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Baby Calf Bloat??

R

Richard Doolittle

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Joined
Mar 9, 2007
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1,366
Location
Western SD
I was walking through the calving lot this morning and found a calf (3-4 weeks old) in obvious discomfort. He was bloated up like a balloon and when I found him, he was getting up and walking a few steps and then would lay down on his side. In less than 10 minutes time while I was pondering treatment, he laid down and died.

Does overeating cause bloat or would this have been something else? I generally give a C&D toxoid shot at birth, but this one and several others didn't get a shot yet this year.
 
I have had similar problems at one place, but not at another place 5 miles away. I don't know what causes it but they have a hole in the rumen. My vet reccomends a 7-way shot at birth. He doesn't know why, but the shot has almost cured the problem on ranches that were losing 1/4th of their calves.
 
It sounds like enterotoxemia to me. They can get it even with a c&d at birth. Next time put 10 cc Penicillin orally, 5 more in the muscle, then 10 cc c&d antitoxin orally, 10 more sub Q, then I put about 20 cc of kaopectate orally. If not better in 20 minutes, repete the procedure. Watch that calf for a few days, because the bacteria in its stomach may be dead, and you will need to give it probios.

This is common especially after storms. I often drive the pasture during a cold wind making the calves get up & suck midday and evening. If they lay around and don't nurse too long, when they do they gorge themselves, setting it off, hence the name "over eating disease". It will kill them every time, and fast too if left untreated.
 
Hairball? We had the Vet have a look at a DOA (maybe it was my driving!). It was a bit older though, nearly 2 mths old. Found it sitting right near the stomach wall puncture which emptied his fill into the cavity area. It was still at a stage easily pulled apart with the fingers but with just enough roughage to do the damage.
 
Entertoximia. Most definitely. Seen way too many of them...
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. :shock:

What helped us more than anything is/was a good mineral program.
Been a long time since we've had a calf with entertoxemia.

Good luck treating any that you find.

I certainly agree with the probiotic. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT anytime you
give antibiotic.
 
I just lost a nice bull calf like this. Cut into it and found a hairball in the stomach. Dont know if that was the cause of death or not.
 
The last couple years, our veterinarian and the knowledgeable lady at our livestock supply store have both recommended that we give a 7-way blackleg vaccination to our cows in the fall of the year at preg checking time. This has almost completely solved our over-eating problem with calves, and it helps the cows themselves with other things such as foot-rot. We don't give a shot to the calves at birth, but they seem to develop an immunity through their mothers. It is sure more convenient to give the cows all shots at the same time instead of having to give each individual calf a shot at tagging time.
 
I agree with the earlier diagnosis but calves like this one can be saved. I let the air out with a 16 ga. need right at the top of the rumen of the calf. Then I will give them 50 cc. mineral oil, 20 cc. neomycin sulfate orally and 20 cc. spectimycin orally. Usually they are up and running in a few hours. And the C+D antitoxin is a good idea also. The bacteria in the stomach is releasing gas and it has nowhere to go and eventually the calf can't breath and his heart stops so you need to release the extra gas.
 
Yes, my vote enterotoxemia/abomasal ulcers. I've had my trouble with this too :? I try to feed grass hay during storms, keep plenty of mineral in front of them (babies really lick it up during a storm), give a 7-way at birth, give the cows Scourguard 4kc before calving, brand and booster w/ 7-way ASAP. I wanted to brand last saturday, but obviously couldn't... I'm hoping to do it next saturday... and I'm hoping the calves stay healthy until then :-)

Good luck!
 
We follow Soapweeds protocol with the cow vaccination program. I am thankful we haven't run into this problem. Would have to do the math, unless it was an epidemic it might be cheaper to let the calf die than to spend all the time and money on drugs etc. Having said that maybe we have run into the problem but has been isolated enough that it was chalked down as the cost of doing business.
 
that is not an uncommon problem. There are 3 or 4 possible causes. Entrotoxema is one. A hairball or something that causes an abcess or wears a hole in the stomache, or eating dirt or sand. to vaccinate the cow seems the best for entrotoxema, a calf's imune system doesn't get to working real well with baby calf vaccinations. One neighbor gives his cows the overeating shot with scourguard. If you h ave mineral before them at all times calves will often eat mineral instead of dirt. They are not eating dirt because of a shortage, but just curiosity, they like the feel of it. surprising how often you will see calves at the mineral tub.
 
Good point, Clarence.

It seems to always be the best calves that get entertoxemia. Our vet explained it once like this...we are raising calves to perform. The way they perform is to have a great appetite. When they eat more, they gain more. And when they eat more they can be susceptible to Entertoxemia. He went on to say, Entertoxemia can be a "good managers disease.

I'm happy that we aren't plauged with it any more. And all our calves get is mineral, no shots at birth or branding except Blackleg at branding.
Amazing what happens when the immune system of cattle is up to par.

I like how Soapweed manages to give the shots in the fall. I didn't know about that. Sounds good to me.
 

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