Sick calf

[secuono]

101.5F
His feet seem real warm, but hard to tell.
Still disinterested in life n food/liquids.
1.5cups, he's starting to argue about that.

Got an appointment with a different vet for today, they have a scope & can use it.

 

[Chickenlover0810]

Sounds like he didn't get his colostrum when he was first born, my friend had the same problem with her calf.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Full size calves get 1/2 gallon PER FEEDING not per day... One normal calf bottle is 1/2 gallon... 2 qts.... 4 pints...64 ounces per 1/2 gallon...... Some bottles now are actually 6 pints or 3/4 gallon....
Since he is a mini I would think that no more than half "normal amount" ; and this calf was supposed to be getting closer to the weaning age so should have been eating at least some grain every feeding.

Opps your right. I did my math wrong. I'm just really worn out and been fighting a now 2 day migraine while trying to do hay between rain storms to get our washed hay off the field. Just not 100%. I crossed up my pints and quarts on accident. Our calves get to 2 quarts per feed each, twice a day and atm the jersey girl is getting 3 bottle a day because she is skinny.

We offered grain, hay and fresh water 24/7 from the day they come home. Even still We have not noticed them eatting a great deal of any of them until about 8 weeks old, this is however with all guesses on age so they could be several days older or younger then our guess.

So half the powder to full water?

Yes, you can go a little heavy on the powder. The actual conversion for most all species replacers is lamb milk is mixed 1.6x calf milk replacer. So assuming I remember by math skills you should be able to just divide the number of powder scoops by 1.6 to get the calf strength. So on my Nurse All lambs are 4 scoops to 16oz water, my calf is 10 scoops to 64oz water.

64oz water /16oz water=4
10 scoops /4 =2.5
so 2.5 scoops of my replacer to 16oz water is calf strength.
Alternatively
4 scoops lamb strength/1.6=2.5scoops

For Sav-A-Lamb
1 scoop is 4oz
4oz to 16oz water is lamb strength
4oz/1.6=2.5
2.5oz x 4 = 10oz
10oz formula to 64oz water
or 2.5scoops of formula to 64oz water.

Hopefully I didnt make that stupid confusing. Basically you only need to mix 10oz of formula vs the 16oz you have been using.

 

[misfitmorgan]

As I suggested to @misfitmorgan back when she got the bottle calves from the stockyard, and then she lost the one which led to discovery of the milk replacer being soy based and she switched... water only for 12 hours... or completely skipping one feeding... then electrolytes the next feeding, then half the normal bottle feeding the next feeding. You have got so much different stuff in it's gut tract that the normal flora is totally out of whack. ANY live culture yogurt, mixed in the milk replacer, which will help soothe the gut tract will work.
Stop tubing... since you got fluids in it with the syringe, then do it that way if you have to.... Keep the calf inside, out of the hot sun so it does not dehydrate further.

I have never fed lamb milk replacer to calves except when I may have run out for a feeding..... or goat milk replacer either. But there are many people who raise baby calves on goats milk....Have never heard anything about the amount of copper in the calf milk replacer being too high.

Store bought whole milk has been pasteutized... as is all milk replacer powders; many of the dairies I test have put in pasteurizers for the milk they feed their baby calves. Many use waste milk say from antibiotic treated cows or cows with a high cell count... so pasteurizing makes it "safer" to feed with less problems of say staph or strep infections. That is why I suggested just some plain old whole milk.

Does the lamb milk replacer smell like milk? Some of the replacers I would not feed because the smell is repulsive...

I would be very careful of raw milk at this point... you will be introducing another whole set of "germs/bugs" that are relative to the farm where the cow is on... but not necessarily what your calf has been exposed to... It could again throw his gut tract flora out of whack... There are a couple of farms that I will not get calves off of because my bugs and their bugs do not work and the calves ALWAYS get sick....along the lines of don't drink the water in Mexico... a person is not acclimated to what is in the water.
It could be the water you are mixing the replacer with too.... different properties, even like too much lime or hard water or something like that...compared to what he came from. Try distilled water to mix a few feedings....

That said, the bos taurus INDICUS that all humped semi tropical type cattle are members of... ZEBU's being the largest group... have sensitivities to several things used in the normal bos taurus TAURUS cattle.... angus, hereford, dairy breeds etc.... so you are going to have to sift through what the vet says if he has little or no experience with the Indicus group. You cannot use ivermectin in them.... some antibiotics can cause reactions.

I have always said to feed less concentrate (milk replacer powder) in the mix rather than more for anything that is scouring. If you get it to eat even a pint of electrolytes or milk... STOP at that for a feeding. They should be more hungry rather than too full.... The problem I see is this calf is at a very difficult transitional stage... 5-8 weeks they should be eating some grain...and the rumen starting to develop more.

One other thing we do for scouring calves is a raw egg whipped and added to the milk replacer bottle....

I don't have exotics, although we did have some santa gertrudis years ago.... part brahma in the breeding..... and they were more sensitive to alot of stuff. Many of the vets here do not have the experience with the "ear" breeds like they do down south.

Seems like the quotes you referenced with the mini-zebu breeders favor the lamb milk .... they have the experience.

@farmerjan saved our calves and is indeed where I got the method from. We ended up doing 24hrs no formula though, just electrolytes in morning and evening bottles with nothing else then the new milk based formula.

 

[secuono]

Sounds like he didn't get his colostrum when he was first born, my friend had the same problem with her calf.

More of his blood work just came back.
That's the new diagnosis!

No colostrum or inferior quality!

Did you friend's calf live?

 

[misfitmorgan]

More of his blood work just came back.
That's the new diagnosis!

No colostrum or inferior quality!

Did you friend's calf live?

I would be taking the calf back to the breeder and telling them you wanted your money back.

 

[secuono]

This is a horror show...

More blood work came back and it shows that Zim either got no colostrum or it was of inferior quality!

He's on 2mL of Polyflex for 2wks, supportive care and luck.

"In all likelihood the calf has multiple abscesses in organs due to septicemia. Treatment options? I think Polyflex x 2 weeks as discussed makes as much since as anything."

That sounds f*#@>! grim...




Got whole milk, live yogurt and switched him to that.

Got his first injection and now all we can do is pray...

 

[Finnie]

This is a horror show...

More blood work came back and it shows that Zim either got no colostrum or it was of inferior quality!

He's on 2mL of Polyflex for 2wks, supportive care and luck.

"In all likelihood the calf has multiple abscesses in organs due to septicemia. Treatment options? I think Polyflex x 2 weeks as discussed makes as much since as anything."

That sounds f*#@>! grim...




Got whole milk, live yogurt and switched him to that.

Got his first injection and now all we can do is pray...


View attachment 86829

 

[Ridgetop]

Get the doctors report in written form about problems being due to no colostrum and go back on breeders to replace the calf. Without colostrum this calf should not have been sold to you since it's chances of survival and health are slim without colostrum.

Since you say it was expensive, the breeders need to replace it or refund your money. Keep all doctor's reports, bills, and medical prognoses, as evidence that calf was defective prior to purchase. Then call breeders and ask for refund or new calf. Without colostrum this calf will be a $$$ drain on you while it lives. If you really want a zebu, try to get the breeders to replace it.

 

[Finnie]

I agree with Ridgetop.

I’m so sorry you are having to go through this.