sick steer--need expertise, please!

History~ steer came from Kansas and was trailered to Indiana.  Brought to the farm where we bought him from.  Then brought to our house. He has been here just over a month and was doing well.  He came down with a runny nose, and I admit I let it go for about 3 days.  I assumed it was the weather change and was hoping he'd get over it.  Went out and took his temperature and decided it was turning into more.  Gave him 7cc of Banamine (sp) and 35cc of Batril (sp).  Waited 3 days and he was still coughing and snotty.  Called the vet, she said to redose him with 7cc of Banamine and 35cc more of Batril.  Its been 2 days and he is still hacking and running a temp. on and off.  Called her today and told her I wanted to get him over this!!  He has not came off feed but does not feel good, and I'm worried he's not gotten over this quick enough.  I don't want a chronic anything.  Anybody want through some opinions in on what to give that will get over it?

Nuflor

Most "shipping fever" virus are going to hit between 21 to 28 days. He more than likely has caught a virus. Do you know what his vaccinations have been? If it is a virus, it is going to have to run it's coarse and you are going to have to treat the symptoms that go along with the virus. I would wait 1 more day and then I would give him 2 sustain 3 boluses and mycitil,(SP ), if I had some or LA 200. Good luck. Brent

THANKS BRENT!!  I appreciate your input A LOT!!  I have been stressed for a week over this steer.  I will call my vet and run this by her.  Where can I get myactin boluses?  I will def. do some internet searching on shipping fever.  I really appreciate your help and anyone else that wants to help.

Oh, and we vac. as soon as he got here.

i agree, nuflor is good stuff. we use it everytime we move cattle to new farms

What did you vaccinate for?    Sustain comes in the bolus  and micotil is an injection.    We've had better luck recently with Nuflor but Micotil should work as well. 

kanshow said:

Nuflor

Click to expand...

Megadittos!

kanshow said:

What did you vaccinate for?    Sustain comes in the bolus  and micotil is an injection.     We've had better luck recently with Nuflor but Micotil should work as well. 

Click to expand...

YEs and be very carefull with the micotil, make sure not to stab your self!! It is deadly to humans. Also Nuflor, Draxxin(works very well but expensive) micotil, baytril and LA 200 should all help him get over it. Good Luck!

kanshow said:

What did you vaccinate for?    Sustain comes in the bolus  and micotil is an injection.     We've had better luck recently with Nuflor but Micotil should work as well. 

Click to expand...

As everyone probably knows, be VERY careful if you choose to use Micotil.  It is lethal to humans if you accidentally stick yourself.  If it came to needing Micotil, I'd probably have the Vet do it or at the very least be sure the steer is contained so you don't have to wrestle with him.  I have used Nuflor with great success.  I usually see visible results and improvement within 24 hrs.

Oh yes..like the others said -  be very careful with micotil.   

Anyone know anything about how long shipping fever last and if he will have low immunity after...we've got a show coming up, should we skip?

Shipping fever is a very general term and used all encompassing. There are many viruses that it could be. I would skip the show to reduce the stress. I've always had good results with micotil, but as everyone warns, be very carefull. I would use the cheapest antibiotic that you can and watch him carefully. You have done what you should have so far. I was just thinking use something different to cover more bases. The virus is going to run it's coarse and you are treating the secondary symptoms of the virus. Let the calf get to feeling better B4 you him him with his booster vaccinations. You do not get as good of immunity when the calf is not feeling well although you can sometimes get a response when vaccinating with a modified live vaccine internasal application. I hope that we don't have you all confused. Brent

amss101 said:

Anyone know anything about how long shipping fever last and if he will have low immunity after...we've got a show coming up, should we skip?

Click to expand...

10-14 days plus time to get them back on track.  I would skip if it were me.

I have been having the same experience with a heifer we purchased at the Bainridge sale.  She started showing these same symptoms about two days after bringing her home.  She obviously was infected when I bought her.

She showed minimal response to an initial treatment with Baytril(2 doses 48 hours), and then had a brief positive response to Draxin.  Nuflor was next, and it was minimally effective.  I gave her a 4th gen. penicillin yesterday, and this seem to be helping.  My problem is that her fever simply would not stay normal, and she would go off feed.  Off course, she has had several doses of Bantamine.

I know that it's probably viral, and the treatments will not kill it, but boy it sure is hard to see a major investment go downhill.  It's nerve-wracking!  The poor thing has had more shots in the past three weeks than I care to count.  Her neck may take months to return to normal.

The cold weather definitely seems to help her recovery in terms of fever reducing. 

Right there with ya, Savaged.  Not only is it frustrating but its stressing.

By the way,  the last med I used is called Exceed.  It was given sub-Q at the base of the ear.  It seems to be working as she has a full appetite back and no fever.

I fought the same thing with a heifer I bought at an October sale. Used everything, trying something different every two or three days, chasing it with Banamine each time. She was hacking and wheezing like I had never heard before. I was sure she was a chronic case that got pushed off on me thru this sale and I even called the breeder and questioned it. Then a buddy said to try Exceed and let it go 4 days. I did and I saw obvious improvement. Hit her again with Exceed 4 days later and she has been fine since. It is COSTLY, but sure worked when nothing else would here, unless it was just coincidental timing and the thing ran its course

We  use Draxxin, more expensive than others but what I like is a smaller dose of 1cc per hundred weight , lasts 14 days in their system and will knock down the problem right away. We use banamine to bring down their temp. Micotel is good but a littlescary as I have stuck myself with needles many times by accident,But if you are real carefull it works great.