Swollen sheath

[Deepsouth]

This calf is a little over a month old. He has had a large sheath since he was born but today i noticed it looked a lot bigger.

A closer inspection revealed a problem. It looks as if his penis is swollen. I can't tell if this is a navel problem, a penis problem or a urinary tract infection.

What do y'all think and what do you recomend?

 

[Howdyjabo]

Pizzil rot from herpes virus ????
Sometimes it just gets stuck out,swells and dries up?????? A little oil and massage(pull the sheath forward) can cover it back up. Its a heredity problem with dogs.
Was scratched walking thru prickly weeds or grass cut ??????


Calf is worth a bunch, tie it up and haul it to a vet. If it can't pee its gonna die.

 

[M5farm]

I think jabo is on the right track. It looks like his Dick is cut. The hair on the sheath looks kinda wet . I would definitely have it looked at by a vet.

 

[Lucky_P]

Best guess on my part is that it's a big infected/inflamed umbilical stump. The most common things happen most often.
Persistent urachus would be a possibility; I've never seen one in a calf in over 35 years, but it'd be on the list.
Calf that age can't extend his penis, so it's pretty unlikely to be a penile injury - but I have seen urinary stones in some very young calves on pasture with their dam.

I'll second the recommendation to have your veterinarian check it out.

 

[Deepsouth]

Thanks guys. Lucky, will a infected umbilical cut off urine flow?

 

[Deepsouth]

This morning I went out to catch to take him to the vet. When I got there he was getting a belly full of milk. I called the cows and as they were coming he was running circles around the herd. As they come up to the corral he stopped and took a good long pee. By now I'm thinking he's not terribly sick. My main concern was if he could urinate. I cut him out and put him in the chute. He has an infected navel apparently from a cut. I decided to just give him a good dose of penicillin and put iodine on the cut. when I got home this afternoon it looked as if the swelling is already going down. I'm going to watch him closely if it doesn't get better in a few days I'll take him in to the vet.

 

[Aaron]

I am dealing with the same problem. My treatment is Pen LA, Banamine and Copper sulfate solution.

A one time dose of Banamine would take that navel down real quick.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I agree with Aaron DS. I would hit it with something long acting like LA 300 because if you just pizz it off, it can still migrate to his joints or organs the same as a regular navel ill. It can also wall its self off and need surgical treatment. :2cents:

 

[Lucky_P]

Month old calf with that big navel probably has it pretty well contained/walled in, and if he's acting OK - eating/peeing/pooping normally - probably not a whole lot to do.

Here comes my proper antibiotic use rant for the day.
One dose of procaine penicillin G - given at the appropriate dose level, 3cc/100lb body weight - will give you about 12 hrs of therapeutic blood levels. After that, it's essentially gone. In my mind, a single dose of penicillin is contraindicated in virtually all instances - you're more likely to be contributing to selecting for penicillin-resistant bacteria than actually doing something to help the animal.
"Long-acting penicillin/Pen BP-48" is a joke. Sure, the benzathine pen G fraction stays in the body for 48 hrs, but it never reaches a high enough blood/tissue level to kill ANYTHING - and if you follow the label dosage, you're not even getting enough procaine pen G to do much - and again, it's gone in 12 hrs. I'd love to see that product taken off the market.

 

[kworth1980]

I have been using long acting penicillin for a couple years now and find it works wonders. Now if its a respiratory I use something a bit stronger like Resflor but we have trees and bushes and had a couple cases where not sure if its actually foot rot but I think they poke themselves and because of all the rain their hooves are softer, they get sore and a bit swollen give them a shot of penicillin and pretty much better within 24 hours no swelling no lameness (you can see it within 12 hours), treated 4 cows this year and no reoccurrences with same cows. We had a calf that got stepped on my her mom her little foot got really swollen left her for 4 days with spraying blue kote - watching, didn't see much improvement and finally gave her a shot and next day good as new (that was over a month ago now)- I think it all depends on the situation and actually how sick they are. Some people probably wouldn't even treat the cows that hurt their hooves but personally I would rather catch it quick and get it better before something worse happens or it gets really infected...

 

[Aaron]

I agree with you, Lucky. I am an Oxytetracycline person, not Penicillin. I see it as pretty much useless, but had to use up what I had left before it goes out of date. I use it on young calves as they are easy to catch multiple times.