I know this is a pretty old post, but I figured I'd give it a try anyhow. I'm currently treating a calf that has been diagnosed with tetanus. Calf was 1 month old when I caught, banded, and gave the first shot of CD/T on Saturday the 17th. Later that day, he started walking a little funny, so I thought he was just sore from the band. Sunday, I noticed his back legs were a little stiff, but after he got up he looked fine. Monday morning, he was having a hard time getting up. At that point, I called my vet who gave me 2 bottles of antitoxin and told me to give Combi-Pen for the next week. I locked him in the shed with his mother, and he was able to get up to suck. He got a little worse on Tuesday, then Wednesday he couldn't even get up with help. I was tempted to cull at that point, but I decided to try to tube feeding for another day to see if there were any improvements. I moved him into the barn and isolated him. He would usually look better in the mornings than evenings, and it seemed like he started to gradually gain some strength.
On Saturday, he was able to sit up most of the day. Up to that point, he was basically stretched out stiff unless I tucked his legs underneath him and propped him up. I turn him every time I go out. Sunday came and he looked a little better. He continues to have normal BM's, so I've continued to tube feed. I did try to bottle feed, but he refused. When I had him suck my finger, it felt like his tongue and mouth did not have much muscle control, so I think he isn't able to latch properly to a bottle. This morning, he was sitting more upright on his own with his ears perked up and eyes a little more normal. It seems like he has possibly started to turn a corner, but I'm still pretty skeptical after all the research has shown his chances are slim.
Does anyone else have experience with this? I'd be interested to hear if anyone has seen them get to this point. I haven't been able to find much on any site about the timeline. My vet told me it could take a while to recover, but he wasn't very optimistic about his chances at the start of this little adventure.
Although I don't think he contracted tetanus and started having symptoms 3 hours after banding, I am changing my vaccination schedule. I never did find any cuts or marks on this calf that would indicate where it could have all started. I'm assuming he contracted tetanus earlier and just happened to start showing signs that day after I handled him. I'm planning on vaccinating calves with the CD/T vaccine 1 week after birth, then banding and giving the booster 3 weeks later. Does anyone have any thoughts on that timeline?