Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
I know betamox LA or pen strep is not expensive, but we might only use a few ml on calves for a respiratory or a swollen navel. We are getting to the stage of not buying any antibiotics by the bottle except if a vet is out to a sick cow. With a small herd with usually pretty good health status, we are wasting too much with the use by dates, let alone the 28 day ruling. Where it gets difficult is if you have a sick animal over a Sunday or bank hol Monday, one that you are perfectly able to diagnose and treat but if you haven't got the right meds there....
Metacam, not an antibiotic, is a classic example - scouring or pneumonia calf, difficult calving, downer, we would treat all these with metacam, but might only need it once every few months. If we get a syringe drawn off as a 'just in case' then the 28 days starts then, Even on a 50 ml bottle - which we can sometimes get - then 13 ml for a cow can leave you with a lot going to waste after 28 days. It's just getting ridiculous.
Metacam, not an antibiotic, is a classic example - scouring or pneumonia calf, difficult calving, downer, we would treat all these with metacam, but might only need it once every few months. If we get a syringe drawn off as a 'just in case' then the 28 days starts then, Even on a 50 ml bottle - which we can sometimes get - then 13 ml for a cow can leave you with a lot going to waste after 28 days. It's just getting ridiculous.