Very ill Highland bull yearling

animalrescue · #1 03/14/14, 03:28 PM

Hi all, my first time for posting but Im hoping for some advice, as you all seem a friendly and knowledgeable group

We run an animal rescue centre here in Scotland, UK, and yesterday we were called out to a year old Highland bull. He is unable to stand, and is exceptionally thin
We have taken him into our care as he was left in the field to die and was unable to move to shelter or water.
Our vet came to see him today, and has basically told us he is unlikely to survive as he has an undershot jaw, and has been finding eating hard (they were all in a barn, but we believe had not been given sufficient food)
She is sending off bloods to check for BSE as a precaution, but in the meantime has offered no treatment whatsoever.
Now - Im a stubborn old gal and I do not want this calf to die without a fight, so am planning on giving him Pen&Strep, multi vits and Effydral.
He is down and unable to rise, but is eating haylage and drinking, but refused all hard feed even mushy feed
Any suggestions please what else we could try? I know we may well be fighting a battle we will lose, and wish we had known about him weeks ago, but I want to try as hard as possible to get this wee guy to pull through
All input and support would be very much appreciated

G. Seddon · #2 03/14/14, 05:31 PM

Your compassion and commitment are admirable and I hope you will succeed.

If he's staying down all the time, you need to move him frequently. I'm not familiar with the drugs that you mention. Surely your vet (or ANOTHER vet) would be able to recommend some sort of treatment instead of just testing for BSE. The CBC and chemistry on the blood might help determine what this animal needs. Does he have a temperature? Is he dehydrated? In pain (grinding teeth can be a sign of that)?

I've dealt with starving equines, but not starving cattle. Access to clean water is vital. He may start to feel better as he eats the haylage and will move on to other feed.

I hope someone else here will be able to make better suggestions than I. Best of luck with this one.

Athena · #3 03/14/14, 07:07 PM

If his lower jaw is so out of line that the molars don't meet, there's little chance he'll ever be able to eat enough of the right sort of feed to recover and thrive. Did the vet examine his tooth alignment further back in his mouth? Cattle must be able to chew their cud for proper function. If he can't do that, he should be euthanised now.

Oakshire_Farm · #4 03/15/14, 01:07 AM

I thought the ONLY test for BSE is to test brain matter, AFTER the cow is dead???

I will also agree if he has been down for a few days the chances of him EVER getting up are slim to none.

I mean this in the nicest possible way but I would put him down. The combination of a misaligned jaw and being down for a few days both are going to be hard, if not impossible for him to get over.

my thoughts are if you do get him up he will have to be in a sling and he may never get his legs back.

Athena · #5 03/15/14, 01:37 AM

Perhaps testing for BVD rather than BSE?

animalrescue · #6 03/15/14, 05:26 PM

Hi thanks all for your replies.
He has no temperature, is now eating haylage and drinking and has had a wee bit of food, certainly looking brighter than he was, but no attempts to stand as yet.
Im not sure, perhaps it was BVD she is testing for, my knowledge of cattle is very limited indeed and I wasn't here when she came, but I believe whilst the vet is great with goats, perhaps she is a little limited with cows too.
We have the Chief Veterinary Inspector of Defra (our government official vets) coming out on Monday, and he will know a lot more than our vet, so will be guided by what he feels too.
I suspect this little lad will need to be put to sleep, but I want to consider all the options for him before we make that decision. Whilst he would not be able to graze naturally, he is managing to eat haylage quite well, but I see your point about his molars needing to meet, so will check this with the Defra vet to see if he could survive with year round feeding and support, but we will reserve judgment at this time as to whether that would be realistic for him.
Such a shame he was left to get into this state before we heard about him, but if he doesn't survive, at least he wont have died of starvation in the middle of a field in the pouring rain! Poor little fella

Athena · #7 03/15/14, 06:31 PM

If he is an entire bull and he is not to be put down, get him castrated. You'd never want to breed from such an animal and bulls are a management challenge.

Please let us know what your next vet advises.

Oakshire_Farm · #8 03/15/14, 06:35 PM

If he does not get up by monday, my thoughts are he will be dead by then.....

tab · #9 03/17/14, 06:31 PM

How did you make out? Did the boy get up? What did the new vet say?

Oakshire_Farm · #10 03/21/14, 07:55 PM

any up date?

Treasure Seeker · #11 03/23/14, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by animalrescue

Hi all, my first time for posting but Im hoping for some advice, as you all seem a friendly and knowledgeable group

We run an animal rescue centre here in Scotland, UK, and yesterday we were called out to a year old Highland bull. He is unable to stand, and is exceptionally thin
We have taken him into our care as he was left in the field to die and was unable to move to shelter or water.
Our vet came to see him today, and has basically told us he is unlikely to survive as he has an undershot jaw, and has been finding eating hard (they were all in a barn, but we believe had not been given sufficient food)
She is sending off bloods to check for BSE as a precaution, but in the meantime has offered no treatment whatsoever.
Now - Im a stubborn old gal and I do not want this calf to die without a fight, so am planning on giving him Pen&Strep, multi vits and Effydral.
He is down and unable to rise, but is eating haylage and drinking, but refused all hard feed even mushy feed
Any suggestions please what else we could try? I know we may well be fighting a battle we will lose, and wish we had known about him weeks ago, but I want to try as hard as possible to get this wee guy to pull through
All input and support would be very much appreciated

Eating hay is good. That's what bovines are supposed to eat. We "NEVER" give ours feed/grain.