Questionable Fawn

35 day old fawn averaging 45oz's a day right now showing some symptoms Ive never seen together and thought I'd see if anyone else has...



Yesterday around 2 pm went out to feed and she appeared to have the hiccups. Realised it wasnt hiccups but more like a jerk towards the rear of her abdomen every 5 seconds or so. She drinks a bottle fine, well hydrated, eyes clear, nose wet, temp normal. This morning added the symptom of wobbly. Kinda sways when she stands, unsure of where her feet are it seems when she walks.



She was pulled at day 3 because mom died of Clos A. She hasnt been treated for anything else along the way. Had 1/2cc Bo-se at birth, first catch, 2cc ecoliser, 2g Benebac. when we pulled her we did give probiotics first two days just to help with transition. Other than this she's been perfectly healthy.



Ive seen the wobbly symptoms in white muscle and other things but never seen the "hiccup" type symptom before. Got a call in to a vet now to see what he thinks but thought I'd throw it at you guys as well.....

Steve - that is a very bad symptom. When I have had fawns show ataxia/neurological symptoms, it has usually not gone well. I have found that some other illness, usually a clostridial, has released enough toxins into their system that it is more than they can handle. Once those toxins reach the brain, you see swaying/stumbling and other symptoms are soon to follow, like loss of control of body temperature. Anti-toxins and antibiotics can only do so much, but use them aggressively, followed with probiotics and an antacid to help prevent acidosis. Banamine can help protect the brain barrier to some extent. Good luck with this, I hope you vet has a better diagnoses for you.

Type A is rare for us...Most of us up North Use Type C & D, So make sure you use Type A If that is what your vet said. As Robbie stated If that is the problem It may have already caused damage,But it is worth a try. The other few possibilities would be from Vitamin B deficiency (I have posted this else where but!!! I don't like to give vit B shots. I use a oral gel. You can kill a fawn with Vitamin B... I use Micro B 12 or sublingual B complex) or it could also be white muscle disease a Bo-SE...Or true neurological damage from trauma.

It is, these type of issues that are the most challanging for any deer farmer or care giver. Occasionally, deer will become sick very fast and only exhibit slight symptoms and when the crash comes it is very quick and not usually reversable. I hope in this instance this is not the case. Robbie is exactly right in recommending banamine as a treatment, but I would also slip 1cc of dex subQ as well. If you do not see a marked improvement in 12-18 hours then some additional therapy may be appropriate. Keep us posted on the symptoms and/or condition of the fawn as we will need to respond quickly if things get worse.

Been talking with my vet all day and he's spoke with several other vets that breed or treat deer. Took a short video with my phone and sent it to him and we've discussed different possibilities. We decided there's no clearcut symptom that really tells us exactly what to do, so here's what we did....



1/2cc BoSe IM, 3 gr Banamine paste, 5 gr Apple Baytril paste, pinch of salt added to bottle each time. Will give banamine and baytril again in the morning along with trying to get her to eat a little banana.



She's still a little wobbly, stretches a lot more than the other fawns but the jerk has subsided some. Less frequent and less dramatic. Her appetite is still good along with all other vitals.



It was a common thought to not stress her too much today, treat her once then do everything else normal. Don't keep going in and out messing with her. Tomorrow we will treat her the same, minus the BoSe, and try to listen to her heart and lungs. No one really seemed willing to say it was neurological just yet but that it was possible. I honestly dont know what to call it but as soon as I feel she's stable enough to draw blood we probably will and if she doesnt make it a full post will be done.



The dex did come up but the consensus was Baytril first. Hope its not something we regret......

Did an urine analysis this morning and really wasn't sure what is going on there. Tons of crystals but no true sign of infection or cause of symptoms. Doc said they looked like yeast that would come out of a dogs ear.... Urine tested fine, protein, calcium, everything ok. Train of thought was a basic yeast infection in the ******l tract but that isnt whats causing the ataxia symptoms. Needless to say our hope of a simple bladder infection didnt turn out.



Going to do another urine analysis, fecal sample, and bloodwork Monday if all goes well.



The plan going forward is 1/2cc Dex SQ late tonight due to the amount of Banamine she's had in the past 24 hrs. Gave her 2cc Thiamine in her 2pm bottle and her 9pm bottle tonight then twice a day. Give 1.5gr Baytril paste tomorrow morning and 1/2cc Dex IM tomorrow night and again Monday night. Hopefuly we'll see improvement by Monday AM. If not then it'll probably end up being a learning experience for everyone involed.



Thanks to all for the responses, everything brought up here has been brought up in conversation among the vets. I'll keep posting the results and procedures as we go through them, hopefuly it'll work and help someone else down the road....

Two thoughts:



A Doc at OSU once told me to never give Banamine and Dex together as it can cause liver and kidney damage, especially in fawns. So watch that.



And, we discovered Resflor the year. It is Banamine and Nuflor in one and it works very well!

As of noon today the twitch was gone, stool a little loose still but working on that with probiotics. She did have a little green mucus discharge when she peed earlier and may be getting her sturdiness back as well.



Holly, thats why we went SQ with thelow dose of Dex last night, Vets felt that 2 treatments of Banamine 24 hours apart then a 12 hr lapse between the 2nd banamine treatment and a small dose of Dex SQ would be sufficient because they didnt want to wait too long to get the Dex in her since she didnt respond to the Banamine as anticipated. Thanks on the Resflor, definently be looking into that...



Also, if anyone knows how to transfer a video that is longer than 7 seconds from a blackberry to a computer please message me. I'd like to post the videos of her symptoms for others to see....



Thanks