When to treat symptoms of pneumonia.

[TCRanch]

If she's still nursing like a champ, I think you'll be okay until Thurs. And it looks like she's got a mouthful of hay in the pic. Also, I don't notice a droopy ear (or ears). Have you taken her temp? Normal is 101.5, I don't get concerned until it's over 103. If she's otherwise acting okay, aside from the cough, sleep tight. The snotty nose? Yes, it's a good indicator something's going on. It also may be because she a calf and, like most kids, hasn't perfected the art of personal hygiene.

 

[ksmit454]

If she's still nursing like a champ, I think you'll be okay until Thurs. And it looks like she's got a mouthful of hay in the pic. Also, I don't notice a droopy ear (or ears). Have you taken her temp? Normal is 101.5, I don't get concerned until it's over 103. If she's otherwise acting okay, aside from the cough, sleep tight. The snotty nose? Yes, it's a good indicator something's going on. It also may be because she a calf and, like most kids, hasn't perfected the art of personal hygiene.

Thank you TC! I appreciate your reassurance. She literally is showing no other out of the ordinary signs. Just cough and saw the snotty nose once. I didn't want to jump to give antibiotics right away because she's still nursing like crazy (mama actually was trying to nudge her away because she was butting mamas bag so hard), and still eating hay like crazy too. No droopy ears or standoffishness. But I also realize that it can progress into something worse too. So at least I have the appointment for Thursday. I appreciate you all thank you!

 

[ksmit454]

Checked her again this morning. She came running and bucking to the feed troughs. Eating hay like crazy and I only heard her cough twice. Could it be possible that she had something minor and it's going away on its own?

 

[Dave]

I rarely treat a snotty nose and a cough this time of the year. I will keep a close eye on them. A steady cough will get them run into the chute for a closer inspection. But if I treated every snotty nose and cough in the last month I would have gone through $1,000 worth of Draxxin. Instead I gave 4 or 5 shots.

 

[gcreekrch]

While your vet is there ask about a vaccination protocol.

 

[TCRanch]

Yes, it's possible it was something minor and doesn't need treatment. You'll find out tomorrow! And @gcreekrch brought up an excellent point. What is your vaccination protocol - if any?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Be sure to get some meds to have on hand. LA200 or LA300 is great for pinkeye or footrot. Pretty much worthless for respiratory. If you have livestock, you need meds on hand, especially if you don't have a vet you can drive to and pick up as needed.

 

[bird dog]

The person is in California. Keeping antibiotics and other drugs on the shelf at home may not be a option.

 

[Katpau]

Like Dave, I don't treat every calf with a snotty nose, but if they start to act sick and I see them off by themselves and uninterested in nursing, we get on it fast. Your calf looks good in the pictures. I probably would not be giving antibiotics, but I would get her vaccinated.

A few years ago, we lost a calf to pneumonia. I had noticed him standing off from the other calves when we were checking cows one evening, but I wasn't too concerned. I figured I'd check him next time we checked cows and run him in the chute if he was still acting different. Well that was a big mistake. By the time we checked maybe 36 hours later he was off by himself and breathing rough. We ran him in the chute and gave him Nuflor and banamine, but we were too late to save him. Later I had another calf acting stand-offish, so we brought him in, took his temperature and treated him. He was better within 12 hours, but by then we had a half dozen more showing some signs of respiratory distress. We treated those, only to see more the next day. A veterinarian friend recommended we bring all the calves in and vaccinate them all with Inforce 3, an MLV intranasal respiratory vaccine that protects against respiratory disease caused by BRSV, IBR and PI3. He said to only give antibiotics like Nuflor or Draxin to calves with temperatures above 103. He works at a number of feedlots and that was part of their protocol. We did have to treat a few calves, but most just received a dose of Inforce 3. We never had to treat another calf after that.

We use to wait until calves were 5 or 6 months old to vaccinate, and we used all killed vaccines. This was mostly because it was kind of a pain to bring them in off grass and modified live vaccines made me nervous. Now we routinely give an MLV intranasal respiratory vaccine, a BVD MLV and an 8 way clostridial (plus booster) when the calves are about 2-4 months old, and we have not had any issues with respiratory problems since. You don't need a vet to give your calves these vaccines and they are pretty cheap. Our Coop sells Inforce 3 in boxes of 10, 25 or 50 doses, but we can even buy just a single dose for $2.30. There are other good intranasal vaccines, and some even include BVD protection. I would highly recommend you vaccinate all of your calves for respiratory issues. Ask your Vet or a good rancher to recommend a protocol for your area.

 

[gcreekrch]

Like Dave, I don't treat every calf with a snotty nose, but if they start to act sick and I see them off by themselves and uninterested in nursing, we get on it fast. Your calf looks good in the pictures. I probably would not be giving antibiotics, but I would get her vaccinated.

A few years ago, we lost a calf to pneumonia. I had noticed him standing off from the other calves when we were checking cows one evening, but I wasn't too concerned. I figured I'd check him next time we checked cows and run him in the chute if he was still acting different. Well that was a big mistake. By the time we checked maybe 36 hours later he was off by himself and breathing rough. We ran him in the chute and gave him Nuflor and banamine, but we were too late to save him. Later I had another calf acting stand-offish, so we brought him in, took his temperature and treated him. He was better within 12 hours, but by then we had a half dozen more showing some signs of respiratory distress. We treated those, only to see more the next day. A veterinarian friend recommended we bring all the calves in and vaccinate them all with Inforce 3, an MLV intranasal respiratory vaccine that protects against respiratory disease caused by BRSV, IBR and PI3. He said to only give antibiotics like Nuflor or Draxin to calves with temperatures above 103. He works at a number of feedlots and that was part of their protocol. We did have to treat a few calves, but most just received a dose of Inforce 3. We never had to treat another calf after that.

We use to wait until calves were 5 or 6 months old to vaccinate, and we used all killed vaccines. This was mostly because it was kind of a pain to bring them in off grass and modified live vaccines made me nervous. Now we routinely give an MLV intranasal respiratory vaccine, a BVD MLV and an 8 way clostridial (plus booster) when the calves are about 2-4 months old, and we have not had any issues with respiratory problems since. You don't need a vet to give your calves these vaccines and they are pretty cheap. Our Coop sells Inforce 3 in boxes of 10, 25 or 50 doses, but we can even buy just a single dose for $2.30. There are other good intranasal vaccines, and some even include BVD protection. I would highly recommend you vaccinate all of your calves for respiratory issues. Ask your Vet or a good rancher to recommend a protocol for your area.

Ours get Inforce 3 and PMH Once at birth, Vision 8 S and Bovishield Gold One Shot at branding. The feedlot that took 520 of our calves this fall said no pulls after induction. They had some nasty weather about 10 days after delivery. Cow herd gets BG FP5 VL5 pre breeding and a cheap blackleg vax with their scour shots pre calving.

 

[Dave]

They now make a Nasalgen 3 with PHM. I switched from Enforce 3 to this one as the added protection from Pasturella Manihym (sp). Calves all get an 8 way, Bova Sheild Gold, and the Nasalgen at branding (1 to 3 months of age). Purchased calves get that plus an injectable wormer and multimin. Depending on the calf they may get a blast of antibiotic. The purchased calves generally get that the morning after they come home. I don't care if they said they were vaccinated by the previous owner. They also get a new ear tag and my brand.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I use Inforce 3 at birth.
I also use it if a calf has little runny nose or cough. It is a vaccine, but the internasal vaccines kick in their immunity so they fight off what they were getting better on their own without antibiotics.

 

[gcreekrch]

They now make a Nasalgen 3 with PHM. I switched from Enforce 3 to this one as the added protection from Pasturella Manihym (sp). Calves all get an 8 way, Bova Sheild Gold, and the Nasalgen at branding (1 to 3 months of age). Purchased calves get that plus an injectable wormer and multimin. Depending on the calf they may get a blast of antibiotic. The purchased calves generally get that the morning after they come home. I don't care if they said they were vaccinated by the previous owner. They also get a new ear tag and my brand.

It was on the market here after we got our calving vaccines last year. Will be using Nasalgen this spring.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I was thinking about switching to Nasalgen 3, but looking at web site, it says safe for calves 1 week old and up. Does anyone know about giving it to newborns? I give Inforce 3 when we process the newborn.

 

[TCRanch]

I was thinking about switching to Nasalgen 3, but looking at web site, it says safe for calves 1 week old and up. Does anyone know about giving it to newborns? I give Inforce 3 when we process the newborn.

I'm in the same predicament. I give Inforce 3 to newborns when I tag & give First Defense and a friend suggested Nasalgen, but odds are slim I can catch a calf over a week old.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I'm in the same predicament. I give Inforce 3 to newborns when I tag & give First Defense and a friend suggested Nasalgen, but odds are slim I can catch a calf over a week old.

If I had to bet. It was to difficult to run the tests necessary to get label clearance, but they could run tests on a group of week old calves so that's what it got labeled for.
I wouldn't be afraid to use it on new borns.

 

[ksmit454]

Yes, it's possible it was something minor and doesn't need treatment. You'll find out tomorrow! And @gcreekrch brought up an excellent point. What is your vaccination protocol - if any?

A few years ago when I first started with cattle, I asked 2 different vets what vaccination protocol to use. One didn't know because they were more equine side of things, and the other said Cavalry-9 is good. So that's all I've been vaccinating with.

 

[ksmit454]

Be sure to get some meds to have on hand. LA200 or LA300 is great for pinkeye or footrot. Pretty much worthless for respiratory. If you have livestock, you need meds on hand, especially if you don't have a vet you can drive to and pick up as needed.

I live in California. We can literally only get penicillin and LA-200/300. It is extremely frustrating. We can't even get sustain boluses, or mastitis treatments such as today and tomorrow. I have been using a large animal vet for a few years now and they've seen my herd before. I couldn't get the vet to give me any sort of antibiotics or even multilimin. So I'm just frustrated over the whole situation. Going to try to make contact with another local vet. But on the good side - calf is totally fine.

 

[mickroos65]

I live in California. We can literally only get penicillin and LA-200/300. It is extremely frustrating. We can't even get sustain boluses, or mastitis treatments such as today and tomorrow. I have been using a large animal vet for a few years now and they've seen my herd before. I couldn't get the vet to give me any sort of antibiotics or even multilimin. So I'm just frustrated over the whole situation. Going to try to make contact with another local vet. But on the good side - calf is totally fine.

That has to be very challenging. Survival of the fittest I guess.

 

[TCRanch]

A few years ago when I first started with cattle, I asked 2 different vets what vaccination protocol to use. One didn't know because they were more equine side of things, and the other said Cavalry-9 is good. So that's all I've been vaccinating with.

Calvary 9 is great for blackleg/clostridial diseases and includes tetanus. But it won't help for respiratory diseases. My newborns currently get Inforce 3, followed by Triangle 4+PH-K at appx. 3 months, and finally Vista Once at appx 6 months. But I would suggest talking to a vet (or local mentor) about which respiratory vaccines are appropriate for you location & operation.