He was bloated again tonight. Plus, he now has scours. Not good. Treated him again. Hoping for a turnaround, but this is not looking good.
I’m hating on ignorant morons right now. Animals pay the price.
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I’d be a bit concerned about an abomasal ulcer with possible perforation. Fingers crossed that he comes around.
Have you dosed him with flunixin meglamine (Banamine)? We prefer meloxicam but not sure you want to throw more in his tummy. Sometimes these critters need a break from pain to perk up.
Also, what does your vet say about a temporary bloat trocar? I’ve never used one but the frequent tubing may be hurting his throat and liquid that dribbles out as the tube is pulled out may be going into his lungs.
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We used a bloat trocar rarely and only on adult cattle, not on calves.
Tubing done properly should not dribble any out the other end, hold your end properly plugged up and nothing should come out the other end while on the way out.
When a calf starts having such problems, before those complicate, we generally try feeding them buttermilk, per our old vet it may stabilize digestive system on calves, but Pete may be too old now for that to help.
We had one of our weaning calves start not doing well, bloating a bit and eventually he didn’t make it.
Necropsy, here called “posting”, did show that a small part of his intestines, about 4" long, had not kept growing with him and had been, as he grew, causing more and more of a constriction and there was no help possible with that rare problem.
Hoping Pete turns the corner and starts picking up.
He looks like such a nice one, mad at whoever abused him.
There are roping dummy gadgets of all kinds to learn to rope properly, then rope live cattle only when you are refining your roping skills and treating your cattle well.
My friend trains roping horses and he can’t stand those ropers that don’t take good care of their stock.
His roping steers are treated nicely, work for him for several years until they get too large to be roped safely, that is how those cattle should be treated.
Glad you are trying to save him, so he can have a good quality of life, as long as it may last.
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The first vet did the initial exam and emergency treatment last Monday night. That’s when the bloat was reduced, he got a gut slurry to perk him up, and a long lasting antibiotic.
Friday, our neighborhood vet gave me Magnalox and Probios boluses to give him 2x per day and 1x per day, respectively. He also gets a dose of Therabloat daily if he gets tubed.
The trocar idea was discussed and dismissed.
Yesterday was bad. Really bad.
Last night, after the second bloat, we had nothing coming out the back end all day, he was lethargic, reluctant to get up, and stopped eating. As a last ditch before a bullet move, we rolled him on his back and rocked him back and forth in case of a flipped abomasum. He got up and started eating. Before bed, he drank and ate more hay. I didn’t put too much stock in it because of how much he’s been through.
Miracle of miracles, he was alive this morning. Still has liquid poop, but no bloat. His fever is also gone. I gave him his boluses and washed the caked on poop from scours.
Guess what I found under the poop? Balls!
Little black nubs that clearly recently descended (I had doubts about the castration the guy claimed happened because of Pete’s age).
Called the vet to report the scours. She said to keep up the boluses.
The most important news is the conversation I had after coming inside to tell Mr. MLO that Pete had improved overnight. He told me we should change his name. “To what?” I asked, Lazarus?”
“No, call him Norman”, he joked.
“Why?”
“You know, that movie” he told me with a sad look in his eye.
“Yeah…”
“I love steak, but I can’t eat him after all this!”
Pete, if he lives, is a pet.
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COME ON PEETTTTE!!! We are all cheering you on!
Mr MLO 
the City Slicker reference.
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Your post made me laugh out loud! I remember the movie well!
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Pete’s poop solidified today. He bloated again, but the tube and Therabloat treatment got him right again. We put shavings down in his stall because of the poop. He looks pretty comfy tonight.
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Good morning, Pete. First morning I could just leave him to eat his breakfast quietly. He has loose poop again, but he’s eating and drinking. He needs a lot of weight. His temporary stall is sheltered from wind and weather. It’s nothing fancy, just a three sided equipment shed, but it’ll have to do for awhile.
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Just happened upon this thread and I feel so sorry for little Pete.
That Yahoo needs to (I’ll shut up now…)
Jingling for little Pete!!! 
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I’ve thought of a few ways to end that sentence…. 
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I understand farm -to-table, but admit I was glad to read this.
So what’s the new name?
ETA:
Ferdinand!
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You may feel differently when he is healthy, huge and a royal PITB but no matter what happens he will be loved and well cared for as long as he lives.
Just remember to get him castrated when he gets healthy!
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He’ll keep the name Pete.
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Hahaha! That’s what I was saying upthread. We had several PITA steers, but not all were. Now that I think about it, one steer actually helped me out after I sold our bull. He helped me with the cow heat cycles for AI. Our fencing is not appropriate for a bull right now, so Pete might not be much of a bother. Our old mama cow will likely put him in his place. We have plenty of pasture.
He has a lot of health issues to work on when he feels better. Vaccines and deworming are first. A solid two doses of tetanus need to be given before castration. We’ll probably have the vet do the castration because of his age.
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My last steer was a Jersey with horns and while he was a sweet heart I was never so glad to see him go and come back in white packages!
My current Angus bottle calf is naturally polled( thank goodness) and he is my baby so I know how you feel. So easy to get attached when you are their caretaker.
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Jerseys are goofy and huge! Our beef steers weren’t so bad. One annoyed the heck out our bull. Another bothered the cows and calves.
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This guy looks part Angus. Can’t tell what else. He has a weird red color mixed in his coat. Not sun bleached. No idea what breed that would be, but he’s polled.
We have both Red and Black Angus and when the 2 are mixed the resulting black offspring can have a red tinge to the coat when you are close enough to see it.
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Also malnutrition can give black calves a reddish tint, most times a copper deficiency.
You may be able to tell more once he gets on his feet.
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What does this mean?
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