Post by AnnB (NE) on Feb 20, 2010 13:21:00 GMT -5
I'm sure at least some of you remember that I unexpectedly ended up with a newborn Angus heifer calf 2-1/2 weeks ago (called the salebarn to ask about sale dates, and ended up picking up a calf)
Winter calves in Nebraska are a crap shoot, no matter how healthy they look and act when they go through a sale.
This little calf, Angie, was fine for 2 days then she started to get real lethargic, and not finishing her bottles. 4 days after she was brought home (7 days old), she was down and had to be helped up, she didn't have any fever, but she had a swollen, hot, left hock joint -- Navel/Joint Ill. She was started on LA200 immediately and did an amazing turnaround over 12 hours. When she was about 9 days old, it became apparent that she'd been frostbitten. Her ears were hard and curling up, she has no movement in the bottom half of her tail. She will lose most of her right ear, half of her left ear, probably half of her tail, and her whole little nose is peeling off.
After she was started on LA200 she became a bright, bouncy calf that finished all of her bottles and wanted more, she started eating calf starter, the swollen hock gradually went down and she seemed well on her way. She received her last shot of LA200 this past Wednesday. Then Thursday night, I noticed that she was favoring her right hind, but it was so dark in the barn, that even with the flashlight I couldn't really see anything. Yesterday morning it was apparent that the right hind fetlock was swollen. Still no fever and she was acting pretty normal, except for favoring that right hind. I called the vet rigth away, figuring that it was a recurrance of the Navel/Joint Ill and that we needed to switch antibiotics.
Well, the vet just left, and unfortunately, I was wrong -- the foot was frozen along with her poor little ears and tail. At this point, who knows how it will all turn out, the vet says she has about a 50/50 chance of having it heal up well enough to be productive cow. He recommended starting her on Auromycin crumbles mixed into her feed, and keeping her on it until she's completely healed up, and then re-evaluate her situation at that point. She's to be kept not only clean and dry, but also closely confined to keep her off of it.
He thinks she'll only slough some flesh and keep her claws, BUT it is possible that she may slough the whole foot, in which case she should develop a calloused pad that will allow her to get around with a "hitch in her get-along".
Our vet is a real nice fellow, he was telling me about how when he first became a vet he wanted to be a saviour to all animals and when confronted with a calf like this he would have immediately amputated the affected area, but that he's found over the years that the ones that are kept on antibiotics while Nature is allowed to take it's course have a better outcome than those that are amputated. He also assures me that we'll know what her outcome will be within a month. Hopefully the damage is minimal.
I'll get out there later this afternoon and take pictures of the foot and will continue to post pictures as the thing progresses.
Ann B
Winter calves in Nebraska are a crap shoot, no matter how healthy they look and act when they go through a sale.
This little calf, Angie, was fine for 2 days then she started to get real lethargic, and not finishing her bottles. 4 days after she was brought home (7 days old), she was down and had to be helped up, she didn't have any fever, but she had a swollen, hot, left hock joint -- Navel/Joint Ill. She was started on LA200 immediately and did an amazing turnaround over 12 hours. When she was about 9 days old, it became apparent that she'd been frostbitten. Her ears were hard and curling up, she has no movement in the bottom half of her tail. She will lose most of her right ear, half of her left ear, probably half of her tail, and her whole little nose is peeling off.
After she was started on LA200 she became a bright, bouncy calf that finished all of her bottles and wanted more, she started eating calf starter, the swollen hock gradually went down and she seemed well on her way. She received her last shot of LA200 this past Wednesday. Then Thursday night, I noticed that she was favoring her right hind, but it was so dark in the barn, that even with the flashlight I couldn't really see anything. Yesterday morning it was apparent that the right hind fetlock was swollen. Still no fever and she was acting pretty normal, except for favoring that right hind. I called the vet rigth away, figuring that it was a recurrance of the Navel/Joint Ill and that we needed to switch antibiotics.
Well, the vet just left, and unfortunately, I was wrong -- the foot was frozen along with her poor little ears and tail. At this point, who knows how it will all turn out, the vet says she has about a 50/50 chance of having it heal up well enough to be productive cow. He recommended starting her on Auromycin crumbles mixed into her feed, and keeping her on it until she's completely healed up, and then re-evaluate her situation at that point. She's to be kept not only clean and dry, but also closely confined to keep her off of it.
He thinks she'll only slough some flesh and keep her claws, BUT it is possible that she may slough the whole foot, in which case she should develop a calloused pad that will allow her to get around with a "hitch in her get-along".
Our vet is a real nice fellow, he was telling me about how when he first became a vet he wanted to be a saviour to all animals and when confronted with a calf like this he would have immediately amputated the affected area, but that he's found over the years that the ones that are kept on antibiotics while Nature is allowed to take it's course have a better outcome than those that are amputated. He also assures me that we'll know what her outcome will be within a month. Hopefully the damage is minimal.
I'll get out there later this afternoon and take pictures of the foot and will continue to post pictures as the thing progresses.
Ann B
