Calf with Hyperthermia

alderdeer

Ive a very sick calf, He was born on friday and definately sucked fine, dont know how much he actually had but he definately was sucking upto sunday anyway. Went down this morning and he was practically dead, brought him straight to vet and his temp is alot lower than it should be he gave him a few shots of somethin and one for me to give later if he is still alive.:( I have him under red lights now and just waitin to see what happens, Mother is a heifer but has plenty milk,

At this stage its not lookin good unless anyone knows somethin else to try thanks

whelan1

brandy or whisky and a prayer

alderdeer

whelan1 wrote: »

brandy or whisky and a prayer

Is that for me or the calf, the way im feelin now i think the brandy anyway sounds about right:D

whelan1

we used to use a product called dallopylline (sp)its gone off the market , had a weak calf a few weeks ago my da gave it whisky to warm it up , did the job

reilig

Some people around here would give the calf a drop of poitin (if it can be got). It would work wonders.

5live

When did he drink last? if its 6 hours or more his stomach is empty now. Make sure he had fluids ie stomach tube him with electrolytes, as the glucose in it will help bring his temperature back up nearer to what it should be. Also a hot water bottle or two wrapped in an old jumper under him will get heat into him from below for 3 or 4 hours before they need refilling. And electrolytes every 6 hours will help. If he is still alive that is. It doesnt work to well for the dead ones:)
EDIT And a fan heater at max blowing straight at him is a help too

alderdeer

Thanks lads just wonderin how much your givin then and is it just to pour onto thung

Bizzum

If he is under an IR lamp he should be ok for heat, I'd be thinking.
I would be inclined to stomach tube a pint of milk from the heifer into him every 4 hours or so.
And hope the drugs kick in soon.

whelan1

we gave about 30 ml of whisky twice a day... stomach tube him with electrolytes too

alderdeer

At this stage its at least 18 hrs since he drank last , vet advised me not to tube him, might try somethin in a while though

5live

alderdeer wrote: »

At this stage its at least 18 hrs since he drank last , vet advised me not to tube him, might try somethin in a while though

If the animal is hypothermic i dont understand the vets advice not to feed it electrolytes. The quickest way to bring body temperature up is warm feed ie electrolytes (no milk as scouring might have caused the hypo in the first place). Also multiple heat sources will help the bringing up body temperature before the system shuts down.

As someone prone to hypothermia(mild) due to a LTI, i cannot fathom what harm electrolytes could do.

As to alcohol, i believe all it does is to make you feel warmer by opening up the flow to blood vessels to increase blood flow while exposing you to more heat loss so i would be cautious about doing it. Let us know how it goes anyway and good luck with the suck

snowman707

he should be on a drip dextrose/ saline

to prevent further body heat loss wrap up in an old blanket/rug or whatever you have to hand and further wrap in tin foil (or even old bale wrap or plastic bags)

not much more .. plenty of fluids and heat

IMO in cases as severe as this you are best drinking the alcohol yourself

NB do NOT try to heat him too quickly he will go in secondary shock

rancher

If his temp is low, his whole system has ceased to work and anything you put into his stomach is liable to come back up his gullet and go back into his lungs, it takes huge heat to get a calves temp up, you should be using a thermometer to see if you're making any progress and when you get it near normal you can put in a stomach tube, until then a drip is the safest option

LostCovey

alderdeer wrote: »

Ive a very sick calf, He was born on friday and definately sucked fine, dont know how much he actually had but he definately was sucking upto sunday anyway. Went down this morning and he was practically dead, brought him straight to vet and his temp is alot lower than it should be he gave him a few shots of somethin and one for me to give later if he is still alive.:( I have him under red lights now and just waitin to see what happens, Mother is a heifer but has plenty milk,

At this stage its not lookin good unless anyone knows somethin else to try thanks

Sounds like he didn't get enough colostrum (biestings).

Has he passed meconium and much yellow colostrum dung?

LC

keep going

my feeling is that calf has a infection and has gone over the top so the system is shutting down( not really hypotermia).very difficult situation to retrive in acalf so young as they have no reserves but may get lucky if you get the exact right antibiotic to hit it but at this stage the calf has very little chance but then often when i say their f**ked they come out

Bizzum

LostCovey wrote: »

Has he passed meconium

I had to google that, though I figured what it was, what it's called around me is his 'Physic' (Spp) pronounced Fizzick.

LostCovey

Bizzum wrote: »

I had to google that, though I figured what it was, what it's called around me is his 'Physic' (Spp) pronounced Fizzick.

I never heard that word before. A great word. It's a pity to see how many of these are lost.

We had to use the "right word" for things like that because our neighbour was a midwife and wouldn't let you away with anything other than the textbook words. I heard it called 'cart grease' by older men because that was what it looks like.

LC

Bizzum

LostCovey wrote: »

I never heard that word before. A great word. It's a pity to see how many of these are lost.

There's the making of a very interesting thread here!

alderdeer

just lettin ye know da calf didnt make it, Just couldnt seem to warm him up at all i tried givin him some life aid earlier and he was the same for about two hours after, so maybe that didnt kill him, Ah well sure as they say, let the bad luck of the year go with him.
Thanks to all who posted,

5live

Sorry to hear about that. They are difficult to keep alive. I remember a newborn calved outside some 20 years ago on a frosty night to a fool of a cow that walked away and left him. I couldnt find him till it get bright around 6 and thought he was dead. I milked the mother and stomach tubed him and stuck him in a lamb warming box. It was the next day before he warmed up and be didnt stand for 2 weeks. He was so well cared for after that he was head and shoulders above the rest of the cattle at 2yo. Better luck next time:pac:

Bodacious

alderdeer wrote: »

just lettin ye know da calf didnt make it, Just couldnt seem to warm him up at all i tried givin him some life aid earlier and he was the same for about two hours after, so maybe that didnt kill him, Ah well sure as they say, let the bad luck of the year go with him.
Thanks to all who posted,

Sorry to hear about your calf fella, its a f**ker to lose one its not the value its the loss and seeing the cow about the place dry for the year. My theory is, as advised by a lovely old man is " to replace the one you lost or you'll alway be thinking of her" it works for me but touch wood no losses in a while but lost a springer a couple of years back and was gutted and as advised i went out and replaced her and replacement is one of the luckiest cows i have:):)