small twin

[holly heifer]

The twin from the cow that died( other twin was dead)
(cow- severe prolaspe ) ended up in the vet clinic- she
had a plasma transfusion, IVs and naxel, tube fed for 24 hours.
Brought her home last pm, she took a pint last pm and a pint this am. Temp is normal, gave 2.6 cc naxel, the kicker is-
there was no poop in the stall. She looks bright enough. Any
thoughts? Her bill was over $500. Hubby almost had a stroke.
:roll:

 

[sidney411]

I would have had a stroke too! Even if she does pull through there is little to no chance you will ever recoop that $500 bill. Way too much effort for a sickly newborn IMO. Hope she does pull through for you though.

 

[Farminlund]

If it pooped at the vets, it may be another 24 or more hours before it does it again. Not alot going in = not much reason to exhaust much either.

I think the vet did you a disservice if he did not advise on the cost up front & recommend against such an expensive procedure (sounds like a SA vet). My vet would have told me to take it home (assuming I brought it in to begin with) & if I couldn't get any noticable improvement (with my own treatments) in a couple of days to use a 22 on it. Having said that, maybe this was a means of learning how to care for a sick calf & was worth the expense (so you know what to do by yourself the next time) - but to me that should have been discussed up front before he stated. Even at that, it seems high priced but that is a call for you to make. From strictly "a save the calf standpoint", I think the vet took you & would recommend going to another vet in the future.

 

[holly heifer]

:shock: yea- dad said that too! we have another one that is
rather weak, I will tube feed it tonight, give some baytril if resp
status is impaired. There is no more money for bills like that.
If this one declines it will just be so, the cow will go to the
sale barn( she does not seem to milk very well) . The other
calves are robust, healthy little critters! :heart:

 

[holly heifer]

:shock: The "vet" is a vet. university teaching facility.
They are always very high priced. I was quoted a range of
$2-300. I have used the clinic for colic surgery in a horse
($5,500) but never for a sick calf- they either got better with my care and the occasional help of the local vet( she is very
reasonable) or they died. This calf was special in that it was
the last offspring of my mothers cow , so sentimental reasons
were present. It will not happen again! :roll:

 

[Farminlund]

holly heifer - good to hear most are doing well & that this was a valuable learning experience, albeit an expensive one.

If this other weak one is nursing but might not be getting enough milk (I think I am trying to read between the lines here), I would say supplement with a bottle rather than tube (stress & the opportunity of getting down the wrong pipe). If the calf has some suck response but it is weak, open the hole in the nipple so it nearly dripples out rather than forcing the calf to "work for the milk". Just my 2 cents.

 

[holly heifer]

I always attempt to bottle feed first and tube if only necessary. Thanks for the nipple tip! i will try that this afternoon. ;-)