save one poor calf that was not meant to be.

 

[dun]

What places us above the other animals is the ability to determine when it's time and enough is enough Do what is right for the animal. Shoot her and write it off as a lost experiment.

 

[Betsy]

Last night I was about ready to shoot the calf just to get him out of his misery. I didn't have much hopes of him living through the night. However, he is still alive, his breathing has eased somewhat, his temperature is now 102.2, and he has been spending half his time sitting up with his eyes half open, instead of lying flat on his side. He doesn't seem to be as interested in his bottle; maybe the antibiotics are making his stomach feel bad.

My vet is (thankfully) a neighbor and friend, so he is not charging me for his time. His area of expertise is small animals, so although he may not be giving the calf the very best drugs, I am content to stick with him instead of spending several hundred dollars for someone who may know more. Which is all to say, I have not spent much money on this calf, and don't plan to.

 

[angie1]

Last night I was about ready to shoot the calf just to get him out of his misery. I didn't have much hopes of him living through the night. However, he is still alive, his breathing has eased somewhat, his temperature is now 102.2, and he has been spending half his time sitting up with his eyes half open, instead of lying flat on his side. He doesn't seem to be as interested in his bottle; maybe the antibiotics are making his stomach feel bad.

My vet is (thankfully) a neighbor and friend, so he is not charging me for his time. His area of expertise is small animals, so although he may not be giving the calf the very best drugs, I am content to stick with him instead of spending several hundred dollars for someone who may know more. Which is all to say, I have not spent much money on this calf, and don't plan to.

What I do is decide if I am in or out of the fight with these guys. If you decide you want to try to work with this calf, you need to up the ante on the meds, which means $ ~ or you are simply prolonging his suffering. You need the probios for his stomach. Have you started antibiotics yet? His temp is probably down due to the banamine (or dex, can;t remeber which you said), not as a result of his recovering. If you had a respiratory infection and took ibuprofin (for example) you would feel better temporarily, but you would not be recovering by any means.

If you are here looking for advice, I would seriously consider what RRC and dun suggested. The only cheap way to help him is a bullet.

 

[Hunny Do Ranch]

How is your calf doing?