Sick Calf

[flewellynacres]

Hello! I'm new to the Boards!
We live in Herald, CA, and currently have a small (3 head) herd of Polled Herefords.
My 4 yr. old cow calved with her 2nd heifer calf 21 days ago. The calf was extremely vital at birth, up within 45 min. and nursing.
This calf had a "crash & burn" at 9 days old - dehydration (neighbor is a equine vet, she put in an iv line, and gave a bag of glucose), vomitting with excessive "slobbering and bubble blowing", temp of 105, rapid breathing, and a tiny amount of diarhea.
Rushed the calf to UC Davis, and they couldn't find anything conclusive. They thought BVD (test came back negative) or possible Selenium deficiency (gave an injection when we first arrived). Calf improved rapidly, and she was released by the 2nd day.
Then 4 days later, went in to feed, and calf appeared to be in the throes of pneumonia! Again, high temp, 104.5, drooling of what appeared to be mucous, bubbles coming out her nose, wheezing. Again, gave Nuflor and Banamine, called the University. While I was out of the pen, my daughter said calf coughed several times, expelling some matter, took a deep breath, then jumped up and seemed fine! We still took her over to the University, where again, they couldn't find anything in her blood, urine, or in the 3 chest x-rays they took.
Now again, over the last 3 days, calf is slowly crashing again! She pants and rapid breath's, has a on-again, off-again temp, is lethargic, and has mucous that appears to be bloody in her stool. Her stool was sticky 2 days ago, and each day it has progressively gotten more firm, and is now pretty dry - it is in little pellets like goat stool.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be going on? Could we be dealing with coccidiosis?? There's no diarreah, but the thick, tissue-like mucous, that's turned a dark blood color sort of sounds like coccidiosis.
Thank you for any suggestions you may have!!!!

 

[certherfbeef]

I'm no vet but it sounds like lung damage and the meds you give her just makes her feel better till they wear off.
When they wear off, she feels sick again and "crashes".

Had a holstein like that when I was growing up. Turns out that her lungs were fused to her rid cage and only half the capacity she needed.

BUT, UC Davis ought to be able to figgure it out.

 

[flewellynacres]

I'm no vet but it sounds like lung damage and the meds you give her just makes her feel better till they wear off.
When they wear off, she feels sick again and "crashes".

Had a holstein like that when I was growing up. Turns out that her lungs were fused to her rid cage and only half the capacity she needed.

BUT, UC Davis ought to be able to figgure it out.

You would think, but they've taken at least 5 chest x-rays between the 2 times we've taken her over there, and they said the x-rays looked great, no fluid.
Would they be able to detect the condition you mentioned, or something similar from an x-ray??
Teaching hospitals are great because of the technology, but I kinda feel that they are missing something here since the calf keeps doing poorly!
By the way, what happened with the holstein? Did you put her down, or?

 

[certherfbeef]

By the way, what happened with the holstein? Did you put her down, or?

We don't spend alot of time or money with the vet. We were able to feed her long enough to make some good eating. Only reason we knew about her lungs was because we did the butchering.

Maybe you ought to try another vet, like a second opinion.
My guess is you have a fair amount of money invested in her already.
Maybe even pm Vicky the Vet see what she can come up with.

 

[flewellynacres]

By the way, what happened with the holstein? Did you put her down, or?

We don't spend alot of time or money with the vet. We were able to feed her long enough to make some good eating. Only reason we knew about her lungs was because we did the butchering.

Maybe you ought to try another vet, like a second opinion.
My guess is you have a fair amount of money invested in her already.
Maybe even pm Vicky the Vet see what she can come up with.

You're right she's racking up the charges, but this is part of the daughters 4-H project, so we'll go as long as we can to figure out what's going on with her! (you can tell the small breeders a mile away - they're really not a "herd", but our pets!)
How do I get ahold of Vicky the Vet??
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP AND ADVICE!!!

 

[Beefy]

you could try private messaging her or a lot of times if you say her name outloud three times she will magically appear.

 

[TheBullLady]

I'm sorry.. but I can't believe that UC can't figure it out either! I would be making some noise in that area if it were me. Is keeping her AT UC until they can come up with something an option? They made need to constantly monitor her to see what is happening to get a better idea. If you're only bringing her in when she's critical, it may not be giving them clues as to the problem.

 

[GMN]

Mucous in her stool, do you think it looks like blood mixed with tissue? She could have a clostridial bug, very hard to cure, yet the rapid breathing, coughing makes me think more along the lines of a respiratory bug. There are so many different bugs these calves get, each calf resonds diffeently to different drugs, what works for one may not work for the other.

Hope you find something out.

Gail (GMN)

 

[milkmaid]

Sounds like you're just taunting this bug. One of the main reasons why antibiotics don't appear to work is because you don't treat long enough. My standard approach is to treat one treatment time beyond whenever the signs of sickness have disappeared.

 

[flewellynacres]

you could try private messaging her or a lot of times if you say her name outloud three times she will magically appear.

I'm really enjoying this group, you're pretty darn funny!
I took a stool sample to the vet - it came back positive with coccidiosis. I'm treating with Corid, and the vet also suggested a possible Vit. B deficiency as a reason for the other "weird" symptoms (rapid breathing, lack of tolerance to heat, etc. I put a fan in the stall today, and she stayed under it all day!) Vit. injections are worth a try - they probably won't hurt, and Vit. B deficiency can cause some neurologic-like symptoms.
I'm willing to try just about anything, and at least by the end of today, she seemed to be the best she's been in about a week!
THANKS AGAIN!!!!

 

[flewellynacres]

I'm sorry.. but I can't believe that UC can't figure it out either! I would be making some noise in that area if it were me. Is keeping her AT UC until they can come up with something an option? They made need to constantly monitor her to see what is happening to get a better idea. If you're only bringing her in when she's critical, it may not be giving them clues as to the problem.

You make an excellent point - but Davis didn't want to keep her there any longer than necessary due to possible exposure to "cooties"! (The first time she went she was 9 days old, then again at 14 days old.)
I took a stool sample to the local vet - it came back positive with coccidiosis. I'm treating with Corid, and the vet also suggested a possible Vit. B deficiency as a reason for the other "weird" symptoms (rapid breathing, lack of tolerance to heat, etc. I put a fan in the stall today, and she stayed under it all day!) Vit. injections are worth a try - they probably won't hurt, and Vit. B deficiency can cause some neurologic-like symptoms.
I'm willing to try just about anything, and at least by the end of today, she seemed to be the best she's been in about a week!
THANKS for your suggestions and concern! If anything else comes to mind, please post me - I'm checking this as often as I can!

 

[Vicky the vet]

you could try private messaging her or a lot of times if you say her name outloud three times she will magically appear.

Really? Gosh, that makes me some kind of a fairy.....

Back to the calf. I'd almost guarantee that the calf is anemic and also has pneumonia, enzootic. Could be mycoplasma--love those vet colleges...Nuflor may not touch it. I'd be looking at....either tetracyclines, spectinomycin or maybe baytril personally. A B complex vitamin instead of just B12 may be more helpful and would not hurt.

If you go with an antibiotic, my first choice would be a short acting oxytetracycline or spectam, then baytril. Baytril isn't my first choice in a calf that young.

Any questions, just pm me...

V

 

[SoGaCow]

This does not sound like Pneumonia to me as the calf would not get better that quick nor would nothing show up at UC Davis on X-ray or bloodwork. What was the material he coughed out. He may be choking on something that finally passes before you get him checked out.

 

[Medic24]

Ahhh. When I first started reading this post, the first thing I started thinking was that the poor calf could be picking up more and new cooties from the college, but I see that has been considered..............Vicky has been the tops when it comes to knowledge on bovines imo! So... me thinks that you will be on the right track with her advice. :cboy:

 

[Stocker Steve]

If you go with an antibiotic, my first choice would be a short acting oxytetracycline or spectam, then baytril. Baytril isn't my first choice in a calf that young.

V

Why the oxytetracyline first?

What is your experience with Baytril vs. Micotil?

Thanks, Steve