Help sourcing synulox bolus

[JohnD82]

Hi all, new to this forum however I am hoping some of you may be able to help?!
We have been using synulox bolus to treat scoors here on our farm for years and have found them very effective, however now our veterinary practice has decided it is against their policy to supply them!
Our main herd of cows are just about to start calving and we are desperate to get hold of bolus in case of scoors!

Can anyone advise of where or how we would be able to get some? Seems like we need a prescription?
Can anyone advise or does anyone have experience of a similar issue?

 

[Fergieman]

Synulox Bolus 500mg

Synulox boluses have a notably broad spectrum of bactericidal activity against bacteria commonly found in calves. In vitro Synulox is active against a wide range of clinically important bacteria. The clinical indications for Synulox boluses are...

www.farmacy.co.uk

They are in stock at Farmacy. Maybe your vet is having trouble with supplies as alot of other drugs are slow to come through to vets.

To buy them else where you will your vet to give you a prescription.

If it is against their policy to supply them have they suggested an alternative treatment?

 

[Happy]

Did your vet not offer any alternative solution?
If they can’t supply then they will surely write a prescription so that you can get them online.

By far the best option is to vaccinate cows with rotavec corona 3 weeks before calving.
Can’t remember when I last used a bolus or mix lectade for scour in the 10+ years since vaccinating instead.

 

[JohnD82]

Synulox Bolus 500mg

Synulox boluses have a notably broad spectrum of bactericidal activity against bacteria commonly found in calves. In vitro Synulox is active against a wide range of clinically important bacteria. The clinical indications for Synulox boluses are...

www.farmacy.co.uk

They are in stock at Farmacy. Maybe your vet is having trouble with supplies as alot of other drugs are slow to come through to vets.

To buy them else where you will your vet to give you a prescription.

If it is against their policy to supply them have they suggested an alternative treatment?

Hi Fergieman, thanks for your reply.
We have found them elsewhere and online however the problem is our vet refuses to write a prescription for us.
They do have them but refuse to give them out unless absolutely necessary due to their policy of minimising the use of antibiotics.
Their suggestion for alternative treatment is effydral, plenty fluids and a dung sample.
By the time we get the results of dung sample calf could well be dead.
Apparently synolux doesn’t treat scoor, which is partially true, however it does treat certain types of scoor (ecoli, salmonella) and has worked for us in the past.
Do you know if a vet is obligated to sign a prescription or are they within their rights to refuse?

 

[JohnD82]

Did your vet not offer any alternative solution?
If they can’t supply then they will surely write a prescription so that you can get them online.

By far the best option is to vaccinate cows with rotavec corona 3 weeks before calving.
Can’t remember when I last used a bolus or mix lectade for scour in the 10+ years since vaccinating instead.

Hi Happy, thanks for replying.
We do vaccinate with rotavec corona and usually don’t have much scoor however this year has been different for some reason and that is our supply of synolux now used up.
I’m not even convinced it was scoor as such which the calfs were suffering with as the dung wasn’t always typical of scoor however the bolus seemed to help.
We are planning on giving our calving pens and byre a good clean up and disinfect it prior to main herd calving to try and kill of any bugs which may be present.
Vets are recommending effydral, fluids and send a dung sample which is ok but by time we get results of dung sample god knows how many calves could be infected/dead.
Just nice to have the synulox there as a back up as they have been proven to be very successful for us in the past and have worked on our poorly calves so far this year.
The vets refuse to write us a prescription, do you know if they are duty bound to do so? Or are they within their rights to refuse?

 

[neilo]

Hi Happy, thanks for replying.
We do vaccinate with rotavec corona and usually don’t have much scoor however this year has been different for some reason and that is our supply of synolux now used up.
I’m not even convinced it was scoor as such which the calfs were suffering with as the dung wasn’t always typical of scoor however the bolus seemed to help.
We are planning on giving our calving pens and byre a good clean up and disinfect it prior to main herd calving to try and kill of any bugs which may be present.
Vets are recommending effydral, fluids and send a dung sample which is ok but by time we get results of dung sample god knows how many calves could be infected/dead.
Just nice to have the synulox there as a back up as they have been proven to be very successful for us in the past and have worked on our poorly calves so far this year.
The vets refuse to write us a prescription, do you know if they are duty bound to do so? Or are they within their rights to refuse?

If your vets don’t consider it the appropriate treatment then it’s highly unlikely they will prescribe it for you I would have thought. Tbh it would be very wrong if the system allowed a farmer to insist they prescribe something against their advice.

If you have no confidence in their competence then your only option is to change to a different vet practice, if that’s an option of course. There’s nothing to say another vet would have a different opinion though.

 

[JohnD82]

If your vets don’t consider it the appropriate treatment then it’s highly unlikely they will prescribe it for you I would have thought. Tbh it would be very wrong if the system allowed a farmer to insist they prescribe something against their advice.

If you have no confidence in their competence then your only option is to change to a different vet practice, if that’s an option of course. There’s nothing to say another vet would have a different opinion though.

It’s not that I’m questioning the vets competence it’s more that I’m questioning their methodology.
They have prescribed us synulox bolus for years and they have been effective in treating our calves (when needed) for years.
However now all of a sudden they refuse to prescribe synulox because they have obviously changed their practices overnight to try and avoid antibiotic use.
This is fine but there surely has to be a cooling off period rather than just going the cold turkey route?!
All we are wanting are a few bolus to have as a last resort treatment of all else is failing, surely rather that than a dead calf.
The other local vets close to us still are prescribing synulox bolus to their customers so maybe a change of vets may be required as you say.
Prevention is always better than cure I get that, but having the cure on hand just in case is always reassuring.

 

[Happy]

Hi Happy, thanks for replying.
We do vaccinate with rotavec corona and usually don’t have much scoor however this year has been different for some reason and that is our supply of synolux now used up.
I’m not even convinced it was scoor as such which the calfs were suffering with as the dung wasn’t always typical of scoor however the bolus seemed to help.
We are planning on giving our calving pens and byre a good clean up and disinfect it prior to main herd calving to try and kill of any bugs which may be present.
Vets are recommending effydral, fluids and send a dung sample which is ok but by time we get results of dung sample god knows how many calves could be infected/dead.
Just nice to have the synulox there as a back up as they have been proven to be very successful for us in the past and have worked on our poorly calves so far this year.
The vets refuse to write us a prescription, do you know if they are duty bound to do so? Or are they within their rights to refuse?

No idea about their duty to write a prescription or not but does seem a bit unreasonable not to prescribe if it’s a back up to other measures you are taking to prevent its usage.

If its a different looking type of scour then sampling to find out what you are dealing with sounds the thing to do but don’t think it would be unreasonable for you to be wanting a few to start the season of until you find this out.

 

[Farmer Fin]

Your vet has no obligation to supply or prescribe if they believe it’s not an appropriate medication.
As you are aware there is a big push to reduce antibiotic usage by choice before more is forced on the industry and many practices are stopping oral antibiotics for calf scours as they are no longer thought of as an appropriate treatment, as the vastly majority of scours aren’t responsive to antibiotics.
Vaccination, anti inflammatory and fluids.

 

[crofteress]

I've heard of vets doing this a lot now, not good when you want a calve to get better. Synolux works like magic for calves with crypto, thats what I use, obviously try and prevent it with clean bedding and getting calves to suck straight away , but always have some with it now its in the sheds, no matter how clean.The other thing that works well is activated charcoal , your vet should get you some of that.

 

[JohnD82]

I've heard of vets doing this a lot now, not good when you want a calve to get better. Synolux works like magic for calves with crypto, thats what I use, obviously try and prevent it with clean bedding and getting calves to suck straight away , but always have some with it now its in the sheds, no matter how clean.The other thing that works well is activated charcoal , your vet should get you some of that.

Thanks for the reply Crofteress, that’s exactly the scenario we are finding ourselves in, the synulox does work like magic and easy to become reliant on it for a quick fix at times.

We always try to keep on top of calving pen hygiene and cleanliness but it becomes especially hard in the midst of calving when the maternity ward has a high turnover, not always time to get the steam cleaner out!
As you say once it’s in the sheds then it’s very difficult to get it out.
Especially as some of our buildings are old stone buildings and I have a feeling some of the bugs live in the stonework which is hard to clean in comparison with concrete surfaces.

Thanks for the recommendation on the activated charcoal tho, will definitely be asking the vet for some of that! Willing to try anything at this stage.

Do you use any antibacterial treatment in your bedding? ie lime dusting?

 

[crofteress]

I've old stone buildings too and I think it might have something to do with it. I don't use anything just do the cleaning with the two disinfectants in the summer when empty , one is the expensive one meant to get rid of it .crypto responds to the activated charcoal as it wraps itself around the eggs and stops them spreading . I'm going to be phoning my vet soon to get some synolux before calving starts though had one calve already and it got it but the 3 days of synolux totally fixed her .

 

[twizzel]

If it’s crypto I guess the synulox isn’t the first line of treatment hence the reluctance to prescribe when there is Halocur available which is specifically for crypto and very effective?

 

[JohnD82]

I've old stone buildings too and I think it might have something to do with it. I don't use anything just do the cleaning with the two disinfectants in the summer when empty , one is the expensive one meant to get rid of it .crypto responds to the activated charcoal as it wraps itself around the eggs and stops them spreading . I'm going to be phoning my vet soon to get some synolux before calving starts though had one calve already and it got it but the 3 days of synolux totally fixed her .

That’s the beauty of the synulox, almost always seems to have the desired effect.
If I was you I would be stockpiling the synulox while you still can!lol

I take it you have no difficulty getting synulox from your vet still?

I’m not sure if it is crypto we have as we haven’t been plagued with it in the past however the symptoms we are getting sound like it could well be?

We will have to get a dung sample sent in and go from there I think.
Maybe if it is crypto then the vet will prescribe halocur at least? Or hopefully the charcoal may help?
We do have a product called crypto occur which we’ve tried on a couple of the calves just in case but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference, always seems to be the synulox which helps to end up with.

 

[JohnD82]

If it’s crypto I guess the synulox isn’t the first line of treatment hence the reluctance to prescribe when there is Halocur available which is specifically for crypto and very effective?

We’re not sure it is crypto but will have to get a dung sample sent in to find out for sure.

We have tried using a product called crypto occur on a couple of the poorly calves however it didn’t seem to have any positive effect at all, once again it was the synulox that ended up doing the job as usual.

That is another reason we don’t believe it’s crypto as apparently synulox doesn’t do anything against crypto?
Sounds more like ecoli or salmonella however the symptoms are more fitting with crypto.

As I say we are at a loss, next step dung sample.

Do you have experience with crypto and the use of halocur?
How does crypto normally manifest itself in your calves? What are the most common symptoms in your experience?

 

[Lazy Eric]

Vaccination is the way forward really, cows with rotavec corona for scours, and Rispoval intra nasal for pneumonia.
Our reliance on antibiotic for calf’s is a fraction to what it was 10 years ago.
It really does make sense in the long run to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for when you really do need them.
When I started work in the mid eighties Terramycin would cure so many infections , including pneumonia, now it’s a waste of time for so many things .We should never fight nature to hard as it will win in the end.

 

[twizzel]

We’re not sure it is crypto but will have to get a dung sample sent in to find out for sure.

We have tried using a product called crypto occur on a couple of the poorly calves however it didn’t seem to have any positive effect at all, once again it was the synulox that ended up doing the job as usual.

That is another reason we don’t believe it’s crypto as apparently synulox doesn’t do anything against crypto?
Sounds more like ecoli or salmonella however the symptoms are more fitting with crypto.

As I say we are at a loss, next step dung sample.

Do you have experience with crypto and the use of halocur?
How does crypto normally manifest itself in your calves? What are the most common symptoms in your experience?

Like you say first off you need to sample to find out what it is.

Yes we had crypto last year and again this year despite disinfecting the shed with cyclex. I think it’s here to stay now. Main symptom is a profuse watery scour along with lethargy, reluctance to suck, this year it was in a 7 day old set of twins, last year in a 2 day old big strong calf. Everything gets halocur now for the first week of life as a preventative- it’s time consuming but once you get in the routine it’s not so bad. Electrolyte drenches twice a day on scouring calves are much more time consuming. The halocur stops crypto in its tracks, you’ve just got to be careful not to overdose, and ensure the calf has a suck after you give it.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

It’s not that I’m questioning the vets competence it’s more that I’m questioning their methodology.
They have prescribed us synulox bolus for years and they have been effective in treating our calves (when needed) for years.
However now all of a sudden they refuse to prescribe synulox because they have obviously changed their practices overnight to try and avoid antibiotic use.
This is fine but there surely has to be a cooling off period rather than just going the cold turkey route?!
All we are wanting are a few bolus to have as a last resort treatment of all else is failing, surely rather that than a dead calf.
The other local vets close to us still are prescribing synulox bolus to their customers so maybe a change of vets may be required as you say.
Prevention is always better than cure I get that, but having the cure on hand just in case is always reassuring.

my vet was telling me, there is a benchmarking protocol in place in Wales, where the individual vet practices look at the amounts of antibiotics prescribed, and the amounts of farms (and animals in the practice), also the types of antibiotics, so practices can be compared in use/animal they look after (and also how often latest generation antibiotics are prescribed). I wonder if your vet is now part of a similar thing?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I've old stone buildings too and I think it might have something to do with it. I don't use anything just do the cleaning with the two disinfectants in the summer when empty , one is the expensive one meant to get rid of it .crypto responds to the activated charcoal as it wraps itself around the eggs and stops them spreading . I'm going to be phoning my vet soon to get some synolux before calving starts though had one calve already and it got it but the 3 days of synolux totally fixed her .

when I worked in Denmark, we whitewashed the inside of all the old stone buildings every summer (lime putty mixed up with water), horrible job but great for hygiene

 

[JohnD82]

my vet was telling me, there is a benchmarking protocol in place in Wales, where the individual vet practices look at the amounts of antibiotics prescribed, and the amounts of farms (and animals in the practice), also the types of antibiotics, so practices can be compared in use/animal they look after (and also how often latest generation antibiotics are prescribed). I wonder if your vet is now part of a similar thing?

I wouldn’t be surprised if our vet is indeed part of a similar type of thing?
They started off as a small-ish local veterinary practice but were fairly recently bought over by a bigger national veterinary group.
I think you’re probably right, it is more than likely part of their benchmarking process which they use to assess all of their practices nationwide.

Also as you say I don’t think there’s much better for hygiene than lime wash