purplequeenvt
Herd Master
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.
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.