Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Treating high blood sodium and acid in a 7-day-old calf
By Angelos, S M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1999·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Treatment of hypernatremia in an acidotic neonatal calf.
- Species:
- cattle
Plain-English summary
A 7-day-old Jersey calf was brought in with diarrhea and pneumonia, and tests showed it had high sodium levels in its blood. Initially, the calf was treated with intravenous fluids that matched its sodium levels, but this caused its sodium to drop too quickly, leading to neurological issues. To address this, the vet switched to a different treatment using mannitol and fluids with a higher sodium concentration, which helped improve the calf's condition. This case highlights the importance of careful fluid management in young calves with high sodium levels to avoid serious complications.
People also search for: calf diarrhea treatment · pneumonia in calves · hypernatremia in calves treatment
Abstract
A 7-day-old Jersey calf was evaluated because of diarrhea and pneumonia. The calf was hypernatremic, hypoproteinemic, and acidemic, and was treated initially with i.v. administration of fluids with sodium concentration (175 mEq/L) similar to the calf's serum sodium concentration. Sodium concentration of the administered fluids was gradually decreased over the following days, but the calf's serum sodium concentration decreased too rapidly, and the calf developed neurologic signs attributed to cerebral edema. Treatment with mannitol and i.v. administration of fluids with a higher concentration of sodium resulted in abatement of clinical signs. In calves, hypernatremia may develop over several days. Prescribing traditional isotonic or hypotonic fluids in such cases will be harmful, because during chronic hypernatremia, the brain's adaptive mechanisms involve accumulation of organic osmoles that may take several days to equilibrate across cell membranes, and cerebral edema may result. Administration of fluids containing sodium concentration approximately equal to the patient's measured serum sodium concentration is required to decrease serum sodium concentration more slowly than is possible with traditional isotonic fluids.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10319181/