Post by ngrams73 on Jan 13, 2010 20:10:03 GMT -5
Hi all,
This is my first time posting here, actually posting anywhere for that matter. We hav had a very rough week, our first cow Ellie Mae, a 2 year old Brown Swiss had her first calf Friday. We had to help pull but delivered a beautiful heifer full Brown Swiis calf. I had read numerous posts here, watched many births on youtube and thought I was prepared. I expected mom to jump up and start cleaning off baby, urging her to stand and nurse and that all would be well. Needles to day all was not well. Mom did not get up, after much urging she was simply not able to. So we carried baby around to her head so she could start licking her off which she did to the best of her ability in her position. Baby, hereafter referred to as Snowflake, attempted to stand a few times but was not able to either. I wasn'tconcerned with this at the time, but I was concerned with mom who still had her back legs stuck out straight after 2 hours. I called a vet that I had never met who was good enough to come out about an hour later. Just as he pulls in Ellie Mae gets up and continues to lick baby and afterbirth stuff. (a little sidebar, it was in the 20's on Friday here in central Texas) We took Snowflake into the barn and the vet looked at her, temp was normal, she took about a pint of colostrum that I had milked from mom per bottle but did not have a real strong suckle and she still was not able to stand, her back legs seemed contracted just above the dewclaws. The vet suggested putting her across a square bale of hay to support her weight while she tried to figure her legs out, which we did. We also tried a little physical therapy on those back legs at that bottom joint without success. We convinced mom to go in the stall with her and she tried to be a good mom and get that baby up without success. Later that afternoon we tried to feed her a little more colostrum but she would not suck so later that night I ended up feeding her about a gallon with an esophageal tube and we left them alone for the night. Early Saturday morning my hubby went to check on them so I wouldn't have to find her dead. She was still alive but lying flat on her side with her head extended. (I forgot to mention Friday night I had to borrow the esophageal feeder from the dairyman I bought Ellie from and I told him the calf had a little nasal flaring and slightly wet respirations so he gave me a shot of some antihistamine and penecillin that I gave her). So Saturday morning I try again to help her get up and to take a bottle, neither of which were successful. Later in the afternoon I decided she neede professional help and there are no vets locally on the weekends that treat cows so I took her to Texas A & M large animal hospital (I had fed her a 2nd gallon of colostrum per esophageal tube before then). They examined her and let my boys and I stay with her while they did. They had a couple of thoughts, sounded like a small pneumonia on the right, contractures in hind legs which they had never seen in the hind legs, only the front, there was also a question of something neurological going on they way she would throw her head back extended. (did I mention I put Snowflake in the back seat of my Maxima with my youngest son to get there?) So we left A & M with the plan to give high dose antibiotics for the contractures that would also help the pneumonia and splints on the hind legs and try to teach her to suckle. Sunday morning I got a call and her legs were not really contracted anymore but she still was unable to stand but they would do physical therapy throughout the day to help that, lungs sounded much better, she only took about 1/4 of a bottle but they would try to feed her every 6 hours and try to get her standing every 4 hours. Late Sunday evening I got a call from one of the doctors and Snowflake was in severe respiratory distress, she not only had some nasal flaring but was open mouth breathing and her color was poor, they felt that she had probably aspirated some of the milk replacer and that she wouldn't make it throughout the night so we decided it was best to euthanize her. When they euthanize at the school they do a necropsy for free so I am waiting for results from that. Meanwhile, Ellie Mae has a hard, dark pink swollen right rear quarter and she is passing a small amount of clabbered looking stuff from that teat and one other teat I noticed today. I am applying Dynamint Udder cream and using Fight Bac teat spray after each milking and I am massaging and completely milking her out. I would really like to avoid any antibiotics if at all possible, especially instilled directly into the quarter. To make matters worse, this morning we noted a string of tissue approximately 5 inches long coming out of her vulva. So I called the vet again, he can't come out until tomorrow. This evening she had about 2 ft of tissue hanging out, I'm pretty convinced it is umbilical cord and she has a retainged placenta. On a good not she is still eating well and does not have a temperature. She is a little slow and depressed acting though, Until this morning I chalked that up to missing her baby. So, now that I have had such a crummy experience I'm questioning whether I want to stick with this. I'm really trying to not be discouraged. I'm also afraid to drink her milk with the possible mastitis, is it safe? I'm desperately in need of some encouragement!
Thanks to all who had the stamina to read this never ending post,
Nicole
This is my first time posting here, actually posting anywhere for that matter. We hav had a very rough week, our first cow Ellie Mae, a 2 year old Brown Swiss had her first calf Friday. We had to help pull but delivered a beautiful heifer full Brown Swiis calf. I had read numerous posts here, watched many births on youtube and thought I was prepared. I expected mom to jump up and start cleaning off baby, urging her to stand and nurse and that all would be well. Needles to day all was not well. Mom did not get up, after much urging she was simply not able to. So we carried baby around to her head so she could start licking her off which she did to the best of her ability in her position. Baby, hereafter referred to as Snowflake, attempted to stand a few times but was not able to either. I wasn'tconcerned with this at the time, but I was concerned with mom who still had her back legs stuck out straight after 2 hours. I called a vet that I had never met who was good enough to come out about an hour later. Just as he pulls in Ellie Mae gets up and continues to lick baby and afterbirth stuff. (a little sidebar, it was in the 20's on Friday here in central Texas) We took Snowflake into the barn and the vet looked at her, temp was normal, she took about a pint of colostrum that I had milked from mom per bottle but did not have a real strong suckle and she still was not able to stand, her back legs seemed contracted just above the dewclaws. The vet suggested putting her across a square bale of hay to support her weight while she tried to figure her legs out, which we did. We also tried a little physical therapy on those back legs at that bottom joint without success. We convinced mom to go in the stall with her and she tried to be a good mom and get that baby up without success. Later that afternoon we tried to feed her a little more colostrum but she would not suck so later that night I ended up feeding her about a gallon with an esophageal tube and we left them alone for the night. Early Saturday morning my hubby went to check on them so I wouldn't have to find her dead. She was still alive but lying flat on her side with her head extended. (I forgot to mention Friday night I had to borrow the esophageal feeder from the dairyman I bought Ellie from and I told him the calf had a little nasal flaring and slightly wet respirations so he gave me a shot of some antihistamine and penecillin that I gave her). So Saturday morning I try again to help her get up and to take a bottle, neither of which were successful. Later in the afternoon I decided she neede professional help and there are no vets locally on the weekends that treat cows so I took her to Texas A & M large animal hospital (I had fed her a 2nd gallon of colostrum per esophageal tube before then). They examined her and let my boys and I stay with her while they did. They had a couple of thoughts, sounded like a small pneumonia on the right, contractures in hind legs which they had never seen in the hind legs, only the front, there was also a question of something neurological going on they way she would throw her head back extended. (did I mention I put Snowflake in the back seat of my Maxima with my youngest son to get there?) So we left A & M with the plan to give high dose antibiotics for the contractures that would also help the pneumonia and splints on the hind legs and try to teach her to suckle. Sunday morning I got a call and her legs were not really contracted anymore but she still was unable to stand but they would do physical therapy throughout the day to help that, lungs sounded much better, she only took about 1/4 of a bottle but they would try to feed her every 6 hours and try to get her standing every 4 hours. Late Sunday evening I got a call from one of the doctors and Snowflake was in severe respiratory distress, she not only had some nasal flaring but was open mouth breathing and her color was poor, they felt that she had probably aspirated some of the milk replacer and that she wouldn't make it throughout the night so we decided it was best to euthanize her. When they euthanize at the school they do a necropsy for free so I am waiting for results from that. Meanwhile, Ellie Mae has a hard, dark pink swollen right rear quarter and she is passing a small amount of clabbered looking stuff from that teat and one other teat I noticed today. I am applying Dynamint Udder cream and using Fight Bac teat spray after each milking and I am massaging and completely milking her out. I would really like to avoid any antibiotics if at all possible, especially instilled directly into the quarter. To make matters worse, this morning we noted a string of tissue approximately 5 inches long coming out of her vulva. So I called the vet again, he can't come out until tomorrow. This evening she had about 2 ft of tissue hanging out, I'm pretty convinced it is umbilical cord and she has a retainged placenta. On a good not she is still eating well and does not have a temperature. She is a little slow and depressed acting though, Until this morning I chalked that up to missing her baby. So, now that I have had such a crummy experience I'm questioning whether I want to stick with this. I'm really trying to not be discouraged. I'm also afraid to drink her milk with the possible mastitis, is it safe? I'm desperately in need of some encouragement!
Thanks to all who had the stamina to read this never ending post,
Nicole