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5 day old lowline heifer calf, drippy eyes, shallow fast breathing.

2K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  heatherizzy 
#1 ·
Calf from 1st time mom. We have a herd of 5 now with her; raised out on pasture, not confined at all. We did not see the birth and we don't think the calf got enough colostrum. By the time we realized it it had been about 24hrs at which time colostrum from store was administered; she was on the edge of life for the 1st 3 days. The calf appears to know how to nurse, but favors the one teat that we believe had a slight mastitis (which is resolving after massage and milking out completely) and it doesn't produce much milk. It was 102 the day she was born and not under 105 since. 109 yesterday, 111 today (with lows in the 80s) so each day we bring the calf inside the house where we can keep it barely below 88. She is too weak when it gets hot so we've been tube feeding since the day she was born as she won't take a nipple/bottle. We put her out with mom in the evening. Eyes are bright and she is curious and doesn't seem stressed. Only symptom is weeping eyes, sometimes clear fluid out the nose, and shallow breathing (but not all of the time). This morning she was jumping all around with mom, but still has weeping eyes and doesn't seem to feed enough as mom's bags were full; however she seems to be getting stronger. We milk mom and feed calf 1-1.5 pints 4-5 times per day (yes via tube!). We then electrolyte via tube at least once per day (1 pint); she is only 47lbs. I would really like to get her feeding exclusively off mom, but I don't think she'll survive out with mom as it won't be under 105 degrees until next Monday. I'm wondering if I should take her to the vet or keep doing what I'm doing until I can get her with mom most of the time when the weather cools. BTW - I'm newbie to cattle and to forums. Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
I don't think you are doing any favors in the long run by bringing her inside, this could be causing shock to her system. Possibly more harm than good being done despite your good intentions.
You know what they say about the road to you know where being paved with good intentions. . .

If she really didn't get enough colostrum, you are in for a long and difficult ride.

I'm no vet but if it were my calf I would be hitting her with antibiotic therapy for the breathing issues. I highly doubt it's heat related, it's only 105 out!!! Cattle survive in the desert all the time
 
#3 ·
Thanks, Shannon. I'm taking her to the vet to see what's what. We put her back out and she nurses a little and then drops down in the heat panting. I think her shallow breathing is not allowing her to feed as easily as she could if she were breathing normal. If doc recommends antibiotics that can fix this, we're going to. Thanks again.
 
#5 ·
The vet says it's probable that the calf didn't get the colostrum. She definitely has an upper respiratory infection (possible pneumonia) with the weeping eyes, nose, and temperature. Prior to visiting the vet: Calf was doing well at 1pm and the cow was looking for her so we put her outside for about 1hr at about 109 degrees. She fed a little from 2 teats, then laid down. Mom was mooing at her to get up. We brought the calf in, fed her, and I immediately brought her to the vet for a squeeze in appointment. Her temp was a whooping 105.9! The tech put rubbing alcohol which cooled her down almost 2 degrees. Vet said to keep her inside during the day (since I can) as her body cannot fight the infection when its this hot. He told us to up the amount of feedings and the amount of electrolytes. Doc gave her BoSe shot, antibiotics (Nuflor), and a pain killer. I was OK with doing these interventions as I'd rather not have her die or suffer. He says she still has an uphill battle but with proper TLC, she could make it. I could have left her there with IV fluids, etc, but that was not economically viable as I could buy a new heifer for a stay at the vet! We put the calf out with mom last night at 10pm after our last dose of electrolytes. Calf was running around this morning but we pulled her in at 6am for feeding and she is laying down recovering next to me on the computer. Didn't think of locking them up in a smaller paddock so mom doesn't push her to walk around. We will do that tonight.
 
#6 ·
Wow!! Thanks for keeping us updated.

I'm glad the vet was able to help. I suspected respiratory issues myself, which is why I mentioned the antibiotics. You have a good vet, sounds like all the bases were covered as far as getting your heifer back on her feet goes. The lack of colostrum thing, that can be really hard though. If it isn't one thing, it's usually another if they don't get that colostrum. Hoping your little heifer will pull through!!

I admire your diligence as far as keeping your heifer on the mom, a lot of people would have pulled her off the cow in favor of bottle feeding instead. I think that mama is a good thing, as far as nutrition and keeping stress levels down goes. It's kind of a shame you can't move them both to a cooler environment together instead of having to bring the heifer in alone, but you are doing everything you can!!
 
#7 ·
Glad that you seem to be able to do what needs to be done. I also suspected respiratory, pneumonia, so glad the vet confirmed and got her started on the antibiotics. If at all possible, yes confining them to a smaller paddock/corral/field will help to keep the calf from expending all her energy as her body fights off the infection. Most newborn calves will favor one or two teats for the first several days so that isn't a big concern of mine with her. Due to her not feeling good it has definitely shortened her "nursing time", but I suspect that she will be doing more.
Yes colostrum is very important. But since you gave her commercial I think that she may have gotten a fair amount. The thing is, colostrum from a first calf heifer will not be as strong an anti-body response since the heifer does not have the years of building up as an older cow does. So she just may not have gotten a "strong enough "dose. Another thing, there are different types of "colostrums" out there. Some are "supplemental" and some are full replacement. Make sure that you use a true colostrum replacer. I picked up the wrong one and didn't realize it and had to make a trip back to get the full "replacer" one time. I do keep it on hand in case of a problem. The true replacer is expensive as compared to the supplemental one. Other than that, if you can keep her drinking so she doesn't get dehydrated, I think she will continue to improve. I also would be inclined to keep her on the antibiotics a little longer, or do a second round if she shows even a TINY bit of continued breathing heavily.
Once you get her off the antibiotics, a good dose of probiotics to put some good bacteria back into her gut tract since the antibiotics kill off the good as well as the bad bugs in her system. They make it in the tubes that you dial in the weight of the calf and it allows you to give it a set amount. I use probiotics alot.
Good luck with her, I think you are doing really good to get her back on track.
 
#8 ·
To clarify - we have pulled her off of the mom during the day and feed her via tube since she will not take a bottle. However, we milk the mom and have the calf drink her milk. We then set her back out with mom at night where she does go on the teat by herself. Hopefully she will get strong enough that she'll start drinking enough on her own. Once we are back below 100, we'll be putting her back with mom in a smaller paddock. I really think she is just too weak to drink enough on her own.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the information on the teats, Jan!! And wow on the immunity of heifers vs. older cows. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!! We will be putting them in our barn tonight so there won't be much room to move around. Thank you for the good information. We'll definitely do a probiotic. The antibiotic she got was very strong and only one dose is needed. I think it lasts for 20 days or something crazy like that!
 
#10 ·
Update: The calf is doing much better! We've finally had cooler weather and yesterday was the first day we did not tube feed the calf. She seems to favor the two teats on one side of her mom, but has gone to the other ones now as well. We did have one day of "escape" where my husband forgot to close a gate so the cow pushed the calf trying to get back to the herd and she was exhausted. Keeping them in a smaller area worked very well as well as bringing her inside when it was 112 degrees out. We were diligent about feeding every 3-4hrs with electrolytes in between when she was very sick. All tubing - it was a lot of work. We then went to tubing only milk 3 times on Monday and no tubing yesterday. The calf is much more spunky and harder to catch so hopefully she is on the mend. You think she would have adjusted to us humans a little, but she still runs off! After all those kisses! Ha ha - guess she really didn't like the tubing. I know she still is in the danger zone so we will be watching closely and I'll give y'all another update. Keep your fingers crossed!
 
#12 ·
Very glad to hear that she is on the mend. Kudos to you for doing what was needed, and not being stubborn about taking her to the vet as so many people are. I don't like to spend a bunch of money on a vet and we do alot of our own "vet work" but you need to know when to and when not to. Better to err on the side of caution.

Yeah, the ungrateful little squirt.....LOL... once she gets used to the fact that you aren't going to "tie her up and shove that awful tube down her throat" she will probably get a little tamer. Sounds like the heifer" MOM" is a pretty good dispositioned animal to work with to accept all you did and not decide to reject the calf.

As much as they would rather be with the rest of the herd, I'd keep them in the smaller area for at least 10 days to 2 weeks to be very sure that the calf has enough energy to run, play, and keep up with 'mom'. If she doesn't have any set backs then after that I would think you would be safe to let them all back together. The calf will benefit from the interaction with the other animals and will build up her strength following around the pasture and nursing when she wants and being able to lay down and rest frequently. I am sure that the momma wants away from you also because you kept taking her baby away. Again, she has done real well as a first time momma to accept all you have done and not reject the calf. Congrats on (your) HER progress.
 
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