wobbly young calf

[scf84]

one of my old cows had a set of twins on dec 1. she was locked in the catch pin when she had them and didnt want much to do with one of them, so i fed it colostum and milk replacer for a few days while also locking her in head chute and letting it suck to. after couple of days she was letting both of them suck. now for the question one day i was outside and heard one of the calves squalling really loud went up there and it was laying on its side kicking and screaming i thought was having a siezure, minute later it was up walking around acting fine, 3 times since then i have seen it have spells where it is wobbly and will fall over and stumble back up and fall again. after couple tries it gets up and acts normal. other than that they both seem to be doing fine. any ideas whats wrong with him?

 

[Koffi Babone]

Did you give the calf a shot of vitamin E-Selenium?

 

[TCRanch]

I'd get that calf to your vet asap. Kicking (presumably at its belly) is generally a sign of an abdominal disorder but it could be anything. Please keep us updated.

 

[farmerjan]

It sounds more like a neurological thing than an abdominal one since it falls and is wobbly and then after a couple tries gets up and acts normal. In the process of him being born, he may have suffered some sort of trauma/problem. I assume she was in the catch because she was having problems. Was either one breech? Or took a long time to have the second one so it might have been O2 deprived? Maybe she knew there was something wrong with it and that is why she didn't want it. I think a vet check on it is in order but unless he sees it actually having the problem, they might not be able to tell you anything. Have all the spells been the same day or is it over a period of days that you have noticed them. Try to write as detailed an account of it for the vet so that they can look at the whole picture; times, days, the first one you saw it have, etc.

 

[SIMMGAL]

I had an episode similar to this happen to a calf of mine this past fall. Calf was really weak in the rear especially, similar to when they get sick/dehydrated but no signs of scours or PNA! I later found out that she was ran over with a 4-wheler by one of our hired hands. He figured she was fine because she got up and ran (or so I was told...it wasn't a happy day to say the least!) Must've pinched a nerve or something. She walked weak-reared for a few weeks but finally straightened out and is growing as good as the others. I've also witnessed calves who are stepped on act similar!