Bred Heifer's Stomache??

[Kay]

I have a bred Hereford Heifer that is due in 4 weeks.My hubby told me she is going to have twins,she is really big.I went to check on her and her left side is really swollen,and really low.The vet said maybe she is carrying the calf on her left side,he said as long as she is eating and pooping and acting fine, not to worry about it.I have never seen this before.Should I be worried about this??

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

No.

 

[dun]

As long as she's eating and acting normal I woulnd;t worry about it

 

[KNERSIE]

Find a vet you can trust..... and then trust him!

 

[dun]

This thread got me to thinking (always dangerous).
The calf is carried on the right side and yet C-sections are done from the left side. I wondered a) if the location of a C-section is what confused people as to which side the calf was on, b) why it's done on the left if the calf is on the right. a) I don;t have an answer to but b) I do. Since I was curious myself as to why I asked the vet. His explanation is the rumen/paunch is what holds all the rest of the guts inside while you're pulling the calf and uterus around to get it out. If done from the right side the guts get in the way and spill out.
I found it interesting anyway, but everyone else may have already known that.

 

[KNERSIE]

Now that you've been thinking you got me thinking as well and that can be equally dangerous.

After I preg checked last year I had two cows who was obviously in calf, bred about 6 months, couldn't feel the cervix as it was over the pelvic rim, couldn't pull the reproductive tract back as there was obvious tension on it, couldn't feel a calf though, could feel some knobs that felt like very small cotyledons, but could not reach in far enough in two quite long, roomy cows to say that was what is was with any certainty. The arteries (or is it veins?) going down on both sides of the pelvic opening was pulsing, but I couldn't really say one was vibrating significantly more than the other.

I was baffled and asked the vet, he said that in some cows, usually older roomier cows a left uterine horn pregnancy can have enough room for the uterus to slip in under the uterus and is often almost squeezed left and under by the rumen untill as late as 8 months when there simply isn't enough space and the uterus and foetus slip under the rumen through to the right side. Not sure my explanation makes sense, but it got me wondering ...
a) if the usuall lack of room on the left side is what caused the cow to evolve in such a way that the pregnancy is carried in the right horn for more than 75% of the time?
b) why would the right ovary cycle so much more often than the left?

 

[novaman]

Can anyone verify what knersie said about the right horn carrying more pregnancies? I have the understanding that there is an equal chance of either left or right. Maybe I've just learned something.

Dun I was wondering the same thing about the C-section. I also could never figure out why a left-displace abomasum was fixed from the right side. Anyway, the vet gave a description pretty close to what you gave. As far as the LDA it was something to the effect that it is easier to work with because the rumen is in the way on the left side (I think that's how it went).

 

[KNERSIE]

Can anyone verify what knersie said about the right horn carrying more pregnancies? I have the understanding that there is an equal chance of either left or right. Maybe I've just learned something.

Not the best link, but it supports what I said, the precentages is just lower

http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/21/1/37.pdf

Last paragraph on page 4
http://www.das.psu.edu/research-extensi ... df/314.pdf

Better link
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1962180

 

[hillsdown]

We were actually discussing this last fall with our vet, we have a flush cow that only has one horn and our vet said it is a good thing that is the right one. When I asked why he said the same thing as Knersie . That is most likely why she was flushable and always breeds back on the first AI.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Dun I was wondering the same thing about the C-section. I also could never figure out why a left-displace abomasum was fixed from the right side. Anyway, the vet gave a description pretty close to what you gave. As far as the LDA it was something to the effect that it is easier to work with because the rumen is in the way on the left side (I think that's how it went).

DA's can be cut from either side, it is the preference of the vet. From the left you have better access to the DA but this approach requires that you tack the stomach down to the body wall just to the right of the midline. You can imagine if you do not possess monkey arms that this could be difficult in larger cows. If cut from the right, you have poorer access and it can be a bit more difficult to replace the abomasum especially in heavily pregnant cows but the tacking is far easier, you don't need super long arms, and you are able to explore the entire abdominal cavity while you are in there. Exploratories are nearly impossible from the left as the rumen is in the way.

Does this help or is it clear as mud?

 

[jerry27150]

usually in older cows, but a broken support ligament can let a bunch hang low on the right side, around here they call it a suitcase. only a low possibility on a heifer