ophaned calf dying, help please!
 

last night she sucked down a whole bottle and hunted for more and was moing and moving around, this morning she cant stand up on her own and is breathing heavy. I must have done something wrong. Does anyone know what I can do to help her?

Sounds like it could be pnuemonia. I give Nuflor and Vitamin C for that along with keeping fluids in the calf. But with the shape she is probably in after her mother dying and not having proper food for a few days......I think I'd call the vet if I was serious about saving her. She will probably need fluids sub-q, a drug for pnuemonia and very possibly tube fed for several days. All of which an experienced calf-raiser could do with no trouble. But its hard to tell someone new how to do these things over the internet. :shrug:
She is most likely dehydrated.....when you pinch the skin of her neck does it immediately fall back into place or stay in a tent shape for a few seconds??
Does she have scours,is her backend wet??
I think I would call the vet unless you have an experienced cattleman to help you. I'm sorry.

I second the idea of calling in a vet. What breed is she? How much milk did she drink, exactly? I was thinking pneumonia too. Does she show a fever at all? Coughing?

the vet will give shots, and electrolytes....

get her to a warm place untill vet comes

eta:breathing heavy as in weazy raspy? or struggling and clear?

Did she get her tummy full of colostrum at birth, or just milk? Call the vet for this one.

But for future reference, it's good to keep a couple bags of colostrum and a colostrum tube handy for these events. Getting warm colostrum within the first couple hours of birth can mean the difference between life and death.

im searching for a bovine vet right now, yes she got colostrum, My siters out warming here while I look for a vet her breathing is a like a hard pant when she breaths out not raspy sounding, wev been rubbing honey on her gums in case her blood sugars low

corn syrup ( or honey) is good , coffee(caffiene) wouldnt hurt...

do you have a way of taking a temp

if she was out alone did she get hypothermia? was it rainy? Is her mouth warm or cold?

make sure the air she is breathing is warm

found a vet for her Im still waiting on the phone been on hold 13 minutes.

Can you hang up & call them back?

I've had to do that before. If you're sure you will get back thru to them, I'd hang up & try again. Sometimes they get caught up & forget someone is on hold.

I stayed on hold 20 minutes and the lady came back on, she said the vet would call me right back, I asked her to please tell him we wanted to save this calf and asked her if I could just bring her in, she said it would be the vets call and she would have him call me right back.. still no call... I brought the calf into the basement and put an electric blanket on her, keep giving her karo syrup about 2 tbsp every 20 minutes or so... I dont think the vets going to call, the only other vet in this area that treats cows is out on wed. I called the nu,ber and a vet that takes their cases on wed in aother city talked to me she doesnt treat cows.. I think we are pretty much on our own here... I just hate to let this baby die but I dont know what else to try, we have held her up a few times trying to get her to take a bottle and got a few swallows down her... her chest isnt rattling but shes still panting like

That is ridiculous and unprofessional. You are the customer and if you want the vet to look at the calf than its YOUR call. Receptionist can be a bit of an obstacle in getting through to the actual vet. I would just take the calf in and demand the vet looks at it. This is an emergency situation and they should understand that.

I would also just take the calf in. A lot of times the vet is nicer than the girl on the phone. Been there.... :rolleyes:
If this was my calf, I would be giving her lactated ringers sub-q, Nuflor or Baytril for the heavy breathing, also sub-q. And Vitamin C injectable. All these come from the vet though, so your going to need a vet regardless.....unless you can buy some from a farmer nearby.

I dont think this vet is going to do us any good. I went to town to get some canned goats milk to try on the recomodation of someone else and stopped by the vets. he wasnt in, she said he went to town to get some replacement milk for another calf. I had hoped they would have better milk there but she said they get theirs at the local tractor supply which is what Im using, I told her I could go back home and get the calf and bring it in, she said the vet was going on call to a farm when he got back. I asked if he was at the ts store now and she said yes so I rushed over there and had just missed him. Got the goats milk and had my son hold the calf up and tried to get some down her, maybe about half a pint was all we could get her to swallow. I feel so darn useless right now.

Will they sell you any of the things I have mentioned in previous posts?? You can give all those things yourself if they will sell them to you. Or if they will not, can you get them from a local farmer(goat or cattle people may easily have these things on hand)??
This calf is sick and at this point feeding it is not what it needs.
And does the calf have runny poops??
She needs lactated ringers(liquids), under the skin and now. Dehydration is a side effect of many, many problems and will alone kill a calf very fast if not treated. Giving oral liquids will not be enough for a severely dehydrated animal.

emily

I found a vet that will see her, Im taking her in at 1:00 hopefully he can do something to help her, and no she hasnt had a bm since we brought her home, yesterday she did pee but hasnt even done that today

definitely sounds like she's suffering from dehydration :( Good luck sweetie! Let us know what the vet says

Great news!! Let us know what he says! All the long-distance diagnosis in the world can't be as good as a hand-on check-up!! :)

well, about 11 :00 I got some diluted goats milk down her about 1/2 pint.she just layed there panting till we left for the vets. when we got her to the vets she had a small bm the first ones shes had since we and would pick her head up a bit. He tubed her and got 2 quarts down here and she moved her head around a bit. he didnt listen to her lungs or do anything else, just told me for her size to feed her 2 quarts every 6 hours till she starts to improve then I can give her more at less feedings. So at least she has got food in her, but I dont know if its going to be enough to help her. I didnt know it was going to be so hard to find a vet that would help, Im thankful he fed her but worried about the next feeding. She does seem to have a strong will I just hope its enough to get her through this.

good luck, those babies steal your heart right away.

do y'all think pen-aqueous antibiotic would do her any good?

thanks to everyone who tried to help, tonight she seemed to weak to suck good and she couldn't keep her tongue in her mouth to try I got a bit of goats milk into her but not much. Went to the local tsc store and found an antibiotic for respiratory infections and gave it to her earlier but I figure she'll die tonight. I dont think Ill be trying another calf its just to heartbreaking not to be able to get help locally and just have to watch them die.

hopeful for you, you're doing what you can. not that it matters, but i work with people, we try and we dont always save em all, but that one you do makes a difference, and is why you try, if it wasnt for that, nobody would make an effort, and the world would be any empty place. best wishes!

So sorry. Did the vet say what was wrong with her?? Did he do anything besides tube-feed her??
I know what its like to lose an animal you try hard to save.....

all the vet did was tube feed her??!!!! a calf that can't even raise its head and breathing heavy? honestly, the LAST thing that should be worried about is getting food down her if she had eaten well the previous day! I wouldn't rule out cocci (both calf’s and goats get it) what color was her BM? how long had you had her? 1-2 days? calves should have a couple a day. did the vet do a fecal? how much did this vet charge you for his "diagnosis"? and he didn't show you how to tube her your self before sending you off? wow. I've never seen a vet that shows such a lack of concern. just... wow.

-Melissa

Dixie, what you have said here is often the result of getting too much milk in one hit. Was this calf orphaned in the true sense - i.e. it's mother had died or it had lost it's mother and hadn't had a feed for several days or has it been pulled off a cow and not fed for 12-24 hours? You don't say how much you fed it the day before it went downhill but if it was hungry it would have drunk everything you offered it to it's detriment. Calves that overfeed will often get bloated, pant or have heavy breathing, will be reluctant to stand or move, their ears will be turned down and they are either consitipated or scouring. They should immediately be pulled off milk.

If the calf is still alive now, pull it off all milk and start feeding it electrolytes. If you don't have any on hand, make up your own - 4 pints boiled water, 4 oz glucose, 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1tsp salt - and feed/drench/tube feed twice daily or more for the next 24 hours. Dehydration is the biggest killer in little calves and they dehydrate very quickly.

When you put it back on to milk, do it slowly, slowly but do not mix it with the electrolytes or water it down as this will cause more problems. Also decide what your going to feed it - goats milk, cows milk or milk replacer but don't chop and change them because their stomachs can't deal with it. Start off with a pint morning and night with electrolytes in the middle of the day to ensure that it is getting sufficicent fluids, then gradually increase the amount of milk over the next week until it is up to what is should be having. Keep fresh water available at all times. Calves as young as 3 days old will drink water out of a bucket or trough.

Don't lose heart if you fail on this one.

Cheers,
Ronnie

yes her mom died, the cows are raised in a pasture my bil rents and not a few miles from his home, he told us the mom was dead when he checked on the cows tuesday.

what your are saying makes perfect sense. Shes still alive this morning. But still down. Im boiling water as I write this. Makes me feel worse this calf is sick due to my ignorance.

When we brought her home Tuesday afternoon and tried to feed her she would suck so we gave her about a half pint, that night she got the hang of sucking and wolfed down a whole bottle, fast, she was up and mooing and peed but hadnt had a bm, and was down the next morning...


she has a snotty nose now should I keep givng her the antibiotic?

Yesterday she had 2 bms the last one when I checked on her last night had a bit of blood in it, the one she had done when I checked on her this morning wasnt normal I dont think I was foul, reminds me of when a dog has the bad case of worms and stinks and was a brownish-yellow color, she did pee too.

Dixie, how far do you live from the Tennessee line? If close what major town?

I live 20 minutes south of huntsville

Keep giving the antibiotic- for at least 5 days. feed her a bit at a time. Get some probitic, vit, B. I would not worry about the blodd cow blood vessels are close to the skin in the bowels-
Let us know how she is today- Liz

all he did was feed her, he is a horse doc and small animals and was the only help I could get at the time. He didnt diagnose her and the strange thing was while we where there she was acting better, wasnt panting, had her head up and pooped and peed. No he didnt show me how to tube, I watched but it looked complicated, he put the tub down her a bit, then blowed into it and listened to the end, then put it down more and then kind of sucked on it and what looked milkish came out into his mouth! And said he was in her stomach... He told me to try feeding her every 6 hours and since she was a big calf to give her 2 quarts at a time.

Dixie, go back to the Vet with calf in your arms and demand help. Set in the waiting room with the calf that should get them stepping. Bring a camera, that always gets attention. The calf more than likely has Bovine Respiratory Disease. Very treatable with Baytril and other products. Squeaky wheel gets the grease...If you lived closer and the BRD wasn't contagious I'd take the calf in.....Ring the Vet door bell again, at this point it sound like your only chance....

Brd
 

Calves most often become sick following stressful situations such as weaning or marketing. The clinical signs are usually seen 7-21 days after the calves are bought, but can occur anywhere from 2-30 days after purchase. Less frequently, calves that have not been marketed or weaned can develop pneumonia, usually related to weather changes or other stressors.

The most common and earliest recognizable clinical sign of pneumonia is depression. Calves exhibiting depression will have drooping ears, an extended head, a bowed back and/or often isolate themselves from other cattle. As these calves get progressively sicker, they will go off feed and will exhibit an increased respiratory rate. Increased lung sounds can be heard with the aid of a stethoscope. A thermometer is another useful tool in the diagnosis of pneumonia. Most sick calves will have a fever of 104°-108°F. However, temperatures can be falsely elevated in the afternoon due to increased outside temperatures. In order to obtain the most accurate temperature reading for an animal that is suspected to be sick, the calf's temperature should be taken before 10:00 am.

What antibiotic should I use?
Today there is a new generation of antibiotics which combine effectiveness with the benefit of less frequent or even one time treatments. These include Micotil®, Nuflor®, and Baytril 100®. All of these antibiotics offer subcutaneous dosing and are usually effective against the organisms that cause BRDC. Naxcel®, Excenel®, and Adspec® are also commonly used antibiotics that have short slaughter withdrawal periods or no withdrawal periods at all. While they must be given everyday, they should be effective in most cases.

I can get vit b at the tsc store, probitic as in yogurt?... Another question when I gave the antibiotic shot I didnt know where to put it so I gave it in the back of the neck like I would a dog and I wasnt sure which size needle I needed so I used a 20g. which was real hard to break her skin with, which size do y'all use the med wasnt real think. and where do you give the shots at?

John Ill take her up there when they open and try again to get help.

Dixie, Ronny makes a lot of good points. I would re-read what he said. If the calf has BRD which is a possibility, the calf will also have a fever...Does the calf have a fever? If it doesn't then you and your VET can rule out quite a few ideas.

her temp is 101.4

Well the temp. is normal. I would review everything that happened since you brought the calf home. I don't know much about over-feeding and the symptoms you have. Ronny's ideas??? I never give antibotics of any kind unless my animals have a fever. tough to help on the internet....Go to the Vet's and don't leave until you are satisfied.

going to load her up now and try the vet again, Whatever is wrong with her she certainly seems to have a will to live. Maybe she'll have enough will in her to fight it.

Do as Ronney stated and do not feed the volume of milk the vet told you to feed. A hungry calf will be a healthy calf. Two quarts twice a day is fully adequate for a large calf and for a small breed 1 1/2 quarts twice per day is fine. Too much milk will give the calf scours and too much antibiotics will kill the bacteria the calf needs for digestion. Grab the skin on the side of the calf an pull outward. If the skin remains outward (resembling a tent) when released the calf is dehydrated and needs more electrolyte.