Author Topic: Cyptospyridium (Read 2303 times)

Faye.Lear · « **on:** August 19, 2022, 01:34:57 pm »

Hello all,
We bought a Angus calf in to foster onto one of our cows from a calf dealer.
What a mistake that was!
He was scouring when he arrived and a worm count confirmed crypto.
Now he’s on day 3 of Halagon and is slowly improving with alternate feeds of milk and electrolyte solution but we are having to tube feed him.
Now we’ve had him 7 days and he’s started to lose the fur around his eyes and ears.
No scans etc, no lice or mites.
Am I over thinking this could be ringworm?
Has anyone else had experience of a calf wit crypto. I wondering if the hair loss is just due to his immune system being so low. He is also losing a bit on his inner leg but again the skin underneath looks perfectly fine.

Any advice appreciated before I run to the vets again...

twizzel · « **Reply #1 on:** August 19, 2022, 03:05:20 pm »

Yes, we have big trouble with crypto. Can’t say we’ve had any calves lose their hair though. Be aware once you’ve got crypto you’ll have trouble for years to come. We have to Halocur every calf born now every year despite pressure washing and disinfecting the shed out. Ring worm is more round patches, but without seeing it would be difficult to say if it’s ring worm or not. If it is, there’s not much you can do unless you want to vaccinate/treat with the imported vaccine from the vets.

Faye.Lear · « **Reply #2 on:** August 19, 2022, 05:37:50 pm »

Thank you Twizzel,
How long was it until the scouring stopped? The poor fella is still so weak and depressed. As I said it’s day 3 of treatment but i’m super worried about him.

twizzel · « **Reply #3 on:** August 19, 2022, 06:26:54 pm »

Probably about a week but the halocur should start helping by day 3 or 4. Keep up with fluids; crypto doesn’t tend to kill but the dehydration is what kills them. We were tubing calves 3 times a day when they were really bad. The good thing about halocur is it is a good preventative as well as a treatment. The bad thing about halocur is you can easily overdose and it’s really quite toxic, so make sure you aren’t overdosing. Also make sure you give it with a feed. And it’s really expensive stuff, but as said it does work.

Faye.Lear · « **Reply #4 on:** August 21, 2022, 03:04:29 pm »

Thank you for your help Twizzel. Sadly the poor little fella died overnight. I am suspecting overdosing as the vet prescribed 2 pumps once daily although he was under 40kg. He continued to lose his fur and started to swell in the joint of one of his legs.
I’m so frustrated we couldn’t save him but also gutted he was so poorly for the week we had him and suffered unnecessarily.
We have learnt our lesson from buying blind using a calf dealer and won’t be doing that again to protect the rest of the herd but also frustrated that this little fella has been pushed around several farms who have in turn just sold on a ‘problem’.
We initially thought when he arrived the heat and the stress of travelling had caused his scouring, luckily we got the sample to the vets promptly and started treatment but unfortunately it was not to be.

If you’ve read my ramble thank you!

twizzel · « **Reply #5 on:** August 21, 2022, 08:08:27 pm »

Sorry you lost him; it sounds like a multitude of things that were topped off by the crypto, rather than anything you did. Sounds like he had a bad start if he had the beginning of joint ill as well

If you can pressure wash out the pen he was in (if he was in?) and get hold of some disinfectant that kills crypto (Kilco Cyclex is one) it would definitely be worth doing; just to protect any calves that come into that pen in the future. Be aware that it doesn't always work though, so if any calves scour in the future get them tested asap. We’ve not managed to get rid of it from our shed yet