premature calf

[memela]

Thank you so much Mrs Magoo your words or very encourgeing .We have a lot of stuff to on hand. I also have 9 Boer goats & they are all due babies in October. horses & 11 cows of our on then the 24 cows from OK. which are all preg. If you don't mind me asking where in Louisiana do you live. I also live in La, Kinder and its hard to find a vet around here that tends to goats.

 

[memela]

Bovinity didn't get any messages from you.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I am on the opposite side of the state from you. If I recall, Kinder is fairly close to DeRidder. I live about an hour north of New Orleans in a little berg called Bush: Not really much of a town, but that's okay with me.

My vet is located in Franklinton which is a nice little haul from me, but he is worth it. Livestock vets are rarer than hens teeth around here. We have dog, cat, and equine vets coming out our ears, but nobody wants to mess with livestock animals. I moved here from Ohio in 2006 and really didn't know how good I had it up there: We lived about 40 miles from the biggest Amish community in the state and had tons of large animal vets available for cheap.

I did a Google search for large animal vet and found one vet with those keywords for DeRidder. Hoerner, Ted DVM - Hoerner Veterinary Hospital
(337) 463-7011 -- 1625 N Pine St, Deridder, LA70634

Google could be wrong, but it may be worth a call. The only way I found my guy was through one of the other clinics I called referring him to me. Of course, he was the fourth such referral we'd received and I had almost given up. I hope you can find a back-up vet. I kind of have one: A young guy that is just out of school a couple of years. He will do the goats if I take them to his office, but isn't set up to make house calls. He is much closer, but not nearly so experienced so anything serious goes to the primary vet.

BTW...how is your patient doing tonight?

 

[memela]

She stood up to take her bottles 1 qt and was still wanting more. So i fell better tonight. i quess it was the meds making her so droggie. Deridder is about an hour 15 min. from me.So its still a little far. i have one in Jennings but hes all about the money and you can never get a hold of him plus you have to make an appointment. I'm checking a few more in Eunice and moss bluff.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

She stood up to take her bottles 1 qt and was still wanting more. So i fell better tonight. i quess it was the meds making her so droggie. Deridder is about an hour 15 min. from me.So its still a little far. i have one in Jennings but hes all about the money and you can never get a hold of him plus you have to make an appointment. I'm checking a few more in Eunice and moss bluff.

Great news about her standing up! Awesome.

Gosh, it is frustrating about finding a vet that actually cares. I hope you can find somebody within a reasonable distance. I remembered driving through Kinder one time with my freind who lives in Rosepine: I visit her once a year there and then she comes here.

I guess I am lucky that the one large animal vet I could find was also within my budget. My guy, the older more knowledgable one, takes care of the cows at some big research station in his area and does a ton of free stuff for the 4-H kids in and around Franklinton. When he hosptialized one of my goat kids for two days, the entire bill which includes meds, was $110: I though it was more than fair.

He will also castrate an adult buck for $29.00 if I take the stinky things to his office...lol. The weirdest thing is he asked my permission to save the male "jewels" for some old guy that comes round once a week. He puts the cow and goat testicles in the fridge in a container for the old guy. Apparently, this is gross, the guy cooks and eats them.


Keep us update on little LuLu's progress! I have to scoot outside: I just bought a set of geese and have to go check on them.

 

[jhm47]

Rocky Mountain oysters! YUMMMMMMM!

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Rocky Mountain oysters! YUMMMMMMM!

I forgot that is what those were called. Oh well, still

for me.

 

[memela]

Well LuLu is not doing good. Yesterday she wouldn't take but 1 bottle all day. the evening she was breathing kind of weird and the inside of her mouth is cold. i gave her electrolytes with a syringe & a shot of B12. Didn't think she would make it through the night. I really don't understand what happen from her standing drinking her bottles and 10 pm to the next morning nothing. She is very limp and can't hold her head up. But her heart rate is good. i just gave her some more electrolytes and just about 6ozs of milk by syringe. Just don't know what else to do. She reacts to my voice. i'm so sad she is such a fighter.

 

[Goatherd]

Memela, I hope LuLu rallies for you. No matter what happens, good or bad, always remember you were the one who made it all possible and gave her a fighting chance. How many would do what you're doing? Hopefully, this is just a temporary setback. I'm pulling for you and LuLu!

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Well LuLu is not doing good. Yesterday she wouldn't take but 1 bottle all day. the evening she was breathing kind of weird and the inside of her mouth is cold. i gave her electrolytes with a syringe & a shot of B12. Didn't think she would make it through the night. I really don't understand what happen from her standing drinking her bottles and 10 pm to the next morning nothing. She is very limp and can't hold her head up. But her heart rate is good. i just gave her some more electrolytes and just about 6ozs of milk by syringe. Just don't know what else to do. She reacts to my voice. i'm so sad she is such a fighter.

OH no....the poor baby. I'm did some digging after reading this and here is what I found so far:

You may have to tube her if she will not eat. Some people mix yogurt and electrolytes with some milk to feed, warmed to 98 degrees.


From a Q and A section on University of Nebraska....


Q: We have a premature calf born today. We found it within a couple of hours of it's birth. It weighs about 30 lbs. doesn't have a good coat of fur and doesn't have all the teeth that it should have. We figure its about a month early. It can't get up. We brought it into the house to warm it up and tubed it with about a cup of colostrum supplement. How often should we feed it and how much at a time. Also, how warm should we keep him.

A: It is difficult to save calves born so early that the hair isn't fully grown. Part of the reason these calves don't survive is that the lungs aren't fully capable of absorbing oxygen at this stage of development.
A good rule of thumb is that calves should consume 10-12% of their body weight in milk each day. Therefore a 30 pound calf should consume 3 to 3-1/2 pints of milk each 24 hours (1 pint of milk equals approximately 1 pound). This amount of milk should be divided into at least two, and preferably 4 or more, feedings. This is the same abount of colostrum that should be fed for the first several days.
Supplemental heat should be just enough that the calf maintains a body temperature of 101.5 F as measured from a rectal thermometer. Premature calves don't regulate their body temperature very well so monitoring the rectal temperature is important. If the calf is shivering or feels cool to the touch then more heat is needed. Use great caution that the source of heat does not cause burns.


Apparently, their is a shot the vet can give her to help her lungs...it is called dexamethasone.

This was taken from a Dexter Cattle Web Board: They had a one month premature calf born....

Yesterday, October 13th, was not a good day for Morsel. He was shivering in the barn in the morning. I took him outside and let him warm up in the sun. Then he started running a fever in the afternoon and by late afternoon he was limp and almost lifeless. Brought him back into the barn and put him under a heat lamp (it was getting very cool outside), then I gave him about 4 ounces of warm electrolyte water. He sucked it out slowly from the bottle! Called the vet, and the vet recommended 1.5 mL of NuFlor and 0.25 mL of Banamine. Thankfully, our neighbor had both of these meds and we gave Morsel the shots around 6:30 pm last night.

We had to separate Morsel from his mama because she was licking him so much that his nose was getting raw on the edges (cow tongue is like sandpaper). Our vet suggested putting 1 Tblsp of corn syrup in Morsel's milk and try to get him to take it from the bottle, not to tube feed him anymore. We waited until 9:30 pm to give him the milk because we'd given him the electrolytes at 5:30 pm. He finally suckled and we got 4 ounces of the warm milk into him from that bottle feeding. Got up at 2:00 am this morning and he was breathing much better and holding his head up. Clay helped me to hold his body up and we were able to get him to take another 4 ounces of warm milk from the bottle. By 6:30 am this morning he was feeling much better, but still weak. He hadn't pooped at all yesterday, but this morning he was ready to go again and out it came. It takes one of us to hold him in proper position and rub his butt (this encourages the sucking response), while the other one gives him the bottle. He is definitely showing improvement this morning.


I will keep looking. Be back soon......