Calf Talk

June, 2005

Volume 11, No. 6

SARCINIA AND ABOMASAL BLOAT

By: Russ Schnepper, DVM

Sarcinia has been found in some of our calf operations. I did not understand how the sarcinia was involved. But last week I attended a Seminar on Calf Raising at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Nydam, a Cornell professor, convinced me the sarcinia is a normal inhabitant of the rumen and is not supposed to be in the abomasum. But it does get into the abomasum and intestine with resulting bloat, etc. Sarcinia duplicates the symptoms of a clostridial infection.

Abomasal bloat causes a bulge on the right hand side of the calf. It can not be relieved by running a hose down the calf’s throat, because the bloat is not in the rumen. Likewise tapping the rumen with a needle is not effective. Sometimes the bloat is so acute it is impossible to tell which side the bloat is on. Clostridia are also normal inhabitants of the gut and only become a problem when there are large numbers.

Sarcinia has been identified in the calves that also have clostridia present. It is not clear to me if sarcinia is a true pathogen in the abomasum or it is going along with the clostridia. However, the bottom line is, you treat sarcinia just like clostridia. Give oral penicillin and the calf will usually respond, whether it is clostridia, sarcinia , or both. Clostridia infections are prevented by preventing an acidosis. Feed calves on a regular schedule, regular amounts of feed at the same temperature. Do not make sudden changes. Suddenly adding two ounces of Gammulin can trigger an acidosis and resulting clostridial problem. Gammulin must be added and removed from the ration in a gradual fashion.

Clostridia can not be treated nor prevented by injections. We have run many experiments giving C & D Antitoxin to part of the calves and not the others, and we have never been able to show an advantage to the preventive Antitoxin. The clostridial bacterins and toxoids are not effective either. The problem is in the lumen of the gut. Antibodies, produced by the calf, in response to the vaccines, do not get into the lumen of the gut in sufficient quantities to prevent nor treat the clostridia in the gut.

I do not want you to take milk away from the calf, however if the calf refuses to eat. don’t tube the milk. I would rather skip a feeding. Force feeding would be like shoving a steak down you when you have a stomach flu. I tube fluids and electrolytes, but use judgement. Calves that are “water logged” or have what I call “slushy guts” do not need more fluids added to the mix. Go with IV lactated ringers or saline, etc. If you can’t hit the vein, give the fluids under the skin. Large quantities of fluids can be placed under the skin. If the calf absorbs the fluids and the lump goes away, give more fluids. I do not give more than two bags of lactated ringers in a short time, as you can upset the blood chemistries. Saline or saline and dextrose should be used for follow up.

Tube the calves with a probe that has a small end on it, like the Danish Calf Feeder. The large knobs on some probes cause trauma and hemorrhage that outweigh the benefits of medicating. In all cases, exercise judgement. Common sense goes a long way.

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