Whitetail Rack Ranch fawn edema

We have had problems with this little guy and his brother off and on since they were born.  We found both of them in the pen and didn't appear that they had nursed.  Both were premature and weak.  Their front legs bent backwards at the joint and they couldn't stand without assistance.  We immediately took them in and gave them colostrum.  This one is Heat Stroke.  My wife, Annette, gave him the name because when he could finally walk he would wobble around the yard until he got tired and collapse.  He would often be hot in in full sun.  Once when she found him he had convulsions.  She said he must have had a heat stroke, thus his name.  She would often pick him up, limp, with his head drooping and drooling. 

We've had conversations with Dr. Chris Sullivan, at Sullivan Veterinary Clinic as we were recently treating Heat Stroke for diarrhea.  He would look great and then have health issues like pneumonia or diarrhea.  We'd turn him around and then have problems again.  Dr. Chris and I think it's because they never got colostrum before we gave it to them.  We check the pens daily for new fawns but the first 12 hours is critical.

The swelling in this picture is edema, a swelling cause by fluid trapped under the skin.  This picture is typical of a large parasite load.  We had a fecal sample run but it didn't show parasites were exceptionally heavy.  We had wormed him with Ivomec and Safeguard within the last month.  Since he did show 2 strongyles, Dr. Chris suggested we worm him again with Cydectin.  We always worm for more than one day.  You should ask your vet but I usually worm at twice the cattle dose for 3 days.  Deer have a higher metabolism rate than cattle and I want to make sure they keep the drug in their system long enough to work.

Heat Stroke's edema could have been from parasites but since the load was not severe I think it may have been because of his lack of nutrient uptake from the diarrhea.  He may have poor immune system response because of his lack of colostrum at birth. 

We finally got the diarrhea under control using Arrest.  We used Banamine for inflammation in the gut on a limited basis.  He had 104.1 fever one day and the Banamine had it down to normal the next.  Talk to your vet before using Banamine about the complications from stomach irritation.  He finally got to the point he would not eat.  We lost his brother a couple of days earlier with the same symptoms.  Dr. Chris had me give Heat Stroke one dose of Dexamethasone and some B-12.  He said it would stimulate his appetite.  Dexamethasone can cause immune system compromise from multiple doses so weigh the options with your vet.  It took about 48 hours but Heat Stroke started eating voraciously!  I gave him Karo syrup and some molasses.  His edema was gone the next day.  His stool had started firming up but the Karo and molasses loosened him up again for about a day.  He's going pellets now and has gained weight.  We may always have trouble with him but he's turned the corner from death again.  Being bottle fed makes him easier to handle.  He'll come out of the handler and stand there for you to pet him. 

Hope this gives you some ideas if you have similar problems.