Sick Calf....

[UncleD]

I have a 6 week old jersey bottle calf that is not feeling well.

Yesterday he was perky, jumping and playing. This morning He wasn't interested in his feed, ears were droopy, you could tell he wasn't feeling right.

Shot him up with nuflor and banamine (spelling) and he seemed to perk up this afternoon. Tonight I go out to give him his bottle and he's down again. This time I have to help him up, and he's still not eating.

I noticed this time that he has what looks to be a hernea or swelling around his penis area. Didn't notice it this morning.

Any ideas what the swelling could be? He's in a pen by himself, so it's not another calf sucking on him. Just wanna help the little guy out if I can.

 

[hillsdown]

Did you take it's temperature?And is the swelling from the naval?Is it hard or does it have a squishy feel to it?
Need more info.

 

[Sir Loin]

D,
For the want of more info let me just pass this onto for now.

Anytime I have a sick baby, as soon as I find him sick I give him adult aspirin.
1 for up to 100lbs and one for every 100 lbs over 100 lbs.
It won't hurt him and now you are at least doing something for him while you trying to find out what is wrong or you are waiting for the vet.

Aspirin reduces fever, reduces inflation and helps with dehydration.
As the old saying goes: "take two aspirins and call me in the morning" just to buy some time.

 

[milkmaid]

But masking the symptoms doesn't eliminate the infection... in fact, when you reduce inflammation you often allow the infection to increase. That's why it's often suggested not to give Banamine or Dexamethasone more than once or twice, so you can see whether the animal is improving or whether symptoms are just being hidden.

Might be a navel infection, 'D. How much Nuflor did you give?

 

[hillsdown]

Milkmaid you may be on to something.Nuflor has side effects such as scours and reduced appetite which is why I always give Predef with the first dose of Nuflor.And if over medicated can cause liver and kidney damage.He/she did not even give symptoms as to why Nuflor was even given.If it is a naval infection I don't know what the drug will help with.But if it is a umbilical hernia that he missed he may have overdosed the calf and thus causing more illness.
Hopefully they check back in and give more info.

 

[UncleD]

Did not take his temperature. Hadn't thought of doing that. Gave him 6cc, nuflor and 2 cc, banamine according to Vet instruction.

The swelling is soft, tried pushing it back up inside but it came right back out.

I'll give the asprin a try. Like you say, can't hurt.

Called the vet, he instructed to give him an additional 1cc of banamine, and in the morning, 2cc Nuflor.

Just checked on him and he has got up and moved back into his shed by himself. He did raise his head a bit and looked at me when I checked on him. Don't want to get my hopes up, but he might be feeling a bit better.

 

[hillsdown]

You gave the calf 6cc's Nuflor and I am hoping that is under the skin with that dosage.So DO NOT give any more until after 48hrs in the muscle or a one time dose under the skin and maybe 72hrs;and please do not give people drugs like aspirin because yes it can hurt.
Just like cow drugs are not made for people or even cats or dogs for that matter.
Now it sounds like an umbilical hernia and if that is the case and you really want to keep this calf then it needs an operation.A hernia is when just the skin has healed over and the intestines are exposed right underneath.
It sounds like your calf is doing better so keep it warm nd under no stress at all.Over medicating is a fast way to lose a good animal.
Also make sure when you talk to a Vet it is an actual experienced cow Vet.I once had a dumb dog/cat vet who was taking calls for her husband the real cow vet tell me to give 12cc's of dexamethasone to my 55lb premie ET calf.It was dead in about twenty minutes.

 

[UncleD]

Little fella died during the night. Seems so strange for him to have been jumping around without a care in the world 36 hours ago and then die.

 

[Alice]

Oh no...I'm sorry. Sometimes these things happen just outta the blue, seems there's no rhyme or reason to them. At 6 weeks ya' think you're over the hump, then this. You did what you could. Fortunately it didn't go on and on.

Alice

 

[Bez>]

Little fella died during the night. Seems so strange for him to have been jumping around without a care in the world 36 hours ago and then die.

Well, with livestock comes deadstock - life in ag.

Regards,

Bez>

 

[AngusLimoX]

Sorry UncleD, sounds like you did what you could. Good on you getting the vet involved right away.

Did you think it may bear any fruit to open him up and see what you could? Especially around that swelling?

And if you can get a temp in future , every little clue helps to nail down what the ill is.

If you have em you are gonna lose em.

ALX

 

[OK Jeanne]

Sorry UncleD, sounds like you did what you could. Good on you getting the vet involved right away.

Did you think it may bear any fruit to open him up and see what you could? Especially around that swelling?

And if you can get a temp in future , every little clue helps to nail down what the ill is.

If you have em you are gonna lose em.

ALX

AngusLimoX is quite right...but still it's hard to take...always
thinking "what did I miss?",etc.

 

[UncleD]

Thank you all for your kind words and good advice.

Still no idea what was wrong with him. This is my first go around with bottle calves. I knew the risks going in, but thought I was over the hump at 6 weeks. Shows what I know

I've always used the theory with cattle that if you see their ears drooping, you'd better get some meds into them. I did exactly that this time, but you can't fix them all

 

[Sir Loin]

D<
Sorry for your loss. Last year I had about 10 like that and only manage to save 3.
1 weeks ago I found a 400 lb one dead in the field for no reason I could find.

Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 105, what would that tell you?
Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 97, what would that tell you?
SL

 

[msscamp]

Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 105, what would that tell you?

A temp of 105 would tell me he likely had some type of infection that I needed to figure out and treat.

Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 97, what would that tell you?

A temp of 97 would tell me that I had not been paying attention to business, let this calf progress too far in whatever was wrong with him, and would likely have a dead calf in the next 24 hours or so - unless I could come up with a stellar treatment plan, and God heard my prayers. Sub-normal temps are actually more dangerous than above-normal temps in cattle.

SL

 

[milkmaid]

The swelling is soft, tried pushing it back up inside but it came right back out.

Hernia.

 

[Bez&gt;]

The swelling is soft, tried pushing it back up inside but it came right back out.

Hernia.

Sounds like it needed a little needle and thread action.

Never done it, but I watched once - seemed fairly straight forward - although I am sure I would have found a way to screw it up.

Bez>

 

[AngusLimoX]

Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 105, what would that tell you?
Q. If he had taken the little guys temp and it was 97, what would that tell you?
SL

I would quickly grab Joel Salatins "Naturalpathic First Aid Guide for Baby Bovines" and let Joel tell me what to do!

Actually what mssscamp said, only I suspect if I got a 97 it would be because I hadn't left the thermometer in long enough or deep enough.

If I got a near normal temp I would be looking for physical things like that hernia, or things in his environment - his feed/water, noxious plants - all the stuff that pounding high test antibiotics into him won't do a thing for him. Except maybe make him sicker.

ALX

 

[donnaIL]

I was just reading about a drop in tempature and believe it can be caused by a drop in blood sugar. That it can be caused by the tempature of the milk being too low and if it is too cool it will go to the wrong stomach and curdle...something like that. I could be wrong--but I've been doing some reading because I to am feeding a couple of bottle calves...The stupid cow will not even take one of her twins

 

[Sir Loin]

Msscamp,

Re:

A temp of 105 would tell me he likely had some type of infection that I needed to figure out and treat.
A temp of 97 would tell me that I had not been paying attention to business, let this calf progress too far in whatever was wrong with him, and would likely have a dead calf in the next 24 hours or so - unless I could come up with a stellar treatment plan, and God heard my prayers. Sub-normal temps are actually more dangerous than above-normal temps in cattle.

Two questions.

1. If the calf had a temp of 105 from an infection and you didn't know it until it came down to 97, don't you then have a misdiagnosis?
2. Or he was found in water (pond or stream) in the winter?

I am simply trying to find out why some people (vets mostly) think temp is so important, when other signs, such as standing in water or runny eyes or nose, will tell much more.
SL