Advice Needed - Calf Down

purplequeenvt

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A little background. This calf is full Jersey and was born in March. He was raised on his dam and was not castrated because he was suppose to be sold as veal in September. That didn't end up happening for several reasons so we needed to castrate him so that it was safe to keep him around.

He was surgically castrated on 11/5. A couple weeks ago, I thought he was looking a little off, but I couldn't put my finger on anything in particular so I just kept an eye on him. A few days later I decided to give him some antibiotics. I gave him 3 days of Penicillin and he perked up a bit. By last Monday, he wasn't looking good and had gotten stiff. Of course I jumped right to tetanus. I had a calf years ago that came down with tetanus right after I bought him (I bought him because I felt bad for him. He lived all alone, was underweight, and had a bum knee - bad purchase, I know) and the symptoms were similar.

He got tetanus antitoxin (not the vaccine) on 11/25, 11/26, 11/27, and 11/28. He also got more antibiotics on 11/27 and the 28th because he got a snotty nose.

I got home from Thanksgiving with relatives on Friday night and spent the rest of that night and all of Saturday in the hospital with my sister who needed an appendectomy, so I don't know for sure what he looked like on 11/28 and 29. The report was that he was up, but very stiff and not really eating anything.

He went down yesterday (11/30). He was flat out on his side, back legs stiff. His jaw wasn't locked, but he seemed to have trouble swallowing.

Someone suggested that it might not be tetanus, but possibly White Muscle Disease instead. The symptoms fit for the most part, but he is much older than the disease is usually seen. I gave him 20ml of BoSe late yesterday afternoon. I figured that he was dying anyways, so it couldn't hurt anything.

A couple hours later, when I poked his belly, he jerked his back legs and they folded on their own. They went back out and stiff right after that.

This morning when I went out to check on him (expecting him to be dead), he was still flat out. I picked his head up and he was able to roll up onto his sternum and fold his formerly stiff rear legs up underneath him. He has been able to keep himself upright for most of the day, only falling back on his side when he tries to get up.

The vet was out this afternoon and found that he had a displaced abomasum. We were able to get it back into place without surgery, but he wasn't sure that it would stay so we are keeping an eye on it. There was no infection or fever. He got some steroids to help his appetite and the vet is coming back on Wednesday unless the calf dies or gets better.

So my question is, what the heck is going on here? Obviously not tetanus, but WMD is odd too given his age. He responded to the BoSe though. What can I do to help him now? He drank a bunch of water and was nibbling at the hay and grain that I gave him. He needs to get up, but I don't know if I should get a sling on him and lift him with the tractor or if I should give him a couple more days to get his strength back. He's lost a lot of weight and is quite weak.

It's been a long week and I just want something to go well for once. I'm encouraged that he is laying upright now, but he still has a long way to go and I'm concerned that his gut has or will shut down.
 

BrownSheep

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Not much to say. Maybe give some probiotics?
It sounds like he is on the upward climb though.
 

SheepGirl

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I don't know if they have Nutri-Drench for cattle, but I know it helps a lot with weak sheep and lambs to give them an extra boost.
 

mysunwolf

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My thoughts? It still sounds like tetanus. The antibiotics course would have slowed the toxin's progression through the body, but not stopped it completely (3 days would not be enough). Once tetanus is established in the body, the anti-toxin vaccine has little effect. So essentially, your little guy fought off tetanus. With regards to the BoSe injection, selenium and vitamin E have been found to boost immune response (in selenium's case, it can also specifically boost response to combat tetanus), so that would be why you saw an improvement. Tetanus can live in anaerobic conditions for years, so if it was on your property once, chances are that it's still there. Abomasum was displaced because he was down for so long.

I agree with the others about some sort of electrolytes and probiotics. Getting his immune system to continue its work is the most important thing!
 

purplequeenvt

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My thoughts? It still sounds like tetanus. The antibiotics course would have slowed the toxin's progression through the body, but not stopped it completely (3 days would not be enough). Once tetanus is established in the body, the anti-toxin vaccine has little effect. So essentially, your little guy fought off tetanus. With regards to the BoSe injection, selenium and vitamin E have been found to boost immune response (in selenium's case, it can also specifically boost response to combat tetanus), so that would be why you saw an improvement. Tetanus can live in anaerobic conditions for years, so if it was on your property once, chances are that it's still there. Abomasum was displaced because he was down for so long.

I agree with the others about some sort of electrolytes and probiotics. Getting his immune system to continue its work is the most important thing!

Interesting thought about the selenium/tetanus connection. Could the response really be that fast though? He went from down (stiff, but not convulsing) to being able to lay upright in less than 18 hours.

Today he is stronger. Still not able to get up, but he is able to get himself up enough to change positions. He is also keeping himself upright. Yesterday if he tried to move, he'd fall back onto his side and I'd have to help him up again. He's eating some, but not a lot. I've been keeping a pile of 2nd cut hay in front of him at all times and every time I go out he's nibbling at it.

I suspect his abomasum has displaced again. The vet is coming out in the morning so we will fix it if it is.

I have to go to the feed store tomorrow and I'll see what they have for probiotics. I have some "power punch" around somewhere and a bag of electrolytes that he might drink if I brought it out in warm water.

Whatever the cause, I'm just glad that he appears to be on the mend. Still a long way to go and I'm not 100% sure that he will make it, but we are going the right direction at the moment.
 

purplequeenvt

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Update for 12/3

The calf is pretty much the same as yesterday, but his appetite is better. He will NOT drink water when I add anything to it, so he gets normal cold water from the hose.

The vet was out and his abomasum was where it was suppose to be and his gut is making happy ruminating sounds.

The vet says that it could have been either WMD or tetanus, but we will never know for certain.
 
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BrownSheep

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Well he's getting better so either way :celebrate
 

purplequeenvt

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Update 12/14

The calf has been making slow progress, but he is recovering. His appetite and spirits are good. I moved his mother in with him for company a little over a week ago.

He is working on getting back up on his feet right now. His rear legs are ready, but since he's been down so long, the tendons in his front legs are shortened and need to be stretched. I think that he will probably be up in the next few days. He is so close.

This was how he ate his grain today.
 
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