Dehydration & IV Fluids

When a calf comes down with diarrhea, as a caregiver your natural response is to treat the illness. Most likely you’re going to reach for an electrolyte first. Calf diarrhea (scours) can quickly cause dehydration and lead to lethargy, zapping your calf’s energy and performance. A rapid response to correcting dehydration in calves can be lifesaving. But which electrolyte should you choose? Leedstone offers multiple options of electrolytes for calves. Not only are they used to treat calf diarrhea, but also combat heat stress and stress resulting from management procedures.

Scouring calves lose essential electrolytes. When selecting electrolytes to treat scours, read the label. Ingredients listed on the label are in order from highest to lowest concentration, which is important in your decision. The product should contain sodium, amino acid (glycine), and dextrose (glucose) as an energy source; and an alkalinizing agent such as acetate, bicarbonate, sodium propionate, and electrolytes. Researched conducted by Geof Smith, DVM has indicated the following guidelines: sodium: 90-130 mM/L, inclusion of amino acid (glycine), osmolarity: 400-600 mOsm/L, and alkalinizing agent 50-80 mM/L. Osmolarity is key to treating scouring cases—if it’s greater than 700 mOsm/L, scours can increase in severity, or the calf could experience abomasal bloat due to delayed emptying of the stomach. Learn more about electrolytes and how to assess dehydration here.

Oral electrolytes are fast and easy to give, providing a quick source of energy and hydration. They can be administered via calf bottle, calf pail, or oral drencher. Most can be mixed with warm water; some can be mixed in with the milk feeding—always read the label. Calves with a dehydration status of 5 to 8 percent are candidates for oral electrolytes. Those greater than 8 percent will need to have IV fluids administered. Intravenous fluid therapy is given to calves that cannot stand or lie in an upright position. This critically ill state diminishes the suckle reflex, making oral fluid therapy dangerous. IV fluids can help revive the calf, converting it from intravenous fluid status to oral fluid therapy for subsequent treatments. Always check with your veterinarian as to which IV fluid is best for your farm. Learn more about IV’ing a calf here.

Leedstone offers a variety of oral calf electrolytes and IV fluid therapy products, plus the equipment to administer them! Shop IV sets, IV catheters and fluids; oral calf electrolytes, electrolytes, and more calf care supplies!