Calves and Pneumonia

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We have a calf with bad pneumonia, we have antibiotics from the vet and the calf is in the isolation stall but I'm still worried about the others. Is there anything I can do to protect the others at all or am I doing everything I can?

Thanks, Suzanne

-- Suzanne (hugging_calves@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001

Answers

hi Suzanne. You might ask your vet this question, but it sounds to me that you are doing everything right. I don't have much experience with calves, but a few of my goats have had pneumonia. I have never had it spread from one to the other, and I do not separate them.

-- mary garcia, tx (marylgarcia@aol.com), January 10, 2001.

What about trying one of the new immune boosting products. In fact the ID-1 that us goat folks use is actually a product for calves! Goatworld.com sells it, very economical to use also. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 10, 2001.

Additionally, keep the calf warm, use heat lamps if necessary, and scour free, using whatever your vet recommends best for scours. Calves these days (we have bred all the natural resistance to common diseases out of commercial cattle !!!) can get pneumonia from something as slight as a being overly chilled for too long, or from getting the scours, even for a day or two. Changes in the weather can bring on pneumonia, especially damp, wet weather. Cold and dry weather are not a problem, but damp cold is.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 14, 2001.

Your calf is not only suffering from the pneumonia but also from the cure. the medicines are not bacteria specific and kill the rumen bugs as well. The rumen of a calf is at best undeveloped and you just killed off some of the good bugs. What the sick calf needs as well as the antibiotics is a probiotic like Vitacharge.(not probios)The others will also benefit from this as it is very high in vitamins and minerals and also uses an aspergillus oryzae extract.This extract strengthens the immune system to help make them resistant to the sickness. So this will help both the sick calf and the healthy ones.

-- David (davidl41@ipa.net), January 17, 2001.

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