Sick Calf

[KrystaM]

We acquired 2 bottle beef calves last week and one is not doing so well. The heifer is about a month old and the bull calf 2 months old. The heifer (Sissy) was a little lethargic when we got her home (Wed evening). She was not interested in a bottle (were told that she was on the bottle). The next morning (Thurs), she was still not taking the bottle or bucket so we started tubing her (I noticed that she has ulcers on the back of her tongue). We feed her medicated milk replacer in the morning and evening and electrolytes throughout the day. On Friday. we had to IV her belly cavity (we could not get the IV in the neck vein). No temp. We also administered 4ml of NuFlor IM and 8ml orally. About three hours later she was doing great. She was up, curious, drank from a bucket. On Saturday morning she was still doing well. She was drinking milk and electrolytes from a bucket most of the day. About dinner time she stopped taking in fluids again. We have been tubing since Saturday evening. Milk in the morning and evening and electrolytes every 2-3 hours via tube. Yesterday, she started showing signs of scours and had a temp of 103.2. The first movement was like egg whites and very slight traces of blood, since she has just had the routine scours movements. She spends most of her time lying down.
We are very new to cattle and are at a loss. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[hillsdown]

Time for a vet. If you have had to administer IV fluids and she is still not responding I think you need an expert. Also they can tell you the proper usage and administering of drugs, Nuflor IM is meant just that IM and again at 48 hours, that is the way it is designed to work.

The ulcers could be anything , I think you have thrown all you can at her so I would get a pro out now.

Good luck.

 

[KrystaM]

hillsdown...Thank you for your input. We did see the vet on Friday. He provided us with the instruction for administering the NuFlor and instructed us to continue with tube feeding. Any idea on how to mix an iodine wash so I can rinse her mouth?

 

[CULHAM CREEK]

Check A,D and E ???
Do you have selenium in your grounds??? If not administer seleniun and VItamin K???

 

[milkmaid]

Baxter -- BVD does create lesions in the mouth. However, other diseases like VS create lesions. Definitely time for a vet to investigate.

Krysta -- I wouldn't wash her mouth with iodine. Chances are she might swallow some and you really wouldn't want that in her digestive tract.

 

[hillsdown]

What about diphtheria?

There is a wash that you can use I will see if I can find the ingredients.
There is an iodine wash. Randiliana posted it a while back.

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... bacillosis edit...Sorry this site is not coming up.

I will try again..

 

[hillsdown]

Necrotic Laryngitis
(Calf diphtheria, Laryngeal necrobacillosis)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 120902.htm

Diagnosis:
Clinical signs are usually sufficient to establish a diagnosis. However, because numerous other conditions can cause signs of upper airway obstruction, the larynx should be visually inspected to confirm a diagnosis. This can be accomplished by means of an orally inserted speculum, laryngoscopy, endoscopy, or radiography, but care must be exercised to avoid further respiratory embarrassment. A tracheostomy should be performed before laryngoscopic or endoscopic examination in cattle with severe inspiratory dyspnea. Differential diagnoses include pharyngeal trauma; severe viral laryngitis (eg, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis); actinobacillosis; and laryngeal edema, abscesses, trauma, paralysis, or tumors.

Treatment and Control:
Sulfonamides (an initial dose of 140 mg/kg, IV, followed by 70 mg/kg, IV, sid) or procaine penicillin (22,000 U/kg, IM, bid) are the drugs of choice. NSAID (aspirin, 100 mg/kg, PO, bid, or ketoprofen, 3 mg/kg, IM or IV, sid for up to 3 days) can be used to decrease the degree of laryngeal inflammation and edema. A tracheostomy is indicated in cattle with severe inspiratory dyspnea. The prognosis is good for early cases that are treated aggressively; chronic cases will require surgery under general anesthesia to remove necrotic or granulation tissue and to drain laryngeal abscesses. A 60% success rate has been reported for surgical intervention in advanced cases.
There are no specific control measures for necrotic laryngitis; however, the proposed pathogenesis suggests that control measures for common respiratory pathogens may be beneficial.

 

[hillsdown]

Swab oral ulcers with a 1 to 2 percent solution of Lugol's iodine and with oral and injectable antibiotics, and observe appropriate antibiotic withdrawal periods.

That is all I can find. Maybe Randiliana will post the mixture that they used or you can do a search it is in here somewhere.

Here is a good link for you it is all about calves.
Calf rearing – health and welfare
http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/article ... health.htm

 

[KrystaM]

hillsdown... after spending hours online today and yesterday, I was also leaning toward diphtheria. She has shown no signs of distress or labored breathing, so I am not sure about Necrotic Laryngitis. The vet just prescribed Bio-Mycin and Scour Bolus. She does not seem to be too concerned with the ulcers. We will see how this goes. The vet that was in today is stronger in horses. Not real sure on her cow knowledge. The cow guy is not in. Will know in a few days if broad-spectrum antibiotics work.

Randiliana... If you have the oral wash mixture, I would greatly appreciate it.

I will post updates in a day or two.

Thank you all for your input. If you have any other suggestions, please post them.

 

[TexasBred]

If you haven't already done it call the person you bought the calves from an get a "history" on them. Ask him about any previous probelms or anything out of the ordinary about these calves and/or any of his other calves.

 

[KrystaM]

All the other calves (from teh same farm) are doing well. She had taken a turn for the worse. She will no longer get up on her own and when we get her up to tube feed her, she falls back down as soon as we let go. We will probably be putting her down today.

 

[hillsdown]

Sorry to hear that . I wish we could have gotten to what the calf had, I am very curious as to what the lesions are.Did they cause the illness or did the illness cause them ?? :?

You did all you could for her and some things are out of our hands unfortunately.

I hope your little guy is doing well. Good luck with all your babies.

 

[KrystaM]

Thank you all for your advice. We did put her down on Wednesday as she could no longer stand on her own and she was suffering. Still not sure what was wrong with her and we did not opt for an autopsy. The vet was not real concerned with the ulcers (frustrating).
Our other calf is doing well. We did get another one so that he will not be lonely. Will be banding this weekend.