Ask your veterinarian to help you develop a "treatment protocol book" specific to your operation. While this concept may be more familiar to feedyards and larger stocker operations, it’s also a valuable management practice for cow-calf producers. In simple terms, it involves writing down a plan for what treatment(s) to use when cattle get sick for various reasons.

You’ll also need to write down your plan for follow up and/or alternative treatments if the initial treatment doesn’t produce the desired result. A treatment protocol book should be reviewed regularly and updated as often as appropriate (as new information or products become available, if your planned treatments aren’t working, etc.).

Keep the treatment protocol book on file in your home or office and at your working facilities. As you update it, all previous versions should be kept on file for a year or better, so that you can refer back to treatments that have worked in previous situations. Whenever you update your book, it must have the veterinarian’s signature and date recorded when the book was reviewed. Listing products that have a withdrawal time in your treatment protocol book is a Best Management Practice (BMP).

Any medication that requires a use other than as directed on the label must have revised administration procedures included in the treatment protocol book. Your veterinarian should supply a revised label including the veterinarian’s name, address, phone number, revised directions for use, name of drug and withdrawal time.

Drugs licensed and distributed for preventing and treating of diseases and parasites, increasing weight gains, synchronizing estrus and other uses have specific label instructions. These include the period of time that must pass after the last dose is given until harvest of the animal.

This period of time is known as the withdrawal period and is usually stated in hours or days. The withdrawal period stated on the label allows time for elimination of the drug from the animal, or reduction of drug residues to below tolerance levels before slaughter.

Extra-label drug use requires a revised withdrawal time established by the prescribing veterinarian. This results in extended withdrawal periods in treated animals in order to reduce the level of residues below violative levels. Withdrawal times may also be extended for animals that have been severely impaired by disease, malnutrition or age. Avoiding tissue residue of antibiotics is simple to manage. Observe and follow label directions and ensure that cattle are not marketed until the appropriate withdrawal time has elapsed.

1. Strictly follow all recommendations and guidelines from your veterinarian for selection of products.
    
2. Follow label directions for use of product. Use product at recommended dosage for required time period. Treatment regimens must comply with label directions unless otherwise prescribed by a veterinarian. If drugs are to be used in an extra-label manner, that must be done under the prescription or direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. All cattle treated in an extra-label manner must comply with prescribed withdrawal times, which have been set by your veterinarian under the guidelines of a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship. The Texas Beef Quality Producer program does not support/recommend extra-label drug use for injectable aminoglycosides (such as neomycin, gentamicin or kanamycin) because of the potential violative residues related to extremely long withdrawal times. Some studies have shown withdrawal times on these types of products could be as long as 18 months.
    
3. Accurately calculate dose requirements based on the animal’s weight and the specific health problem being treated. Providing the same drug simultaneously by injection, feed or water may result in overdosing and, thereby, create a residue problem.
    
4. When administering injectable products, follow the Best Management Practices –Injections outlined in the Texas Beef Quality Producer handbook (get a free copy by attending one of the TBQP training sessions).
    
5. Never administer more than 10cc per injection site. Exceeding this amount will increase tissue damage, alter withdrawal time and may require testing before cattle are marketed for consumption.
    
6. Do not mix products prior to administration. This practice of using "bloody mary" mixes is compounding use and will result in undetermined withdrawal periods.
    
7. All animals treated for problems unique to the individual should be recorded by the animal’s ID, treatment date, drug and dose administered, product serial/lot number, approximate weight of animal, route and location of administration, and the earliest date the animal would clear the prescribed or labeled withdrawal period. You can record treatments either by individually identifying each animal in your herd and/or individually identifying each animal when or if they are treated. The ID number should be unique to that animal and tie it to the group from which it came. (Sample record keeping forms are included in the Texas Beef Quality Producer handbook.)
    
8. A special note for producers who do not individually identify animals: Identifying each animal individually is not required to participate in this program. Cattle can be identified by group. However, if treated cattle are not individually identified, then the entire group must be managed together until the appropriate withdrawal times have elapsed for every animal in the group. THE WITHDRAWAL TIME APPLIES TO THE ENTIRE GROUP OF ANIMALS. The complete history of product use should be available for transfer when the group of cattle is sold or moved to the next production unit within your operation.
    
9. All animals treated as part of a group will be identified by group or lot with treatment information recorded. Records should include the animal lot or group identification, processing/treatment date, product serial/lot number, product and dose administered, route and location of administration and withdrawal information. Recording animals under this system assumes that every animal in the lot or group received the treatment.
    
10. All cattle marketed from the ranch can potentially go directly to slaughter. Therefore, records for any cattle to be marketed should be checked by ranch personnel to ensure that treated animals will meet or exceed label withdrawal times for all products administered. A release slip should be signed and dated by the person who checks records prior to shipping cattle from the operation. The examination should include processing records, feeding records, treatment records and all other records that may apply.
     
11. Extended withdrawal times should be expected for emaciated or severely debilitated animals. All cattle sold that are not typical of the herd (medicated cull cows and realizer cattle) may be subject to verification of drug withdrawal. (Realizers are animals with a health problem that get culled because they never recover.) Should there be any question about a withdrawal period, the veterinarian will evaluate the treatment history against information provided by the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD), and the animal may have to pass a residue screening test, such as the Live Animal Swab Test (LAST), which tests for antibiotic residues. Residue screening will be performed by qualified personnel under the supervision of a veterinarian. The results will determine whether the animals can be released for shipment, but cannot be used to shorten the labeled withdrawal time. Attempting to salvage sick animals by treatment and prompt slaughter requires an accurate diagnosis and careful selection of drugs.
     
12. Make sure that all employees are aware of the proper use and administration of antibiotics and withdrawal times, and they have the ability to check appropriate withdrawal restrictions before moving cattle to market. For example, you can provide your employees with charts or software to help them track withdrawal dates.