He was three days old when they found him on that chilly morning May 1st. Dehydrated, starving, cold, and near death, with no mother to claim him. And so it was that this American Buffalo calf was brought into Tharp Veterinary Clinic. The girls went to work warming him while Dr. Steve started him on intravenous fluid. Warm goat milk was given him by tubing. But the greatest concern that was lurking in the minds of everyone working to save him was the certainty this calf did not get any colostrum in his first 12 hours. Without it death was certain, for in that critical window a calf must receive that life giving drink or he will have no antibodies to fight off infection. But Dr. Steve was not without a plan, and with nothing to lose he gave the calf a healthy dose of bovine serum. When asked if he thought it would work he said, "never been tried before, this is new territory, time will tell". And so the girls started coaxing him to take a bottle and were ecstatic when he started sucking. A day passed, then two, and he was showing some definite improvement but the question still hung in the air like a dark cloud, would the bovine serum work? By day three the calf had improved enough to go home, and if Dr. Steve's ingenious plan was working the calf would continue to improve if not he would not survive. The days passed then turned into weeks and the calf continued to flourish! Having no mother to claim him he is being bottle fed and is sure to become a handful as he grows, thanks to a intuitive Vet with "out of the box" ingenuity!
That's Amazing
That's Amazing
