Effective Use of Antibiotics in Stocker Calves

Question 1

T/F: treatment success is a result of drug treatment in conjunction with calve’s immune defenses. No antibiotic is good enough to work without help from the animal themselves.

Answer 1

true

Question 2

what is the general history of antibiotics in cattle – dark ages, golden era, and current era?

Answer 2

Dark ages (before 1992), combination antibiotics were used because there were very few choices. most of these required multiple treatments per day. There was also lots of ELDU.

Golden era (1992-2010ish), introduction of Micotil which was highly effective against BRDC and only 1 dose req.
New antibiotics were all effective and convenient.

Current era (2010+) – seeing lots of in vitro resistance to antibiotics and mortality in feedyards is increasing.

Question 3

what are the 3 most common reasons for apparent treatment failure in cows?

Answer 3

1. Not a timely disease recognition
2. Antibiotic resistance
3. Super bug