I agree with Vicki, we have dairy cows and we had a heifer that I noticed was not progressing in her labor, so they did an emergency c- section. The Vet was extremely clean and it was not bad at all. She had a 153 baby calf , she was bred to a Reg. Beef Bull that was known for calving ease and we had twenty others calves all at low birth weights. Who knows why it happened , I guess it was due to the heifer. Anyway, she was sewn up really nicely and on antibiotics, ate well and within a week her scar was already healing. We kept by herself. I would not hesitiate to do it again. We had another one that had to be cut three times and it was horrible.( the vet thought he could pull it) She made it fine , but that was far worse than the c-section.
> I've done hundreds of c-sections
> and I've lost maybe 5. Frankly, if
> you do it properly and with
> sanitation, it's amazing what they
> can get through. Having said that,
> there are certain criteria I'll
> use. 1) is the calf alive--if it's
> not, a fetotomy is easier on
> mom--much less risk of peritonitis
> 2) can the calf be extracted alive
> in one piece and live from the
> hind end with traction, an
> episiotomy and an epidural? If so,
> do it!! 3) What is the value of
> the calf vs the dam--if it's an
> embryo calf in a recip, I'm
> quicker to section her. 4) will
> the calf hiplock on her--can be a
> problem with some breeds--then
> you'll lose the calf and maybe the
> dam... 5) if it's a
> malpositioning, how long will it
> take to correct it? Sometimes a
> c-section is faster and safer than
> repositioning a calf... 6)
> evidence of uterine tearing--I cut
> them open just to sew that up if I
> have to! There are other things
> that go through my mind for a
> c-sect. (like when I worked in
> Saskatchewan and had blood icicles
> hanging off my elbows and had
> frozen instruments...) but that's
> the bulk of them. The vast
> majority I've done have been in
> the "field" or barn on
> an emergency basis. I can only
> recall one planned c-sect and that
> was a cow with rabies, one week
> prior to calving--I got out two
> live calves which went on to be
> lovely heifers. Mom, of course,
> was euthanized immediately
> post-op. I've also found that
> additional pain control (on top of
> paravertebral block) during
> surgery to keep the cow quiet (I
> use butorphanol tartrate) is
> incredible at preventing problems
> AND getting them eating (often
> while I'm working on them)...
> Clear as mud? V
[email protected]