Need help please-calf down, and also hide/tannery ?s

Thanks farmmom, that gives me more hope too. What was the dex for ? I have a pre-loaded syringe from my vet ( to have on hand for my goats ), i belive it's 5ccs. Should i use this for him for something ?

He drank some molasses water, and he pooped !

Should we try standing him up - or move his limbs/body ( if so for how long and how often ?), or will this be bad as he is already weak ? He is laying upright, not on his side.

You can try standing him up. If he is hurt bad enough that he is paralyzed for good trying to get him up won't hurt him any more than he is, if he isn't paralyzed it will help him to be in a standing position, it will help the circulation to his lower body. Are you rolling him from side to side at least once a day? That is pretty important.

A cow should get from 2-10 cc of dex, 5 would probably be OK for him. If he has some swelling that is putting pressure on the spine the Dex will help take the swelling down.

It is good that he pooped, it shows that his insides are still working. For future reference, we give yearlings and older animals 60-120 cc's of Mineral Oil, more won't hurt anything, less will likely not fix the problem.

Don't feel too bad about not thinking that he may have been injured. It isn't something that happens very often.

__________________
My Blogs..
Cattle Genetics
http://easygenes.blogspot.com/
My Photography
http://itsephemeral.blogspot.com/

We have been moving him from side to side - well kinda since he is not on his side, we just put his legs under him on the other side. We have done this about 5-6 times since yesterday. I just wanted to make sure next time we go out there if it's ok to try to stand him up - i don't think he will, but i just didn't want to wear down any energy he has - but we will try to stand him again.

Will the dex hurt him if he doesn't need it ? And can i just go ahead and give him the 5cc SQ ? I'll check him out more when we try to stand him to see if he is using all his legs and all first, so i may be back to ask opinions on that again as well.

His poop looked normal as well - and lots of it lol ! Thank you all so much !

The dex is just an anti-inflammatory, so it shouldn't hurt him, even if it doesn't help.

Very glad he is having normal BMs now!
You're doing great. Keep it up!

__________________
Trisha in WA
Visit my blog @
Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

I think he might make it. This morning he had somehow moved about 3 ft - it looked like he stood and moved and not crawled, but wouldn't get up for me, AND he was bright and alert and chewing his cud :+) So hopefully soon he will be back to 100%. Thanks again everybody !

Sounds better for him. Good luck.

__________________
My Blogs..
Cattle Genetics
http://easygenes.blogspot.com/
My Photography
http://itsephemeral.blogspot.com/

keeping my fingers crossed for you and the calf!

darn cold.

Yes, sounds better...keep encouraging him to stand. I was reading up for someone else who had a downed cow and the thing they kept stressing was to try to get them up. Fingers crossed!

__________________
Becky

UPDATE !!! On my lunch break check i went out to find him standing up eating hay !!! He wasn't shivering, but his legs are somewhat shaky, i imagine due to being down/weak ? He can and does walk around though, he sure looks happy to be up too.

Now a new concern - he has dropped some weight it appears over the last few days - whats the best way to introduce him back onto a full grain ration again ? I've cut his grain when he was down so i wasn't upsetting his belly anymore then it may have been - i guess i wasn't sure if that was a concern for cows or not that are impaired/or down. Should i now get him back on grain asap, or wait a little while longer ? Thanks !

Great!! Just slowly increase his ration again. He wasn't down long enough that it should cause problems even if he went right back onto full feed.

__________________
My Blogs..
Cattle Genetics
http://easygenes.blogspot.com/
My Photography
http://itsephemeral.blogspot.com/

Thanks, i'm sure he will be glad to see grain again :+)

Oh I am sooo glad, I was worried for the little feller.

__________________
Becky

beccachow - Thanks ! We sure were worried the first day/night - he looked like a gonner :+( We are so glad he is up, not so happy with how friendly he is now though - i don't like to like them too much, it makes me sad.

glad he made it!