Table 2.

Effects of meloxicam therapy on starter ration intake (kg/d), water intake (L/d), and BW gain (kg/wk)

Item	Meloxicam treatment mean (LCL,1 UCL2)	Placebo treatment mean (LCL, UCL)	P-value
Starter intake,3 kg/d
Week4
1	0.11 (0.09, 0.13)	0.10 (0.09, 0.12)	0.70
2	0.31 (0.23, 0.39)	0.23 (0.15, 0.32)	0.17
3	0.64 (0.46, 0.82)	0.59 (0.41, 0.78)	0.70
4	1.85 (1.61, 2.09)	1.68 (1.42, 1.93)	0.31
5	2.42 (2.24, 2.60)	1.86 (1.62, 2.09)	<0.001
Overall	1.12 (1.08, 1.16)	0.97 (0.90, 1.04)	<0.001
Water intake,5 L/d
Week6
1	1.7 (1.4, 2.2)	1.4 (1.1, 1.8)	0.25
2	2.8 (2.3, 3.5)	2.6 (2.0, 3.2)	0.52
3	4.0 (3.4, 4.6)	3.1 (2.6, 3.7)	0.03
4	4.6 (4.0, 5.1)	2.7 (2.2, 3.1)	<0.001
5	5.7 (5.0, 6.5)	3.7 (3.1, 4.3)	<0.001
6	8.0 (7.0, 9.0)	5.8 (5.0, 6.6)	<0.001
Overall	4.7 (4.3, 5.1)	3.6 (3.2, 4.1)	<0.001
BW gain,7 kg/wk
Week6
1	1.8 (0.9, 2.8)	1.8 (0.8, 2.7)	0.90
2	1.7 (0.8, 2.6)	0.9 (−0.1, 1.8)	0.17
3	3.7 (2.8, 4.6)	3.4 (2.5, 4.3)	0.65
4	5.1 (4.2, 6.0)	3.8 (2.9, 4.8)	0.06
5	5.8 (5.0, 6.7)	5.1 (4.2, 6.0)	0.21
6	7.3 (6.2, 8.4)	5.8 (4.7, 6.9)	0.06
Overall	4.2 (4.0, 4.5)	3.7 (3.4, 4.0)	<0.01

¹LCL = lower 95% confidence limit.

²UCL = upper 95% confidence limit.

³Starter intake is adjusted for the effects of farm of origin.

⁴Starter intake is stratified by week, and time is measured relative to satisfying the starter consumption criteria. The criteria for time to starter consumption indicated that calves had to consume a minimum of 100 g of starter ration for 2 consecutive days.

⁵Water intake is adjusted for the effects of farm of origin, arrival BW, ambient maximum temperature, and ambient maximum relative humidity. The back-transformed mean, LCL, and UCL are presented.

⁶Water intake and BW gain are stratified by week, and time is measured relative to onset of diarrhea.

⁷BW gain is adjusted for the effects of farm of origin and age at treatment.