Causes of diarrhea with blood in a calf and how to treat it at home
Diarrhea in animals can be caused by various causes. A calf has bloody diarrhea - what is the reason and how to treat it? This situation is familiar to every farmer. First of all, you need to understand that diarrhea is a symptom of some kind of disease. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to correctly diagnose. To increase the animal's chances of recovery, it is recommended to seek professional help.
Causes of bloody diarrhea in calves
Various reasons can provoke the appearance of an ailment: ingestion of a foreign object, food poisoning, infectious diseases, helminthic invasions. It should also be borne in mind that normal food poisoning does not lead to the appearance of blood in the calf's feces. The problem may be the ingestion of chemicals (nitrates, heavy metal salts) into food.
Old hay is a common cause of poisoning, resulting in blood and mucus in the stool. The cause of the disease is mycotoxins - waste products of molds. Moldy hay should not be fed to animals, even if there is nothing to replace it with. Usually fungi appear in caked, poorly dried grass.
The danger of the problem
Diarrhea in calves, even without bleeding, is a dangerous symptom. The main danger of indigestion is dehydration. Blood impurities are a sign of damage to the mucous membrane of internal organs, intestines. Due to damage to the walls of blood vessels, the likelihood of bacterial flora entering the blood increases. As a result, the animal develops bacteremia, sepsis. If the bull has a weakened immune system, then after 35-48 hours the animal dies from septic shock.
The danger is also the ingress of a foreign body into the esophagus, since the main treatment option for the animal is surgery. This is a rather costly procedure, therefore, it is advisable only in case of saving a breeding animal.
How to treat cattle diarrhea
Since diarrhea is a symptom of the disease, it is initially important to make a correct diagnosis. Laboratory studies can accurately understand the cause of mucosal damage. Treatment is prescribed after diagnosis.
Single case
In case of an illness in one animal, you need to make sure that there are no foreign objects in the animal's gastrointestinal tract. For such an examination, you will need an X-ray machine or an ultrasound device. It is not difficult to test a calf on a livestock facility equipped with similar technology.
In private households, it is possible to provide an animal with emergency assistance as in case of food poisoning: a calf is given a cleansing enema, medications that promote blood clotting are prescribed (ascorbic acid, etamsylate, vikasol).
To replenish the loss of fluid, the bull is given to drink salted water, a medicine for rehydration "Polivisol".
Poisoning
If any poisonous substances enter the food, it is important to provide first veterinary aid in a timely manner. To choose the right medication, it is necessary to establish the source of the poisoning. Then a set of activities is carried out:
- if the disease simultaneously manifests itself in many calves and cows, then poor-quality feed can cause diarrhea. Therefore, the feeders are cleared of feed, hay;
- the animals are given sorbents (Smecta, activated carbon, enterosorbent B) to remove harmful substances from the body;
- since cleansing enemas are contraindicated in case of intestinal damage, it is recommended to perform gastric lavage;
- the introduction of saline, laxatives and diuretics will accelerate the elimination of toxic substances from the animal's body;
- potassium carbonate is prescribed for accidental chemical poisoning.
General therapy (injections, droppers) will help to strengthen the calves' immunity, improve metabolism, and support the functioning of both the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. But it is recommended to pass water, food, animal feces for analysis in order to accurately determine the cause of the poisoning.
Helminths
Worms, getting into the body of the animal, spread in the intestines, lungs, blocking the respiratory passages. An increase in body temperature, bloody stools, refusal to feed are symptoms of damage to the body by helminths.
By filling the calf's body, parasites provoke inflammatory processes in the cells and contribute to the structural destruction of organs.
Failure to start home treatment in a timely manner increases the likelihood of calf death. Several medications are used in therapy:
- "Alvet" - the drug suppresses the development of helminths at an early stage and is well tolerated by animals;
- "Albendazole" - the medicine is produced in the form of a suspension, reliably destroys parasites. Advantage - the medicine is low-toxic to the calf's body;
- "Tetramisole" - the effect is observed within a day after application. The medication is characterized by rapid absorption by organ tissues and a long-term therapeutic effect.
Treatment of helminthic infestation is carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian, since the animal has a risk of drug intolerance.
Salmonellosis
The disease affects young animals 1-2 months old. Clinical symptoms: high body temperature, thirst, pneumonia, conjunctivitis. If the calf poops with blood, then the disease has reached an advanced stage. In laboratories, the blood and feces of sick cattle are examined.
The treatment is based on injections of polyvalent antitoxic serum. Animals are injected intramuscularly or intravenously, 5-10 ml of the drug for 7-10 days. It is recommended that the daily dose be divided into three injections (injections are given at intervals of 4 hours). Formol-alum vaccine has proven itself well (injections are given only subcutaneously).
Prevention measures
When the first signs of diarrhea appear, it is important to establish the source of the disease. Since it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat it, great importance is attached to preventive measures:
- feed is procured and stored according to the established technology, constantly monitoring the quality;
- it is impossible to violate the technology of preparation of silage, compound feed;
- the condition of reservoirs and pastures is constantly monitored. Grazing areas are periodically checked for foreign objects;
- the diet of animals is replenished with vitamin and mineral supplements in order to exclude the eating of harmful and dangerous plants and substances.
At the places of future grazing, the composition of the flora is checked in order to prevent poisoning by poisonous plants. Deworming is carried out periodically. Areas where the herd are kept are regularly cleaned and disinfected.
Diarrhea is a common illness in young animals. However, bloody diarrhea in a calf is not an ordinary phenomenon. You need to react quickly, since delay can lead to the death of the animal. Identifying the cause and properly prescribed treatment will increase your chances of recovery.
