the expensive lesson of urinary calculi

[wynona16]

  This is my first year showing an actual show steer but it didn't go so well. I got a steer and was feeding corn gluten mix. We didn't notice until it was to late. His stomachs was all blower up like he was bloated. He stayed like this for about six days. We decided to look stuff up and saw this online. We took him to the university of Missouri the next morning. They said what it was. His bladder was blocked because of the stones in his tract. This plugged him up and by the time we got him to the vet his bladder had burst.This was mostly caused by the feed. We fed third mix and didn't realize it said not to feed over one percent of the body weight. It was also recommended to feed mineral to help even it out. Being that he was about a thousand pounds that's only ten pounds a day. He was getting about twenty two a day. We had the feed tested and it came back with17 percent protein and .44 phosphorous. The average calf can only take .25.This extra phosphourus crystalyzed in his urinary tract to form like a kidney stone. He could not pass them and it made his bladder fill with urine. (Did I mention he hadn't peed in about the six or seven days he was like this). They could have rerouted his tract so he peed differently but it would cost more. They also said he probably wouldn't make it and if he did he wouldn't show. So we decided to just put him down. Lesson learned to read the label more carefully and pay attention to your animals. It was a very expensive lesson but a good one.