Treatment of calf pneumonia with tilmicosin

The therapeutic effect of a single injection of tilmicosin (10 mg/kg body mass) against natural cases of pneumonia of calves, compared to other conventionally used antibiotics, was examined under field conditions. The trials were conducted in three cattle herds and included the treatment of 135 calves with 82 controls. The animals' age ranged from 1 week to 4 months. Prior to the treatment and in case of death bacteriological examinations from nasal swabs and from the lungs were carried out. Clinical signs were recorded in all groups and in one group body mass gains were also recorded. After tilmicosin treatment, the body temperature returned to the normal level within 24 h and the animals recovered within 1 to 2 days. Ten calves (7.41%) showed relapse during the 3rd and 4th week after treatment in contrast to 9 (10.98%) in the control group. Three calves (2.22%) died in the groups treated with tilmicosin and 6 calves (7.32%) among the controls. In one of the treated groups the body mass gain was 6.2% higher compared to the controls at the age of 3 months. These results suggest that treatment with a single dose of tilmicosin is effective in most cases of calf pneumonia caused by bacteria.