does this calf have spastic paresis

this calf was born big and has always laid around a lot... after he has been up awhile he walks fair at best but when he first gets up it seems like he cant  really quite stretch his back legs straight down or behind ... his back legs quiver sometimes... is this spastic paresis... what will happen with this calf ...anyone seen it before... calf is probably about 300 pounds now

He looks just like the one we had this spring.  Big calf, thought we hit the jackpot, legs were not straight, he just had a stout, sharp look to him.  At 3 weeks of age, he was laying around all the time and started standing like your photo.  He could still walk around the pasture without much trouble.  As he went downhill with time, he could actually run halfway decent, but walking was a chore.  It kept getting worse to the point he had trouble standing because his back legs would go all over the place.  He had trouble laying down because he couldn't get his back legs to quit twitching.  There was no bend to his back legs when he stood up.  When he laid down, he could bend his legs.  At almost 3 months age, he caught pneumonia or something and died.  Should have put him down before, but he was always alert, was otherwise healthy, was growing, tried really hard and had a big will to live.

that sounds just like this guy... anyone have any thoughts about cutting the losses?  when should I haul him to slaughter.. or should I

He will only get worse as he gets bigger and eventually will not be able to get up or walk very far. They only get worse, never better.

It is hard to tell from a single stil picture although the lying around when compared to his contemporaries makes me suspicious of SP as it seems they all do this., althoughSP calves usually do not walk better after a time up. Can you video him walking?

Does he walk or stand on his toes? Does he shift his weight on his back legs? Does he cross his back legs when he stands? Do his legs seem so long he has to swing them out to walk? Does he have a tripod look - ie his front legs are real far apart and he uses this to balance the fact that his back legs are so close or crossed? Does he use his tail for balance? 
SP does not get better - it appears to be painful or uncomfortable - if the calf has SP you should euthanize him or have him custom slaughtered -

Hauling him to market, will be a waste of money... You'll never get anything for him..  You'd be far better off, and money ahead to butcher him yourself, or have somebody you know who would want the meat butcher him..At this stage of the game, it'll be called VEAL. and yummy if made right...

Hey, BTW... looks like a nice trio of Holsteins!!!

My guess is this is the early onset of SP from the way its standing.  There are varying degrees of it, but the calf is about the size that it usually starts on it with us.  We had one case per year several years ago, skipped two or three years, and then had two cases of it last year - one was a lot worse than the other.  PM me your email and I'll send you a video of what it looks like.

DL, are they still wanting genetic samples from these calves?  If so jbzdad should send the ear to the appropriate geneticists for further study in the event that it is SP.

He sure looks like a calf that we had a few years ago with the same symptoms.

Judy

SWMO said:

DL, are they still wanting genetic samples from these calves?  If so jbzdad should send the ear to the appropriate geneticists for further study in the event that it is SP.

He sure looks like a calf that we had a few years ago with the same symptoms.

Judy

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Yup Judy - Dr B is still collecting samples and pedigrees on calves with spastic paresis - people got so bent out of shape about this back then I have stopped asking for samples on this board - but it would (as always) be a good idea to send samples of calves suspected of having a condition that is either genetic or has a genetic component

as mentioned SP has a wide range of severity and can effect one or both hindlimbs - but it does not get better. Hauling him to the yards is a bad idea not only from a money standpoint but a welfare standpoint

DL the answers to your questions are almost all yes... I will see if I can get a video for this thread... I appreciate all you who answered and now if someone searches SP for spastic  paresis there will at least be some info...

yes we kinda like our holsteins here in Kansas... that cow was the donor for this calf and the calf kinda hidden  behind her is her natural calf

thanks again to allof you for your help

We sent the ear in on the calf that we had to destroy.  I feel that this is an important disorder to have pinpointed.

It was a real blow to have to shoot a calf that looked as good as ours did.  However, he was getting worse by the week and would have never made it to any kind of market weight.  Initial signs on him was that he was laying down much much more than any other calf in the pasture.  Other than not being able to get around he was bright eyed and very healthy  the signs were there that he would not remain so as he became less dependant on the cow and more dependant on having to search out his own meals so we went ahead and destroyed him at about three months of age.

DL  I appreciate any information that you provide on this board.  Sometimes bad news on genetics that we as individuals promote is a hard pill to swallow, but for the health of the entire cattle population it is important to get this information disseminated.  It is hard to sell calves that can't get up and move around.  It is not economically viable to have to shoot part of a calf crop every year.

jbzdad said:

DL the answers to your questions are almost all yes... I will see if I can get a video for this thread... I appreciate all you who answered and now if someone searches SP for spastic  paresis there will at least be some info...

yes we kinda like our holsteins here in Kansas... that cow was the donor for this calf and the calf kinda hidden  behind her is her natural calf

thanks again to allof you for your help

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well that color seemed to be potent?  I'm guessing some maine in them?  Do you mind sharing the pedigree of the inflicted and his dam?

the truth said:

jbzdad said:

DL the answers to your questions are almost all yes... I will see if I can get a video for this thread... I appreciate all you who answered and now if someone searches SP for spastic  paresis there will at least be some info...

yes we kinda like our holsteins here in Kansas... that cow was the donor for this calf and the calf kinda hidden  behind her is her natural calf

thanks again to allof you for your help

Click to expand...

well that color seemed to be potent?  I'm guessing some maine in them?  Do you mind sharing the pedigree of the inflicted and his dam?

Click to expand...

Just to clarify - spastic paresis AKA Elso heel was first described in Holsteins and has been identified in many breeds including Angus, this is not a breed specific defect and likely there are environmental components to its expression

BTW I like B&W calves  you can find them in the dark

I agree with SWMO - it is awful to have to kill a calf who - except for the hind legs - looks so good - until we can identify the mutations(s) involved it is difficult to know which mating will end up giving you a SP calf - thus the importance of submitting samples

sure.. sire of this calf is K and A top shelf... Dam is MCF Miss Flex OR41KU...#394371...power flex  (a power plus son) X a witch Doctor female
the dam is a purebred... as is the sire

Had a registered shorthorn heifer two years ago that about 3months of age she started the same thing you mention. I took her to 3 vets at OSU they all agreed it was SP. I let her go for alittle while but it became progressively worse. We took her at about 4 months to the butcher. They said as long as she was able to get up and down on her own they could process her. If they go down and can't get up, our butcher said they can not process them and they have to destroy them. It doesn' t get any better usually.

We had a heifer a few years ago with SP.  She did not show signs of it until 7 - 8 months of age. We thought maybe some sort of trauma triggered her's, but probably genetics!!!  Her legs would go straight and just shake.  She had a horrible time getting up and down also and once up she could barely stay up.  We took her to the Iowa State vet hospital for two surguries to no avail. We eventually had to put her down.  

I am scared to death now of SP when I see a calf that is "to straight legged."

jbzdad said:

sure.. sire of this calf is K and A top shelf... Dam is MCF Miss Flex OR41KU...#394371...power flex  (a power plus son) X a witch Doctor female
the dam is a purebred... as is the sire

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Too much of a good thing?

I don't know about other breeds, but I have seen SP in Maine cattle simply because that is what I've been around. Lining up particular lines within a pedigree seem to aggrevate the problem. It will be interesting to find out how the genetics work. Good luck Dr. B.

I've had it show ip from:

Calves sired by a Bull we owned (Playmate x Power Plant).  No common threads on dams.

A Punisher steer last year out of a Chiangus cow

You can see clinical signs of SP as early as one month of age and as late as steers ready for the fair and older - older is not as common; it can progress rapidly or slowly, affect one or both back legs - once you see it you will never miss identify it - it is a nasty condition, there is no cure and essentially no treatment (although you can try to cut the nerves surgically it doesn't fix the problem) - it just keeps getting worse

the next available date at the packing plant is mid sept... I took it