Bullock coughing up gunk

TUBBY

folks.
have a 18 month bullock housed 3 weeks in open (maybe even bit draughty) shed. Dosed with endospec about 6 weeks ago.

Noticed this lad Friday night coughing like mad. Tongue out and panting. Also something I never saw before he was coughing up good bit of phlegm. Weird thing is No real temp and dung ok. Gave him nuflor and cortisone. He not really improved like I would like. Not coughing now but pantning and listless. Followed up with same injections this evening but still not overly happy with him.
the fact he not scouring and no temp makes me think it not hoose pneumonia.

two questions.
1- what do ye reckon it is or have ye had similar
2 - how do ye usually stop draughts in sheds or am I laying blame wrongly.

blackdog1

TUBBY wrote: »

folks.
have a 18 month bullock housed 3 weeks in open (maybe even bit draughty) shed. Dosed with endospec about 6 weeks ago.

Noticed this lad Friday night coughing like mad. Tongue out and panting. Also something I never saw before he was coughing up good bit of phlegm. Weird thing is No real temp and dung ok. Gave him nuflor and cortisone. He not really improved like I would like. Not coughing now but pantning and listless. Followed up with same injections this evening but still not overly happy with him.
the fact he not scouring and no temp makes me think it not hoose pneumonia.

two questions.
1- what do ye reckon it is or have ye had similar
2 - how do ye usually stop draughts in sheds or am I laying blame wrongly.

Has he any discharge from the eye? Could be ibr it affects the respiratory system. Do you vaccinate? Where was he before housing? Did he come into contact with animals outside the farm? . Could be lung worms too. Or as you said pneumonia

bob charles

TUBBY wrote: »

folks.
have a 18 month bullock housed 3 weeks in open (maybe even bit draughty) shed. Dosed with endospec about 6 weeks ago.

Noticed this lad Friday night coughing like mad. Tongue out and panting. Also something I never saw before he was coughing up good bit of phlegm. Weird thing is No real temp and dung ok. Gave him nuflor and cortisone. He not really improved like I would like. Not coughing now but pantning and listless. Followed up with same injections this evening but still not overly happy with him.
the fact he not scouring and no temp makes me think it not hoose pneumonia.

two questions.
1- what do ye reckon it is or have ye had similar
2 - how do ye usually stop draughts in sheds or am I laying blame wrongly.

has he discharge from the nose? eating as normal? looking full etc

One thing I would say is I wouldn't be using cortisone for pnuemonia, its just too hard on the stomach. Metacam/fluxnin/ketoprofen would be a better choice

Rho b

We have been in this situation a few times over the years and our vet changed the antibiotic from nuflor to resflor. I haven't clue what the difference is between the two other than the fact the the resflor is more expensive but it worked.
In all of those cases the vet gave us dexameth to inject as part of the treatment.

TUBBY

bob charles wrote: »

has he discharge from the nose? eating as normal? looking full etc

One thing I would say is I wouldn't be using cortisone for pnuemonia, its just too hard on the stomach. Metacam/fluxnin/ketoprofen would be a better choice

no discharge from eyes or nose. He is looking pretty full but just starting to get slack.
he was bought in 6 weeks ago. Dosed on arrival. Was on grass at home before housing.
I didn't vaccinate on arrival except for blackleg.
with regard to the medication, that was after talking to vet. He will call Monday if no improvement was the plan.

thanks for replies lads. Does this info give ye any clues

bob charles

TUBBY wrote: »

no discharge from eyes or nose. He is looking pretty full but just starting to get slack.
he was bought in 6 weeks ago. Dosed on arrival. Was on grass at home before housing.
I didn't vaccinate on arrival except for blackleg.
with regard to the medication, that was after talking to vet. He will call Monday if no improvement was the plan.

thanks for replies lads. Does this info give ye any clues

not for me anyway, is it green flymm (however you spell that word) or clear. Are you sure he aint coughing up a parasite?

TUBBY

It green and good thick stuff. Rooted thru it (its not as glamorous as it sounds) and no parasite.

That's why I stumped. No temp, no scour and was on last legs with tongue out and panting at more than 60 per min.

Good news is he chewing his cud at lunch time and looking lot more content after second shot of dex.

onyerbikepat

Long shot but could he have swallowed some bale netting?

J.O. Farmer

TUBBY wrote: »

folks.
have a 18 month bullock housed 3 weeks in open (maybe even bit draughty) shed. Dosed with endospec about 6 weeks ago.

Noticed this lad Friday night coughing like mad. Tongue out and panting. Also something I never saw before he was coughing up good bit of phlegm. Weird thing is No real temp and dung ok. Gave him nuflor and cortisone. He not really improved like I would like. Not coughing now but pantning and listless. Followed up with same injections this evening but still not overly happy with him.
the fact he not scouring and no temp makes me think it not hoose pneumonia.

two questions.
1- what do ye reckon it is or have ye had similar
2 - how do ye usually stop draughts in sheds or am I laying blame wrongly.

Nuflor should clear up pneumonia. If you have given him 2 shots of it 48 hours apart it should do the job.
If it's pneumonia then perhaps a different antibiotic from a different class such as Draxxin may work.
You said he'd no real temperature. Does that mean it went up a little or not at all. I would find it strange for him to have no pneumonia and no temperature increase.
However it does sound like pneumonia other than that.
In terms of a draught in the shed if it's over the animals heads or through the passage it is good as it keeps air moving and reduces spread of pneumonia.

TUBBY

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Nuflor should clear up pneumonia. If you have given him 2 shots of it 48 hours apart it should do the job.
If it's pneumonia then perhaps a different antibiotic from a different class such as Draxxin may work.
You said he'd no real temperature. Does that mean it went up a little or not at all. I would find it strange for him to have no pneumonia and no temperature increase.
However it does sound like pneumonia other than that.
In terms of a draught in the shed if it's over the animals heads or through the passage it is good as it keeps air moving and reduces spread of pneumonia.

temp was 102.5 only which isn't bad all told. Temp normal next evening. Two shots of nuflor alright.
well improved now but still coughing but no phlegm coming up.
as regards the draught it is three feet up only so could be a prob.

no other animals coughing now in that shed though so if a draught should affect a few.

J.O. Farmer

The temperature was probably only at the high end of the normal range alright. It sounds like he's improved and the nuflor will prevent any pneumonia from getting worse again for a few days. I would like to see a continual improvement over the next few days though.
It's a strange one it doesn't sound like a bad case of pneumonia but the phlegm does sound like the type of thing associated with it. Could it be a combination of a bit of a chest infection with something else. I would be careful of pneumonia as if it is a relapse will be harder treated. I would ask the vet for his opinion with the information you have given here.
Animals are funny the draught might affect 1 and not the others. If they have shelter in some parts of the shed to lie down the draught will keep fresh air coming in.

TUBBY

Vet had a look passing this morning and just said it was prob hoose pneumonia. Didnt agree myself but he only called in out of interest in fairness and for a chat.

Said he couldnt do anything different anyway with injections.
The DRAXXIN is a good call if a change of antibiotic is needed.

Will update after few more days how he gets on.

jerdee

I just would like to commend all the vets out there for a genuine interest in animal welfare .I know its there livelihood but would you get a doctor to make social call.....