In deperate need of help

[bguth1971]

Today a lady I know brought me a baby calf and asked me did I want to try and help him. He is a very ill little fellow and I have not got the slightest idea what to do for him.
Why she doesn't take him to the vet, I don't know, (most likely because she doesn't feel he will live).  She doesn't have the time nor the energy to work with him ( 70 yrs. old and an ailing husband). So after searching online for hours and only managing to come up with information on scours, which I don't believe is his problem, I came across this site and read a few things and was hoping that someone could PLEASE tell me what I can do for this calf. First off, he's only about a week or two old, and he's been in the pasture sick since at least Tuesday. (That's when she noticed he was having problems). Second, here are his symptoms: Can't stand for long periods, can't suckle, was very cold (until I put a heater close to him and wrapped him in blankets until he warmed up). Can't open his eyes, and feels very stiff when you try to help him stand. We've been feeding him Nurse-all milk and colostrum. Roughly 4 oz at a time since I have to use my fingers and pour the milk in his mouth. So far I've given him a vitamin B shot and a small amount of karo syrup to try and rehydrate him and boost his system somewhat. I got this information from a family member who used to work for a vet. Earlier this evening the lady who gave him to me came by and tube fed him, here's where things seemed, to me, to get worse. Before, he wasn't breathing really fast and he wasn't making a rattling noise when he breathed. After the feeding, at one point, I thought he had died. I know nothing of cattle and why I agreed to this is just because of my love of animals, so with all that said. Is there anyone who may be able to tell me what could possibly be wrong with him and if there is any way possible, short of taking him to a vet, which I can't afford, to save this little guys life? Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[OH Breeder]

Keep him warm
Keep him eating
You may have to consult a vet if there is an infectious process going on. If he "rattles" when he breathes he could have aspirated during delivery or at some point when he was tube fed. Where is momma cow? Little one's like this can sometimes have a poor prognosis. Colostrum is very important but again where is the mother?

 

[bguth1971]

From what I'm understanding he wasn't drinking from the mom. She is still in the ladies pasture, and the little one is at my house now. Unfortunately I don't have any cows or other animals that I could try to get him to take too so not sure what to but keep feeding him the way I have been and hope he's getting enough. He did move sometime during the night, just turned himself around but better than nothing, and he doesn't appear to be going potty except for a small bit last night when she tube fed him.

 

[BTDT]

If the lady can not afford to take an animal to the vet, she should not have animals. PERIOD. 

A quick summary: Calf probably did not nurse and get colostrum from the beginning. Probably has very low immunity and is susceptible to darn near everything.  If you are only feeding him 4 oz, you are slowly starving him to death.  He needs at least 2 qrts 2-3 times a day of high quality milk replacer, make sure it is an all milk protein.  Make sure it is between 96-102 degrees. If he isn't sucking, you need to tube feed him. To keep fluid from getting to his lungs, do not tip of tube feeder until the end is in the stomach, and do not remove until all milk is completely out of the tube.  Sounds like the lady got some milk in his lungs when she tubed him, which is only going to complicate things.

You are limited to what you can give him since no one is willing to take him to the vet, so all you can do is keep him warm, keep him full and hope. 

What the calf really needs is someone who cares enough to spend $50 and take him to the vet and get him some meds.  Right now, it seems like all that is being done is prolonging the suffering.

 

[hsShowCattle]

Have you taken his temperature?  If he seems dehydrated you can get electrolytes and give him that, once they are dehydrated they seem to lose their will to live and you have to force them to. we have bottle fed a few beef calves for different season, they are not the easiest to get going, especially if they have nursed on their mom.  This may sound a little dumb but I will sometimes sit and take my hand and rub it on the calf's neck and so one, like the mom is washing it.  I do this when I have one that is being more difficult.  It seems to sometimes stimulate the calf.  But first off I would take its temp, find out if you have a sick calf or just one that is not wanting to nurse.  We have had calves that would not drink out of the bottle and we had to tube them multiple times or they would have starved to death.  Good luck.

 

[cowman 52]

Just so some one will raise holy h***, give him a shot of whiskey in his milk, it will wake him up and maybe make him have a little want to. A cc of dexamethosome will expand the lungs and let him move some air. The colostrums available from the feed stores will help, if you can't get them, use milk replacer with a raw egg, kayro syrup, and cod liver oil, along with a bit of sugar.

And not one word about you can't do that or worse if you can't afford xyz then you can't own livestock.  Offer the man a little help, not your self serving self righteousness!

 

[bguth1971]

@ BTDT: I agree. She should have taken him to the vet. Again why she won't I don't know and I cannot make her. I had two choices: 1. Tell her yes I'll try or no just leave him in the pasture to die. Perhaps I should have done that. I don't know. As far as a $50 dollar vet, I certainly don't have one around here that would be less than $150.00 and I just don't have that kind of money right now. I know ya'll don't know me and I am not doing this to be a "hero". I only want to help him if I can. I think it's better than leaving him in the pasture to waste away. Again, I don't know. As far as the 4oz at a time, yes we realize that is not near enough we just weren't sure of how much to put in him at one time with his condition. My husband did feed him more than that this morning.
@ Cowman 52: As of last night, I have spent money that I don't have on colostrum and a tube feeder and few other things to try and help. The vitamins and such I already had on hand from another animal that we went through with this a few months back. As far as the dexamethosome, can I get that at Tractor Supply or a feed store? And as far as money goes, this is why I DON'T own cattle because of the stories I've heard all my life about the massive amounts of money it takes to raise and keep them. I'm simply trying to help him. Maybe I'm wrong in doing that.
@ hsShowCattle: No I have not, but I can get that done today. I did give him some electrolytes last night and we're trying to get some in him today. I'm not sure what happened but yesterday when he first came to me he was suckling after the first tube feeding he doesn't seem to want to suck now, so we had to tube feed him again.
The only other thing I can think to do at this point is just to tell her I can't do this and to do what she feels is necessary. And that will be to put him back in the pasture to die. My personal opinion on that would be to just put him down, but then again, there is money involved that they do not want to spend and I have no idea what it would cost to get a calf euthanized. Perhaps I could get my nephew to have his vet look into it.
How long do they need colostrum? Should I just suggest having him put down to her and see what she says? Please don't think I'm an arrogant person by trying to save his life when I KNOW  I don't have the financial means, I just really don't know what else to do at this point. Thank you all for your input.

 

[herfluvr]

Really sounds like dummy calf.  Colostrum is key and monitoring is pretty much all you can do.  The fact that the calf was pretty much left to it's own devices for the first few days does not bode well for recovery.  Keep it warm and make sure it is getting enough nutrients.  That is about all you can do.  Without the immunity it should have had within hours of birth you are fighting a battle to keep illness at bay.  I would tell her you cannot continue to dump money into her problem.  If she would like to reimburse you for the meds and feed then you can keep trying.  That seems harsh but she basically dumped a whole lot of debt in your lap and that was not fair.

 

[knabe]

instead of reporting this person, find out who they know and if someone can help talk with them and get rid of the animals.  reporting to the authorities as a first course will make people be on the watch out for you.  be someone who works with people.  people get in trouble all the time as they get older with losing the ability to be responsible and a smooth transition sometimes is a better option.  there are people available to help deal with people who are on a path to hoarding.

 

[chambero]

70 year old woman with a sick husband and she should have charges filed on her for animal neglect over a sick newborn?  99% would let it die and not think twice.  Its called infant mortality.  She was guilty of being too soft hearted.  You cant save them all no matter how hard you try.  If it was truly a neglect case she wouldnt have bothered.  Shame on the husband for getting old and sick.

I dont know a single rancher that brings in a vet for a case like this.

 

[herfluvr]

70 year old woman with a sick husband and she should have charges filed on her for animal neglect over a sick newborn?  99% would let it die and not think twice.  Its called infant mortality.  She was guilty of being too soft hearted.  You cant save them all no matter how hard you try.  If it was truly a neglect case she wouldnt have bothered.  Shame on the husband for getting old and sick.

I dont know a single rancher that brings in a vet for a case like this.

Thank you to this poster!  To judge a person like this woman is righteous, ignorant and heartless.  We do not know the circumstances of her life.  Maybe this a calf out of her husband's favorite cow.  Maybe when he asks her "are the new calves ok?" and she wants so badly to tell him they are ALL doing great and she doesn't feel she is failing at the task of running the farm without him.  Maybe he is dying and in her own way if she sees the calf saved she might not feel so empty with the thought of losing her mate.  To inform in one thing but to assume is another. 

Was it fair of her to ask her friend to try and help this calf? IMO no but I do not know the "why" of this situation all I know is there is a person asking for some guidance. 

 

[showqueen95]

I agree 100%. You don't know the lady or circumstances. Maybe instead of a self righteous hero trying to help an animal neglecter maybe that this old lady's husband probably did 95% of the work with the cattle. And maybe the wife was to softhearted to sell the herd while he is alive, and too softhearted to just let the calf die. Maybe She didn't want to cause him any worry when it came to the calf. She asked for help and she receive it. And she has even came over to the helpers house to tube it.. Doesn't sound like neglect to me.

 

[cowman 52]

And we wonder what is haywire in this country?  Let us appoint a minister of livestock,  let he be the all authority on matters of care, oversight, expense, who has the correct type of facilities, how often the said facilities should be used, when you are too old to own livestock, when you need " re-education"on how to care for them.  Oh yes, let he be the one to tell you what to feed, when to feed it, how much to feed, how tall the grass is, when to overseed the grass, when to graze the grass, where to buy land that has the grass.  And of course they will be the all determining being that says " I determine you need this and you WILL be responsible for the costs I determine you need". 

Sounds like Katherine Sebelious. 

Just what the livestock industry needs, another know it all dumb mass!!!

 

[BogartBlondes]

Ok, somehow a person asking for advice on a sick calf turned into a political discussion about animal abuse.....that's just stupid; no other way to say it.
Anyway, I have had a couple calves like this at our farm; we blame it on the mother not licking the calf off soon enough. Its circulatory system doesn't start off well. Colostrum, milk replacer mixed with cod liver oil and liquor(whiskey or bourbon) will help.
We have also found that milk from an actual cow helps as well; we have a dairy farmer down the road that we can get some milk from for free. The calves respond well to this after day 2 or 3.

 

[BTDT]

I am sorry I came off as a little harsh, but I have seen many cases where someone gets an animal, and then are unable to care for it and then it is a "right" instead of a "privilege" to own.  I did not blame 1971 for trying, only pointed out the fact that many followed up with.... without proper care the first several hours (colostrum) this calf has a tough road ahead.  Without access to a vet, anything Rx is out of the question, which leaves Pen G (avail at most farm stores), high quality milk replacer and hope.

I try to save them all, until their last breath.  So I do not fault either the old woman nor the person helping for trying.  Please re-read my post, I never EVER said charges should be filed on either of them.  But the fact remains, sometimes, if you want something to survive, then you have to call a vet and get either professional help, or Rx meds. 

I wish you well 1971 and certainly hope you are rewarded by a live calf in a few weeks. But while some are offering you hope, I might be that small dose of reality everyone wants to deny.

 

[chambero]

If they dont have any other family members to help them, the best thing you could do would be encourage them to sell out.  The worry and physical aspect of it can be very hard on elderly folks with failing health.  They can lease out their place and still have the joy of animals around without the worry.