Abstract:
"Neonatal diarrhea is a major cause of illness and death for calves less than one month of age. It is caused by several infectious
agents. The diarrhea and other clinical signs seen with the disease are responsible of dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and
metabolic disorders which are responsible of the clinical outcome. These consequences are a medical emergency and a fatal sign
in calves. That is why an impending clinical intervention is critical to the survival of the animal. Fluid therapy is the treatment of
choice.
Clinical examination and blood samples were taken from 47 calves before, during and after fluid therapy. The effectiveness of a
fluid therapy formula was evaluated in fourteen young diarrheic calves from two farms located in the province of Constantine.
Results of this study indicate that the treatment was effective against diarrhea in young calves. Clinical parameters have been
restored and the clinical and biochemical signs of dehydration and acidosis were corrected. Indeed, fluid therapy resulted in an
improvement of general condition with decreased respiratory and heart rate, improved demarche and appetite, loss of
enophthalmos and persistent skin fold. For stools, significant effects were noted on the consistency, color, smell and the presence
of foreign substances. For blood parameters, treatment induced a significant decrease in creatinine ( 13,35 ± 4,68 to 10,36 ± 2,86
mg / dL) and not significant in hematocrit (from 24,59 ± 5,57% to 22,77 ± 5,53% ), hemoglobin (7,77 ± 5 ,12 to 7.53 ± 2,00 g /
dL), total protein (7,28 ± 1,68 to 6,60 ± 1,42 mg / dL ), urea ( 29,54 ± 13,72 to 25,33 ± 10,38 mg / dL), EB ( -11,22 ± 11,65 to -
8,95 ± 10,51 mmol / L) and Serum potassium ( 4,99 ± 0,66 to 4,72 ± 0,54 mmol / L). A not significant increase in serum sodium
was found (129,73 ± 2,49 to 133,02 ± 5,64 mmol / L) of serum chloride (99,75 ± 2,68 to 100,46 ± 6,86 mmol / L) of pHm ( 7,32
± 0,29 to 7,38 ± 0,26) PHb ( 7,11 ± 0,17 to 7,14 ± 0,18 ) , SID ( 34,20 ± 5,99 to 37,28 ± 4,20 mmol/L) and glycemia (107,21 ±
9,27 to 107,93 ± 17,37mg/dL). In conclusion, this work permitted us to establish a referential draft on biochemical and
hematological parameters in young calves aged from 1 to 30 days."
