Evaluation of flunixin meglumine as an adjunct treatment for diarrhea in dairy calves

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objective—To assess the use of flunixin meglumine as an adjunct treatment for diarrhea in calves. Design—Clinical trial. Animals—115 calves with diarrhea that were 1 to 21 days old at enrollment. Procedure—Calves that developed diarrhea were randomly assigned to receive no flunixin meglumine (controls), a single dose of flunixin meglumine (2.2 mg/kg [1.0 mg/lb]), or 2 doses of flunixin meglumine administered 24 hours apart. Serum IgG concentration and PCV were measured prior to enrollment in the trial. Calves were evaluated daily to determine rectal temperature, fecal consistency, demeanor, and skin elasticity score . The primary analytic outcome was days of sickness (morbiddays). Results—Calves with fecal blood and treated with a single dose of flunixin meglumine had fewer morbiddays and antimicrobial treatments, compared with controls. Although not significant, calves given 2 doses of flunixin meglumine in 24 hours had fewer morbid-days than untreated control calves. Regardless of severity of diarrhea, calves without fecal blood did not benefit from the use of flunixin. For calves with fecal blood, failure of passive transfer (low serum IgG concentration) was an independent risk factor for increased morbid-days. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Treatment with a single dose of flunixin meglumine resulted in fewer antimicrobial treatments and morbid-days in calves with fecal blood. As observed in other studies, calves with failure of passive transfer were at high risk for poor outcomes. This emphasizes the importance of developing and implementing effective colostrum delivery programs on dairy farms. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003;223:1329–1333)