One of my calves is puking

nathan104 · #1 06/07/08, 02:08 PM

One of my calves is having some troubles. They have both been doing very well but yesterday one of them started throwing up. She has been laying down alot but can still get up when she wants to. She is wet from her mouth all down her fron and has been licking all over her back and sides leaving a whole bunch of slober. Im guessing maybe she ate something in the pasture which was bad for her. We do have a whole bunch of different types of weeds mixed into the pasture. Yesterday I shredded the majority of the pasture they are in as it was 4 ft high. The calf that is sick is the one which is very skiddish. If it was the other one, we would give her electrolytes through a bottle and she would still take it. This one wont though. Should I pen the sick one up in the barn and put electrolytes in he water or just let he stay free in the pasture. Anything else I should look for? If she has eaten something poisonous, what can I do? The vet will not be open until monday. Any help is appreciated.

topside1 · #2 06/07/08, 04:05 PM

Lots of mineral oil or vegetable oil plus charcoal powder mixed together and squirted down the calves throat. Look up homemade remedies for poisioning...that may also help.

topside1 · #3 06/07/08, 04:06 PM

Charcoal powder can be bought at any drug store.

michiganfarmer · #4 06/09/08, 05:50 AM

I have never seen or heard of a cow vomiting. I would suspect some kind of blockage. I would call a vet.

topside1 · #5 06/09/08, 05:55 AM

How is the calf now Nathan?

whatknott · #6 06/09/08, 05:57 AM

usually if a ruminant animal vomits, it has eaten something poisonous

GardenDogs · #7 06/09/08, 02:52 PM

Any update? This sure sounds bad to me. It’s been 35 years ago when I was a kid on a dairy farm one of our steers started vomiting. The vet figured it was something twisted in the GI track. Would have cost more than it was worth to do surgery. I think we put him down. He was so sick that I don’t think we even gave a thought to using the meat. Hope your situation is going better.

linn · #8 06/09/08, 07:11 PM

Just a little earlier than this, last year, my little Dexter started vomiting. We poured antigas stuff down her and DH ran a garden hose down her throat. She was ok as long as we kept her on dry hay. I was finally able to turn her back out on grass. We thought she might have either eaten something poisonous or had foamy bloat. I also wormed her in case she had grubs hatching out in her throat area.

holleegee · #9 06/09/08, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linn

Just a little earlier than this, last year, my little Dexter started vomiting. We poured antigas stuff down her and DH ran a garden hose down her throat. She was ok as long as we kept her on dry hay. I was finally able to turn her back out on grass. We thought she might have either eaten something poisonous or had foamy bloat. I also wormed her in case she had grubs hatching out in her throat area.

I'm completely new to cattle. can you explain the grubs hatching out in her throat...

I've read about parasite worms but not grubs. (I only have 1 bottle calf and everything is new to me..sorry if this is a dumb question.)

linn · #10 06/10/08, 07:37 PM

Here is a link that explains it much better than I could. It also has illustrations. We usually see grubs under the cow's hide; but I wormed her just in case they had moved to her throat area. That was just my idea. I don't think I had any factual info.that said grubs hatch out in the throat. To tell the truth I can't remember if I read it somewhere or just dreamed it up.

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/livestock/cattle_grub.htm

nathan104 · #11 06/11/08, 01:38 PM

Sorry I havent given an update. The vomitting is finally over. It lasted three days. I gave her electrolytes and a charcoal powder mix. She was still getting up and moving around so I was just letting it work itself out. What was coming out was mostly a colored liquid. I still think she eat something poisonous in the pasture. I went out and collected specimens of everything I could find and the only thing I noticed that was poisonous was Nuttall Deathcamas, Deathcamas (Zigadenus nuttallii), which can cause vommiting but I only saw two single plants of it in the whole pasture(I removed them). Not sure if that is waht she ate or if it was something else. Theres a ton of different stuff out there but nothing stood out besides that one while looking through the pictures of texas plants bad for livestock. But, at least the event is over with.

Both my calves still have a cough though, which they have had for weeks. Theyve both been given LA-200 shots which is what the vet told me to give them. He does farm calls and I tried to get him to come out but he said I would have to bring them up there. Whats the point of a farm call then? We dont have a trailer so cant take them. Im calling around to other area vets to see if I can find someone to come out. They are both eating well and get around the field a good bit. They just both have the cough. Hopefully I can get another vet today.

topside1 · #12 06/11/08, 03:06 PM

Nathan if the calves had BRD then they may have scars on their lungs. The coughing may continue for months and then disappear with age...