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Let's talk about Mycoplasma

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Texan

Texan

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Let's talk about Mycoplasma in weaned calves. Anything.

Some of the stranger early symptoms you've seen? Things that didn't justify a pull at the time, but later made you wish that you had?

Success rate with Draxxin if you've used it for Mycoplasma specifically?

Off-label or extra-label things you've tried that work? Anybody tried Tylan or Spectinomycin? Any kind of cocktail that worked? Doesn't matter what it is, let's hear it (PM me if you prefer). I even tried backing up to LA300 on a couple today and hitting them with a Bovishield 5 at the same time trying to jump start a better immune response. So nothing is too weird for me at this point.

Anything about Mycoplasma, let's hear it.
 
Basically by the time you know you have a problem with it - its too late to really do anything anyhow. I don't think that Mycoplasma is the first thing that is making the calf sick- it just may take advantage after one gets sick.

I have had good success with the head tilts- which may or may not be Myco
once they limp its too late. Joint issues are the only symptom that I can reliably lay on Mycoplasma.

For the last few years my first line of defense has been Draxin- that seems to have slowed the calves with blown joints.

If I have a calf that still seems off- before 7 days is up(on the Draxin) I will hit them with the LA 300 and cross my fingers.

Can you even get Spectam?-- our source can't get it anymore

I have given thought the last two loads as to wether or not Draxin has run its course(like all antibiotics before it)- I have been getting alot more repulls off of it lately.
 
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10312007-150332/unrestricted/dissertation.pdf
Look on about page 77 Texan, it gives several: doxycycline, tilmicosin, erythromycin, etc....
I've found animals do better if I give a B complex shot when I give an antibiotic. If they are eating grain, then I add a pkg of electrolytes as well. You gotta get the immune system up.

I believe this dr. was treating humans: http://www.shasta.com/cybermom/myco%20tx%20sugg.htm but they had to be treated for six weeks....

and I don't know if you want to spend the time reading all of these but it was a bovine clinic on microplasma: http://www.bovinemycoplasma.ca/

From what I can read magnesium, selenium, zinc needs to be increased so you may want to check your minerals and see if those are adequate.

Now, I did a google search on "Borax and Microplasma" and there's quite a bit out there on it........... just depends on if you want to try Muleteam Borax as a cure. I can tell you it will clear up snotty noses in 24 hours. I put 3/4 cup in 10 gallon but there were about 7 calves being weaned and it was an automatic waterer.

Virus and bacteria cannot live in an alkaline environment. Just as baking soda can be used for bloat, you might try some to level out (or alkanize) the ph of their gut, but don't overdo it. Check with your vet and you may need to follow up a few days later with probios to get the good bacteria started in the gut.
 
Thanks for the replies. I really thought there would be more interest in Mycoplasma. Maybe it's more of a southern problem?

Howdyjabo, I think you're right about it being a secondary infection most of the time. I've had some that I've repulled 10 or 15 days after I've successfully treated a 'normal' BRD with Micotil. A couple that I had used Nuflor on I've pulled again two weeks later. And it hits them so hard and fast that it's like you say - almost too late by then.

I've had two of them where the respiratory part was so subtle, it was probably too late by the time I treated them the first time. They were fine one day and the next morning were standing spread out with their nose down on the ground trying to breathe. I wasn't even thinking Myco with those, so I used Micotil and got a good response out of it within the first 24 hours. I really have good luck with Micotil. It's always my first choice for respiratory stuff and I usually just use it once, but those were hit so hard and so fast that I gave them another dose at 48 hours. The next day, their temps were right back up to 105 and they didn't live long enough for me to treat them again.

Weather was a big problem for me with some of these calves, as we had some really strange wet weather and got almost 14 inches of rain in the first two weeks of this month. We've only had sunshine the last two days - all the rest of the month has been raining. Once a calf gets a little lung damage, he's pretty well screwed when he can't breathe anything but water.

I've had a couple of one-ear-down calves that I'm starting to treat as Myco even though it might just be a simple ear infection. I haven't had any head tilts early enough to do anything about it. I only had one of those and that was one of the calves that was responding to Micotil. His head tilt didn't show up until the last day. I had a joint problem on another one and it was a waste of money treating him. It seems like a lot of these Myco calves might have a crusty yellow eye discharge that shows up before anything else. Have you noticed that? I hate treating a calf just because he's got an eye discharge, but now I'm almost scared not to.

I've got five that I'm treating now with LA300. Some of those have already been sick and straightened up with Micotil or Nuflor within the last three or four weeks - only to be pulled again. Today was the second round of LA300 for them and I was planning on doing them again Wednesday. The response so far is pretty disappointing. Temps on them today were still around 105-106. That was an afternoon temp, but still a lot higher than I was hoping for.

I guess I'll have to give in and try some Draxxin. I've been putting it off because the crap is just too damn expensive. Especially when a lot of people are saying the same thing as you - maybe not as effective as it was at first. As much as it costs, I'm wondering if some of the people using it for mass-treats aren't shorting some cattle and causing a resistance problem already?

Anyway, Mycoplasma sucks. I hope the rest of you don't ever see it.
 
I'm interested and have been reading the posts. When we bought alot of calves our first line of defense was about 30cc's of Oxy 100 in the vein and another 30 of LA200 in the muscle. That cleared up most of them and from there it was Nuflor or Micotil .
 
We've used Draxxin for two years now on weaners as a first line offense. I feel no need to mass med our own calves but we have dealt with MyPl for a few years now and Draxxin works. Like all antibiotics you CANNOT afford to be cheap with the dosage.
 
We've had good luck with Draxxin followed by Mycotil (if needed). For joint ill, we first treat with Draxxin. If it continues to be a problem, we then flush the joint and inject Mycotil directly into the joint.
 
For joint ill, (which is practically non-existant since we are on a year-round mineral program) we use penecilllin G and treat 2x (8 cc) a day for
5 days and then 1x a day for 5 days. Or you can use long-lasting penecillin 2 x a day (10-12cc) for 5 days and then once a day for
5 days.

Yep, it's a 10 day process but it will work.

I've learned a lot about navel ill. We used to get it so regularly.
This sping with all the snow, cold, wind, and wet, I was worried about the
calves that dropped in the lot. There was a lot going on and Mr. FH didn't
iodine the calves navels :cry: . We didn't have ONE navel ill calf...not one...and
I attribute that to the terrific immune system our calves have
because of a year-round mineral program. We also had no sickness in
all that mess and the only calf we lost was one that got stepped on.

Navel ill is a problem because the bacteria that enters the navel settles in the joints. They settle there because the
circulation is not good in the joints and the bacteria is safe. You must be very aggressive in treating it.
We used to treat it, but not every day and we lost every calf that got navel ill. I hate that disease. You watch the little guys suffer, you know
they are in pain. We've seen their joints blow out...but never have we cut into the joint and put antibiotic there. Maybe we should have done that, years ago when we didn't know what we were treating or how we were treating it. Now we don't have much of a problem and if we do, we treat for 10 days.

FWIW and good luck!
 
You probably did more to prevent navel il by ditching the iodine bottle than anything-most cows will lick away at the navel trying to get the iodine off and keep it irritated. When we pen calved we used to treat it by injecting some long acting penicillin into the stump of the navel. But when we quit dipping it seemed to help as much as anything.
 
We don't bother with the iodine bottle either. LA or Pen are both good choices for treating Navel Ill. If one is abcessed very bad we will put 3 to 5 cc of iodine right into the abcess.
It doesn't happen often here since the mineral program was changed to fit our operation.
 
Texan: found you some info, this is what he does in Australia: Erythromycin

actually the whole article is great, but we don't have injectable vit c in the US

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/press/cattle11.htm

Pneumonia

Signs of pneumonia are labored and rapid breathing. If the ear is laid to the chest, it sounds rather like an express train in a tunnel. A high temperature, misery and occasionally coughing will also be noticed. Ordinary pneumonia can occur in any animal that is below par and subject to temperature stress allied to, in nearly all cases, poor nutrition in which the calcium and possibly magnesium are too low. Bad housing with too little air is also a frequent cause of pneumonia in young animals, it is not a good idea to keep calves confined. If they have to be kept in sheds, they should be airy, but not drafty.

This kind of pneumonia is generally bacterial and will respond to good nursing, massive doses of vitamin C and vitamins A and E especially. Twenty grams of vitamin C by intramuscular injection every two hours, with 10 cc of vitamin B12 daily (given with one of the vitamin C injections) and vitamins A, D and E either orally or by injectionshould help. Some firms market injectable vitamin E. White E is a powder that can be used orally in food (the dosage is on the container). Vitamin E is invaluable for the convalescing pneumonia patient because it helps heal lung damage. The extent of lung damge can be gauged by checking the breathing rate and the vitamin E may be given for a week or two until the breathing rate improves.

Pleuro pneumonia

The dreaded "Pleuro" (mycoplasma pneumonia) is another problem altogether. Although it can affect all species, in most people's minds it is the dread disease that decimated the cattle numbers in the early days in Australia (respiratory problems are always worst where calcium and magnesium are low). It is highly contagious and for this reason, any case of pneumonia should be checked out by a vet.

Mycoplasma pneumonia has had a habit of recurring once the animal has contracted it and it seemed impossible to effect a permanent cure. However, that was before some of the drugs we have today were obtainable. Erythromycin, in particular, is highly effective against mycoplasma infections. The treatment, as above, for ordinary pneumonia should be given at the same time as any drugs are given. Needless to say, any animal with pneumonia should be segregated from the healthy ones immediately, pending the arrival of the vet.
 
Thanks for checking into it and posting that, MoGal.


For any of the rest of you who might be interested, here's some of the better links I've found discussing Myco:


http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2004/fall/mycoplasma.htm

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

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Cattle-Health--Mycoplasma---Signs--Treatment---Prevention/2009-06-26/Article.aspx?oid=489883
 
Texan, if you google "niacinamide and micoplasma" there are a bunch of studies done.

Niacinamide (vitamin B3) kills micoplasma.
 
Do you think myco plasma can live in the ground, or do you think it lives in your herd waiting for its chance to get out, which ever, it sure sucks
 
MoGal said:
Texan, if you google "niacinamide and micoplasma" there are a bunch of studies done.

Niacinamide (vitamin B3) kills micoplasma.
Click to expand...
Thanks, MoGal. I'll check that out.

For anybody else looking for treatments, I had pretty good luck with LA300 at the labeled rate every 48 hours for three treatments. The ones that didn't respond to that responded to Draxxin - but slowly. In either case, it sure takes some patience, because you're going to lose some no matter what you do.
 
VB RANCH said:
Do you think myco plasma can live in the ground, or do you think it lives in your herd waiting for its chance to get out, which ever, it sure sucks
Click to expand...
All the research I've read says that it doesn't live long outside a host. I weaned some home-raised calves in the same traps I used for these sale calves with just the usual sanitary stuff I've always done - bleach water spray in the troughs and water tanks and a week or two of sunshine to let everything dry out. I never had any more trouble.
 
a few years ago i sold calves on suprior, the guy that bought them wanted them vac. for mycoplasma, so we did, allways thought it was a southern bug, not any more, dont vac. for it any more, every year when we wean we have a few cases of it, calves are out of cows that were calves when we vac. that bunch for the suprior sale, that bug is sure the sheets, end up watching some of those calves rot to death
 
How well does the vaccine work? We can't get it in Canada, but if we could, we'd sure give it a try. It seems this is showing up more and more all the time. I don't know if cow calf guys are trying to save money and not keeping their herd health up, or what's going on. I suspect there are a lot of calves around her coming from unvaccinated cows, and homes with less than acceptable nutrition. We get a few in every batch of feeders now, and it's getting to be a real pain.

We treat with Draxxin, but it's so frustrating, because it's so slow. Sometimes heamophilus can produce the same kind of symptoms too, but whichever they have, the Draxxin is the best bet.
 

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