Sick Bullock

TippNorth

Last week I noticed one of our bullocks was looking a bit miserable, he had lost weight and was very scoured and empty looking. He was the only one in this condition out of a group of twenty 18mth old cattle. This group had been treated for worms less than 6 weeks previous using an ivemectin pour on. He is probably one of the smaller bullocks in this bunch but had been thriving fine up until this.

So I dosed all the group again last week for fluke and worms using an Albex drench and I housed the sick fella and gave him antibiotics as a precaution for three days. He's on silage and meal for the past week and he has perked up again. He is eating fine and is putting on weight again, the only thing is his dung is still watery. My suspicion is that he got a bad dose of stomach worms, and I'm hoping his dung will return to normal over the next week, but I'd like to see what your opinions are or if there's anything you'd suggest?

Thanks

whelan1

is he bvd tested?

TippNorth

whelan1 wrote: »

is he bvd tested?

No he's not bvd tested, we bought him earlier this year and he doesn't have a bvd tag. His symptoms do seem sililiar to bvd now that you mention it . If it is BVD, is he most likely to be a PI ? None of the other cattle he has been with for the past 6 months have had any signs of infection.

Justjens

Enteritis? If you pump your fist into his side low down behind rib cage can you hear a rattle/sloshing sound? Get some white powders from your vet, should dry him up, if it's not BVD.

Farmer Pudsey

Justjens wrote: »

Enteritis? If you pump your fist into his side low down behind rib cage can you hear a rattle/sloshing sound? Get some white powders from your vet, should dry him up, if it's not BVD.

I suspect that Justen is right especially if he was really empty. I try the powders before I would panic about BVD. Vet will tell you how much to give. If you have a large dosing gun it is handy to administer, mix in a small quanity of water in a plastic litre milk container and give to him. I think Bimedine are the powder names. If you tell vet the symtoms he will advise you. Hay or Straw for about 4-5 days.

blackdog1

Could be ibr too

TippNorth

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I suspect that Justen is right especially if he was really empty. I try the powders before I would panic about BVD. Vet will tell you how much to give. If you have a large dosing gun it is handy to administer, mix in a small quanity of water in a plastic litre milk container and give to him. I think Bimedine are the powder names. If you tell vet the symtoms he will advise you. Hay or Straw for about 4-5 days.

Thanks Pudsey, I'll give that powder a shot and see if it clears him up. To be honest he is significantly improved since the weekend but still watery. The vet is coming early next week to TB test some bullocks and if he is still scoured by then I'll get him to check him out. I'm giving him a few beef nuts at the moment, I wonder should I just stick to hay/straw alone?

bbam

If he has an apetite for hay I'd cut the meal out for a few days and it should help.
Also out vet recommended a mug of kaolin powder with the powders, it's a binder and helps stop the scour.

But if he starts to turn you should get the vet out. A vets call versus the value of the animal make it a no brainer.

patjack

I lost an animal last year vet was convinced it was BVD, turned out it wasn't. So vet came to the conclusion after the BVD negative result that it was most likely rumen fluke. Be careful when trying to treat a weak animal fro rumen fluke, it can knock them for six and sometimes finish them off. Some of the rumen fluke doses are great but I find that if an animal has a bad dose of stomach worms treatment has to be staged and very careful.

Dozer1

Just like you patjack, I've had 2 young sucker cows recently in a bad way with rumen fluke, never dosed for it here before but got the vet and he seems convinced that what they have.

Cows going in Saturday and will dose them all next weekend

onyerbikepat

Mt first thought was rumen fluke too.

TippNorth

patjack wrote: »

I lost an animal last year vet was convinced it was BVD, turned out it wasn't. So vet came to the conclusion after the BVD negative result that it was most likely rumen fluke. Be careful when trying to treat a weak animal fro rumen fluke, it can knock them for six and sometimes finish them off. Some of the rumen fluke doses are great but I find that if an animal has a bad dose of stomach worms treatment has to be staged and very careful.

I gave him a dose of Albex last weekend which should reduce the worm/fluke burden without being too severe, and he certainly has perked up since. I'm going to go with pudsey's suggestion and give him some white powders and see if it helps clear him up. I already have Zanil drench here, if it is rumen fluke, but I might hold off for a couple of days before using it just to give him a chance and see if the powder works first. Would there be any difficulty using Zanil so soon after a drench like Albex?

patjack

TippNorth wrote: »

I gave him a dose of Albex last weekend which should reduce the worm/fluke burden without being too severe, and he certainly has perked up since. I'm going to go with pudsey's suggestion and give him some white powders and see if it helps clear him up. I already have Zanil drench here, if it is rumen fluke, but I might hold off for a couple of days before using it just to give him a chance and see if the powder works first. Would there be any difficulty using Zanil so soon after a drench like Albex?

Couldn't tell you being honest, its usually Levafas our Vet recommends for Rumen Fluke, we have found it to be an excellent dose but very severe on cattle. I hope you get him to come round, I was gutted last year because it was the only parasite I hadn't considered covering for.

jersey101

I have a cow that calved over a month ago here and i dosed her with fasinex at drying and endospec at calving. And she has lost every bit of weight she had and is gone to absolute bones. Could it be rumen fluke ?

whelan1

jersey101 wrote: »

I have a cow that calved over a month ago here and i dosed her with fasinex at drying and endospec at calving. And she has lost every bit of weight she had and is gone to absolute bones. Could it be rumen fluke ?

Rumen fluke or johnes

munkus

We had a lad this year that melted away. Gave him wormers and mineral doses but it was doing no good. Turns out he was lacking Cobalt. Had to give him about 3 shots of it over a few weeks to sort him out.

Spotted him eating tree bark one day, a sign of it apparently.

jersey101

whelan1 wrote: »

Rumen fluke or johnes

no johnes here, so must be rumen fluke