Veterinarian View
Health & Reproduction questions answered and explained.
by Vince Collison, Collison Embryo | Collison Veterinary Services, Rockwell City, IA
collisonembryo.com
TREATMENT TIPS FOR CALF SCOURS O
ne of the more common health issues we see in newborn calves is scours. Due to multiple requests to cover this subject, I’ll cover some of the key points for scour treatment. There are many types of infections that cause scours in calves, but the symptoms are usually similar. The main thing that kills the calf is not only dehydration, but the severe loss of sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate from their systems. Any treatments must revolve around restoring these fluids and basic electrolytes. When a calf loses too much bicarbonate from its system, he is going to enter an acidotic state. As a newborn, acidosis does not affect the calf as severely as a calf that is 7 or more days old. One of the key
symptoms you’ll see with acidosis is the calf will be breathing hard and very depressed. Often this heavy breathing is confused with pneumonia, but when you see heavy breathing along with scouring it is likely a symptom of acidosis. The rapid breathing is a mechanism to blow off carbon atoms through its breath in an attempt to raise the pH of the blood from an acidotic state. The best thing for treating dehydration is oral electrolytes. If started early, it is an easy and effective method to replace fluids. If the calf is also depressed, it is important to use an electrolyte product that has bicarbonate added to counter acidosis. There are products that do not include anything to counter acidosis,
so if you are treating calves that are depressed, be sure to select the right kind of electrolyte product. I’ve often seen calves being treated with electrolytes, but are not responding very well. It is important to treat these acidotic calves with the right product with the correct frequency. When calves are severely scouring, I’ve found that they need to be given oral electrolytes up to four times per day to keep up with the fluids and electrolytes that are being lost. Bicarbonate given orally will interfere with milk forming a clot in the abomasum, impairing the digestion of milk If you tube calves with this type of electrolyte product, it is best to not let them nurse a bottle or the cow for 30 minutes after administration. Also we try to avoid mixing this type of electrolyte product in milk replacer for that reason.
April 2020
One of the other problems we encounter is people will try to withhold milk entirely while calves are scouring. We do not like this practice as it does
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