Post by kellyj on May 8, 2015 8:53:40 GMT -5
Fern calved yesterday at six thirty a.m. , no problems, she drank molasses, ate grain hay and carrots, grazed all afternoon. I gave her 1/2 bottle of calcium/gluconate Sub Q(spelling wrong I am sure), as she had history of milk fever. Last night she didn't touch hay but she had been on the field with good grass. She ate two quarts of grain. At ten she still hadn't eaten much hay, I cut grass for her and she ate that and some carrots and another quart more grain - not enthusiastically. I checked on her at 1 a.m. - she was alert, ears warm and chewing cud. At 5:30 this morning she was a whole different animal. On brisket but struggling to stand, not able to stand, then she'd collapse and stop struggling. Vet came and gave her saline, dextrose and more calcium - IV - very slowly. He also gave her more calcium sub q. Her ears were cool. He said to wait two hours and she should be up. She is now laying out flat - legs straight, head to spine totally straight - like a dog if you know what I mean. Her temp is normal. Her poops are normal. She had a cud in mouth at 5:30 but not now. When she was more up tried getting bits of hay in her mouth and she has had a few but not much. Does it normally take two hours for this stuff to kick in? I have help coming to get her back up on her brisket. What else should I be doing? Calf nursed off her from her downed position - I also milked out some as it was spraying everywhere.