Development of an Aggressive Treatment Protocol against Neonatal Calf Diarrhea: The Last Chance to Rescue Severely Infected Calves

Abstract

Despite many efforts to control and treat neonatal calf diarrhea (NCD), it remains the primary cause of calf mortality in dairy herds worldwide. The objective of this article was to develop and discuss an empirical therapeutic protocol to save newborn calves with severe diarrhea. The pathophysiology of diarrhea has been well described previously. However, there is a significant gap between scientific findings and practical implementations. Reducing the number of calves with failure of passive transfer, regular sanitation of the calf environment, and optimal dry cow nutrition and management are fundamental measures in controlling diarrhea in commercial settings. As such, optimizing colostrum feeding management and improving ambiance hygiene are among the most important management practices to prevent calf diarrhea. Nonetheless, the occurrence of NCD would be unavoidable due to its multifactorial nature and pathophysiology. According to the degree of dehydration and general appearance of ill calves (e.g., degree of sunken eye and loss of suck reflex), NCD can be classified into mild to severe cases. Early diagnosis and treatment of both mild and severe cases could reduce pathogens shedding into the calf environment. Notably, diarrhea treatment needs profound scientific farm education and mentoring regarding the physiology of NCD. Since a variety of organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, may be responsible for NCD, it is evident that reliable diagnosis requires optimal sampling and laboratory analysis. However, waiting for laboratory results may waste the golden time of treatment. Therefore, rapid and decisive treatment would be mandatory, especially in severely infected calves or sepsis cases. Accordingly, an effective aggressive treatment protocol was developed and discussed in this article as the last chance to keep diarrheic calves alive.