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Faunsdale, AL | If calf is weak, IV is best. If its down, IV is essential. SQ will help, but its not for the bad ones and oral fluids should take care of those anyway.
Lactated Ringer's is a good all around, Normal saline (0.9 % NaCl) works too. Some say the best is half Ringer's in half normal saline and you can buy it that way.
The absolute cheapest easy thing you can do in a pinch is 5% dextrose made by using distilled water with 100 ml of 50% dextrose in each liter. I have used that when I ran out of the other fluids. You are after blood volume expansion to avoid shock and dehydration and it will do that. You are depending on oral intake of milk and functioning kidneys to make it all good. Kidneys don't work without adequate blood volume and the calf can't drink when it is depressed from dehydration, so the IV dextrose 5% is safe, kicks in a little energy and a bunch of water and kick starts the process.
I learned that many, if not most, calves that you bring back from the edge with IV fluids will crash again, so don't think they are cured! | |
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IV for bottle calves questions
