A practitioner's views on fluid therapy in calves.

Intravenous fluid therapy is often the only effective treatment of severely dehydrated calves. In farm animal practice, application of IV fluid therapy is still comparatively rare. A protocol for treatment of dehydration and acidosis in the field is described, along with the rationale behind each fluid used. Even without the support of sophisticated laboratory analysis, an estimated 50% of calves that are expected to die of dehydration recover after IV fluid therapy is given.