droopy ears

[linnettejane]

checked on the cows this evening and one of the calves is walking around with very droopy ears(what they look like when they get water in their ears)....looked him over good and didn't see any injury, he's not shaking his head around like he has water in his ears....his appetite is not what it normally is though....he didn't get in the creep feeder....and was barely picking grass.....never had one do this before.....what do you think is going on??? 

 

[kanshow]

He is sick.  He is probably running a slight temp.  I'd certainly keep my eye on him and probably treat him tonight or tomorrow. 

 

[Doc]

He is sick.   He is probably running a slight temp.  I'd certainly keep my eye on him and probably treat him tonight or tomorrow. 

I agree Kanshow.  temp. up, ears down

 

[DL]

Agree - he is sick - they can get a respiratory infection that also affects the middle ear - often Mycoplasma - ask you vet what he would recommend for treatment....IMHO I would treat him tonight

 

[shortdawg]

Ditto, he needs some attention.

 

[fluffer]

When we had a calf do that it was Mycoplasma.  She was a stunner as a baby and then when she got that she fell back a little.  Never really worked out.  Had to ship her.  Our vet walked out and looked at her and as soon as he saw her he said she had mycoplasma.  I guess that ear droop/head tilt is a tell tail sign.

Good Luck

DL could you tell us a little more about mycoploasma... should we keep the cattle that have it, how do they get it, can we prevent it??  What would your opnion be?  Sure would appreciate any thoughts

 

[linnettejane]

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/beef/400-304/400-304.html

found this article....

 

[Simmymom1]

My daughter's steer that she had for our county fair this year got Mycoplasma back in September right after tag in for the fair.  He got so sick, he looked like walking death after a few weeks.  We started treatment as soon as the vet diagnosed him and believe me we shelled out alot of money to get him better.  The vet pretty much said he would be a slow gainer and not amount to much at all.  We put alot of time and money into him and forturnate for us we proved them all wrong.  He ended up winning first place in the heavy weight class a few weeks ago at our fair.  The one thing I will do from now on is vaccinate anything before it  comes onto my property against Mycoplasma.  That is some really bad stuff.  Good luck with your calf, I hope it is not Mycoplasma.  Lisa

 

[DL]

fluffer - the article that linnettejane (can we call you LJ??) found is really good - I will add some pearls later - gotta run now, dl

 

[kanshow]

How's the calf today?

 

[linnettejane]

the same....the vet will be here between 7 and 8 this evening...hopefully will know more then....i did notice that he must still be nursing because his momma's bag is not full or tight...

lj is fine dl...

 

[linnettejane]

he had a temp of 106.....and infection in his ear....once we got him in the barn and haltered and in the head gate we could see the ear had been draining and you could see puss down in it....so he cleaned it out good, filled it full of iodine, gave him a shot of banamine and a heavy dose of antibiotics, we'll give him another banamine shot tomorrow, and more antibio's on sunday....plus, keep him in the barn....he said he's just probably got water in it from all the rain we have had and it caused the infection......

 

[Simmymom1]

I'm so glad your calf is going to be ok!!  Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!    (angel)

 

[P-F]

The is a vet in South Dakota that we are working with that has developed a vaccine for myco.  Dr Martin Nold.  He is very educated on the subject.  we have found that our calves usually start out with coccidious or Krypto.  Keep an eye out for whitish yellowish poop.

These are actually some of the most common problems in cattle, but the pharm companies seem to be ignoring it.  it weekens the immune system and lets more stuff like BVD etc come in. 

We have a lot of experience with Myco and treating it

Give Randy a call 419-236-8779  if you have any questions he will be glad to help.  esp if you are like us and keep cattle confimed untill turn out in may but calve in DEC, JAn and feb.

Dr Nold has really been a heaven sent.  Their just aren't many people out their doind anything about these diseases that are really common in the beef hers.

 

[DL]

fluffer - this is how I think of Mycoplasma

I first ran into it in the 90s  - dairy calves in hutches with droopy ears and head tilt - turns out it was Mycoplasma from discarded milk fed to calves. Although it has been around for decades and there are different kinds of Mycoplasma that infect different species including humans it has become more common id cattle - both beef and dairy over the last couple of decades.

What makes it different that most bacterial infections is that it is a really weird bacteria - it doesn't have a cell wall like most bacteria - so you can't use antibiotics that work by disrupting the cell wall - ie penicillin, the cephalosporins (Naxcel etc)

The other thing that makes it different is that it is pretty opportunistic and requires longer treatment that most common bacteria to kill it. It is also responsible for many of the chronic pneumonias "chronic lungers" in cattle.

The bug is apparently present in the upper resp tract of many normal cattle - as long as it doesn't get into the lungs it just hangs out and doesn't cause problems. However, lots of things can tip a calf into trouble where bugs that are just hanging out become roving gangs and invade the lungs. From the lungs the bug can enter the blood stream and go almost anywhere. This would include in addition to the lungs (pneumonia) - joints, nervous system, middle/inner ear etc

Things that can tip a calf include the usual suspects -
low immunity (from lack of colostrum or BVD PI or exposure to and acute infection with BVD);
stress;
poor nutrition;
mineral deficiency - esp selenium and vitamin E
weather changes
dust etc

The only drug approved for use in cattle for Mycoplasma is Draxxin - although it is expensive it is my first choice because (not only of its approval and so technically I am playing within the AMDUCA guidelines) but also because it is efficacious (it works); low volume; infrequent treatment needed (ie every 3 days); large volume of distribution (ie goes all over the body) and it appears to have bactericidal activity (kills bacteria) vs many antibiotics that are considered bacteriostatic (halt but do not kill) and therefore depend highly on the immune system to remove the bug - this would include both the tetracyclines (LA200) and florfenicol (Nuflor)

IMHO aggressive and long term treatment is the only way to "cure" an individual animal with Mycoplasma. The generic hygiene as well as the vaccine may help in decreasing symptoms and spread if you have a herd problem.

 

[P-F]

Agree totally with DL