Bear the calf’s recovery

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to read.

My name is Keana Lucas. My family has recently come to be the full-time caretaker of a calf with a broken jaw. This calf wasn’t ours, however, if we didn’t step in and helped this calf would not have made it. The calf we named Bear, was born on March 19th. He was born on the pasture next to us and when we first saw him we noticed something was off with his jaw. We also saw that he could not nurse from his mom because his jaw hung open. We called our friend who has the cattle on the property and he agreed his jaw was not right. He brought us milk replacer and a tube feeder since it was clear that this calf couldn’t even bottle feed.

My family was left with a choice to either give the calf a chance and make a vet visit or euthanize him because he would have no chance of survival without us feeding him 3x a day. After discussing we decided to make the vet appointment to see what Bear’s chance of survival was.

The Vet took X-Rays and showed us how severe his break was. The only explanation for this type of break was that his mom most likely stepped on him after he was born. The only option for him was surgery. Dylan and I decided to go through with the surgery although this was not in our budget. After a few hours, we got the call that Bear’s surgery was complete, but the vet had to do the more intensive surgery because the break was so bad with fragments of bone in his jaw. He also has an internal oral infection because of all the bone debris. The vet assured us she did absolutely everything she could for Bear. She put in an external splint with pins holding his jaw together.

This procedure has an intense recovery. Bear needs an injection of pain reliever and 2 doses of an antibiotic daily, while tube feeding him three times a day. Bear is on day 9 post-surgery and he is doing wonderful. We are truly happy we decided to give him a chance. If his jaw heals correctly, he is expected to make a full recovery and live a life in our pasture.

I understand us taking on caring for Bear was a decision we made and now we are financially responsible for all of his future needs. It was not an easy decision to make this as asking for financial help of any kind is not something that feels great. However, I told myself if I was going to take on this calf I would make myself open to creating a fundraiser because caring for this calf wasn’t in our budget this year.

If you feel inclined at all to help with the costs of his surgery and future vet appointment on the 17th we would be so grateful! We know many people are going through their own hardships and financial crisis so please only help if you truly are able and want to.

Mahalo to you all for reading, sharing, and donating,

Lucas ohana

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