sick calf

[stewart]

I have a one month old bottle calf in a small fenced area by his self away from the cows and he has been doing ok until yesterday. I have always gave him three bottles a day but yesterday he did not want his bottle and today i tried to make him take it and he threw up bad smelling green grass and fluid. He is bloated a little but not bad a temp of 104. Thanks for your help.
Stewart

 

[Alice]

Is he eating any dry calf feed? Any hay? If not, he should be. Cut out one of the bottles of milk...offer him dry, crunchy, grassy hay...and dry calf feed.

Give him some probios...try to get his gut back in working order.

And, call the vet.

Alice

 

[stewart]

Mr smart a$$ if we called the vet everytime what would be the purpose of this board?

Stewart

 

[msscamp]

I have a one month old bottle calf in a small fenced area by his self away from the cows and he has been doing ok until yesterday. I have always gave him three bottles a day but yesterday he did not want his bottle and today i tried to make him take it and he threw up bad smelling green grass and fluid. He is bloated a little but not bad a temp of 104. Thanks for your help.
Stewart

You might want to pull him off the grass and give him some good quality grass hay for a few days. A lot of times spring greening can cause problems. You might also consider tubing him with a little mineral oil and maybe a cup of liquid detergent to take care of the bloat. Once you have the bloat under control, only allow limited access to the grass until his system acclimates itself to it. If he is not on calf starter, or a little grain (I would start with a handful until he gets to eating it good, then gradually increase to 1-2% of his body weight) he needs to be. I hope this helps.

 

[hillsdown]

I have a one month old bottle calf in a small fenced area by his self away from the cows and he has been doing ok until yesterday. I have always gave him three bottles a day but yesterday he did not want his bottle and today i tried to make him take it and he threw up bad smelling green grass and fluid. He is bloated a little but not bad a temp of 104. Thanks for your help.
Stewart

A temp of 104 is a fever in calves.The fact that the calf is a month old and is now developing problems makes me think that there might be internal issues.A little bit of grass should not make it "throw up" what ever that is never seen that before unless the calf was dying.If the calf is still not progressing call your VET.If this board were the answer to all none of us would ever have sick or dead animals.Also advice given is just advice and some things if they sound stupid do not take that advice.

 

[msscamp]

I have a one month old bottle calf in a small fenced area by his self away from the cows and he has been doing ok until yesterday. I have always gave him three bottles a day but yesterday he did not want his bottle and today i tried to make him take it and he threw up bad smelling green grass and fluid. He is bloated a little but not bad a temp of 104. Thanks for your help.
Stewart

A temp of 104 is a fever in calves.

Maybe, maybe not - did you happen to notice that no location was given, nor was an indicator of the time the temp was taken? It doesn't require a degree in rocket science to figure out that if a calf is in the sun, his temp is going to increase a degree or two - depending on what time of day it is. This calf's temp is 1.5 degrees above normal - that could be an issue or it could be expected, depending on circumstances.

The fact that the calf is a month old and is now developing problems makes me think that there might be internal issues.

Sure there are 'internal issues' - the calf is bloated, therefore already full, and trying to force it to take a bottle tends to cause things to be upchucked.

A little bit of grass should not make it "throw up" what ever that is never seen that before unless the calf was dying.

The grass is what the calf threw up - not the cause of it.

 

[stewart]

Thanks alot everybody for the help. Thank you very much Misscamp followed your advice calf is much better.

Stewart

 

[stewart]

Mr CowBoyup216 tried to call my vet and any in my area and left message none never returned my call wonder if Memorial Day weekend had anything to do with it. If you can't give advise to help anyone that has a sick animal without seeing them in the flesh then why reply? I find it a shame it has gotten to the point on this board that you can't ask a question without your first reply being from someone wanting to be smart. I won't be posting on what once was a great board anymore i rather take my chances. Guess that makes you the winner, feel good?

 

[Alice]

If your vets are like the ones here, if you called about a calf, you can forget having your calls returned.

Now, don't let one bad apple spoil the barrel. You posted a perfectly decent question, and have every right to get a decent answer without smart remarks. Nextime you ask something, and you see the name cowboyup216 come up, skip what he has to say and go on...don't even bother reading it. If he tries to hijack it, tough. Those that want to be helpful will ignore him.

After this, I know I dang sure will!

Alice

 

[msscamp]

That is wonderful news, stewart! Thank you for giving us an update.

 

[hillsdown]

Thanks alot everybody for the help. Thank you very much Misscamp followed your advice calf is much better.

Stewart

So Stewart what exactly did you give the calf from 9:30 pm Mon. to 5:30 Tues. morn to have such a turn around in a few hours? That is great news glad the calf is better, but please share with us what you specifically did to have such a speedy recovery in only a few hours so it can help all in this situation in the future.

 

[stewart]

hillsdown i did exactly what misscamp advised went right out took off grass gave him oil and detergent next morning taking bottle dong much better. misscamp saves another one without seeing him or calling a vet.

 

[HerefordSire]

hillsdown i did exactly what misscamp advised went right out took off grass gave him oil and detergent next morning taking bottle dong much better. misscamp saves another one without seeing him or calling a vet.

Not only that, a vet may have charged more than the calf was worth. That is, if your call was returned and he or she came out, etc. I think we all have to learn without vets even if it means losing a bunch of animals.

One of my goals is getting my vet bill down...pretty rediculous if you ask me. I would rather lose several animals and only call if I lose more than five or so in a week two.

 

[msscamp]

hillsdown i did exactly what misscamp advised went right out took off grass gave him oil and detergent next morning taking bottle dong much better. misscamp saves another one without seeing him or calling a vet.

stewart, I'm very glad your calf is better, but lets not get carried away here, ok? :shock:

 

[Limomike]

I'll tell ya.. that msscamp is a winner!!