Bump - hemorrhage???

[bigbluegrass]

I have a first calf heifer with an odd bump on her lower right side. I am expecting her to have a calf any day now. Last night she looked normal, bag was pretty tight, getting really loose behind. Checked her this morning and she way laying down. Nothing abnormal. This afternoon I checked her - bag is even tighter, very loose and she has a bump on her bottom right side. I would say about the size of a basketball - maybe a bit smaller. The bump is about in the place you would expect a milk vein to show up - but it doesn't look like any milk vein I have ever seen. This is her first calf. She is very close to calving. Could it be an internal hemorrhage?

 

[Nite Hawk]

Does she act strong and normal, or is she weak and listless?
The picture is very dark to see anything very well at all even when I turn the brightness up on the comp.screen.
I am thinking that maybe if if were a serious internal hemorrhage, you would probably have a very weak and wobbly cow from loss of blood.
If she is strong and vigorous i wouldn't think it was a serious "bleed". However it does sort of look like a hematoma, but pretty big for that sort of thing.
Some cows will get a harmless sort of a small "jelly belly" around their navel around calving time, not sure what causes it, but this looks quite a bit larger than what I have ever seen before.
Am wondering if maybe this heifer had an umbilical hernia as a calf, and maybe it has shown up now that there is alot of weight and stress on her belly??
Not saying it is "water belly", as i haven't seen that before, but it is a thought..
Anybody out there ever heard of a heifer getting "water belly" from a ruptured bladder??
I heard only steers had that sort of problem, not heifers, but maybe that is wrong??...
Short of a vet checking her out not sure.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Sorry for the crappy pictures. It was getting dark when I took them and my photography skills leave much to be desired. I was not going to even post them, but I figured something is better than nothing

Well she did have a live calf last night. I got her in the barn beforehand. I haven't had a chance to look at the bump since she calved. She is being a little protective this morning. I will head out about noon or so and maybe she will be calmed down enough I can look her over and check the calf out. Cow acts fine. She doesn't act weak or off.

I don't know what it is called, but can the stomach muscles tear? I felt the bump last night and it was hard. About like the rest of her stomach in the area. It wasn't soft. Of course she was starting to have the calf when I was feeling around.

 

[inyati13]

It sounds and looks like some kind of tissue rupture. I would want a vet to look at that.

 

[Anonymous]

Almost looks like an umbilical hernia but hard to tell with those pictures

 

[regolith]

I see a heifer with edema.

Which is normal and will go away over the next few days, now that she's calved.

It is milk vein, if you wanted to call it that - I suspect it's more common in dairy heifers than beef otherwise I'd expect all the previous posters to be familiar with it. When the udder is filling pre-calving the veins simply aren't developed enough for fluid to carry on circulating, or something like that.

I have a photo of a calf with an umbilical hernia over at ranchers, if someone wants to fetch it and copy/paste. Click on member galleries and scroll down to my name, the thumbnail should be there, calf 139. I plead a malfunctioning computer.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Thanks Regolith - I looked up edema and I agree it looks like what it is. I expected edema (based on the descriptions I have read) to be much softer. Is it normally hard or solid? Maybe it was just hard last night. I need to go check on her again in a bit and I will see if she lets me touch her.

I was going to get the picture from ranchers but I am having computer problems as well at the moment. I might try it again later.

She is a dairy heifer of unknown breeding, but I suspect she has quite a bit of Jersey in her. I will give her a few days and see what happens, unless she starts acting off. Not sure if it matters, but she was very late to start bagging up. She didn't show anything until 2 weeks ago. Then it only filled in slowly until the last few days. 48 hours before calving I would have given her 2 weeks or more. She filled out fast. Maybe that contributes to it, since all the "stuff" haven't developed yet.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Regolith picture of 139 - umbilical hernia

 

[bigbluegrass]

She never had anything hanging down until just the other day - no extra loose skin like in the picture. Probably just edema.. I hope.

 

[dun]

Make sure the calf is getting milk. Frequently when there is that much edema the udder will have it too. If it is very bad you can get Lasix from the vet.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I see edema in the pictures. Saw it a lot in pre-calving dairy cows, and sometimes in our beef cows. It should go away in a few days. Think of pregnant women, they often swell in their ankles and fingers toward the end of the pregnancy...

 

[bigbluegrass]

It must be edema. It is pretty much gone already. Just a little loose/soft bump left. Down to maybe a baseball size bump. Thanks for everyone's help figuring it out.

She seems to have plenty of milk. Calf drank good. Now I just have to get her to settle down a bit. She was gentle and easy going. Those hormones are making her crazy!

 

[Nite Hawk]

Carefull she doesn't try to take a round out of you. never turn your back on a cow that has just calved. They can be the gentlest cow in the world, but after calving they sometimes lose their "marbles" for a while and go "ditzy" in the head..

 

[bigbluegrass]

NH - that is exactly the case. I was a bit surprised when I went to check the calf and she had a very protective stance. She was such a sweetheart and changed into a real witch overnight. I eased in close enough to know she would pin me up against a wall if she had the chance. Then I let her have her space. She was better this morning. I separated her and the calf last night. This morning she was still a fretting mother, but she wasn't coming at me, just looking for her baby. Of course the calf was calling for her. Just got her more excited lol Now we can settle back into a routine I hope.

 

[Nite Hawk]

Be careful, it may take more than a few days.
Had a cow that was real gentle who after calving, even though she never charged, and the calf was taken away, would walk around with a weird glazed, wild look in her eyes for several weeks. Until that look faded I never turned my back on her, even though she never tried anything..