Help identifying problem

[bigbluegrass]

I noticed this cow a month ago with a bulging rectum. It was really noticeable when I aied her. Pictures were taken right after AI.






Cow will be 8 years old this spring. She has what I believe is/are lice on her rump. I have poured her with ivomec since these picture were taken. What do you think is causing the bulging rectum? When I aied her, I felt around in the area. The tissue around the right side of her rectum feels thick when palpated. It must be sensitive to her. She sure did not like me pushing around or squeezing on it. It partly blocks the rectum. Any ideas what it is and how to treat it? I have done benign neglect for a month and it looks about the same. Any ideas?? Thanks!

 

[alisonb]

Looks like a tumor to me. Time to get the vet out...could be malignant or benign. Please let us know...

 

[dun]

Looks like a tumor to me. Time to get the vet out...could be malignant or benign. Please let us know...

ditto

 

[farmerjan]

Looks like a tumor to me. Time to get the vet out...could be malignant or benign. Please let us know...

ditto

X 3. Definitely needs a vet and I would think that trying to breed her is a bad idea. Could also be trying to prolapse the rectum; again not a candidate to breed again.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Any idea what a vet does for a tumor - malignant or benign?

I never noticed it was a problem until I had the semen thawed. At that point it was going somewhere and she was the only cow in heat at the time!

I kind of thought it was related to the lice. I figured she had been rubbing on trees with her rear end and hooked a branch, or rubbed too hard on a post or something like that and got something shoved up there or caused some trauma. A tumor is also possible. I was hoping she would just heal up. Now the debate is if I spend $100 on a vet call or just make her into burger. If the vet is going to say cull her, I might as well save that $100. I will call him to see what his thoughts are.

 

[dun]

Any idea what a vet does for a tumor - malignant or benign?

I never noticed it was a problem until I had the semen thawed. At that point it was going somewhere and she was the only cow in heat at the time!

I kind of thought it was related to the lice. I figured she had been rubbing on trees with her rear end and hooked a branch, or rubbed too hard on a post or something like that and got something shoved up there or caused some trauma. A tumor is also possible. I was hoping she would just heal up. Now the debate is if I spend $100 on a vet call or just make her into burger. If the vet is going to say cull her, I might as well save that $100. I will call him to see what his thoughts are.

Lice won;t cause lumps internally. Possibly warbles but by now I would expect them to be up to the back.
Depending on the tumor he can do surgery and remove the tumor. If it's just a fatty tumor and it's only one you can leave it and hope it doesn;t cause problems. Had one several years ago that had a fatty tumor I found when AIing. Had the vet come out and check it out. He felt others and said they could cause problems but then again they may never get worse. The next year after she calved at about 2 weeks she started to really go down hill. He checked again and the tumors had gotten a little bigger so we decided to do surgery. When he opened her, instead of the few fatty tumors that he had felt palpating her insides were full of them. Just from the look probably more than a 5 gallon bucket full of them from the size of a lemon up to a cantaloupe. Sewed her back up and transitioned her calf to a bottle then put the cow down. Still have that heifer calf, Granny claimed her and raised her alongside her own. She has never had any issues with tumors so it must have been a one shot deal with her dam.

 

[farmerjan]

If you are trying to save the vet call then I would just make her hamburger. For me, if she was a cow that I wanted to keep, then I'd call the vet. If he said cull her, then I would at least know what it was and feel better that I knew. Our vet calls run $100 a trip too, but I am one to err on the side of wanting to know. Had a 7-8 yr old cow with a growth on the corner of her eye, probably near size of a tennis ball that grew quickly, got cut/rubbed so it was a bloody oozing mess. She had a month old calf on her. Had the vet remove it, sewed the corner back together and it healed up just fine. Wasn't thinking about keeping her past that calf, but she come up bred at the preg ck so said well, why not. She is working on her 3rd calf since the initial surgery on the eye and you would never know it. She has had nice calves, and if we had just sold her she wouldn't have brought anything thinking it was cancer eye. Too old for hamburger when we had plenty of meat in the freezer. That was the right decision for us and she doesn't owe us a thing. Well worth the $150 vet bill. And some you bury, but at least if you had the vet that $100 wouldn't greatly increase the value of the hamburger you get.

 

[bigbluegrass]

Any idea what a surgery like that costs? I know it will vary. I will probably call the vet next week and see what he thinks.

This cow doesn't owe me anything, she has definitely paid for herself. She raised some good calves that sold well. But at the same time she already has several strikes on her record. Three years ago she came up open for spring calving. She is supposed to be a spring calving cow. I was stocked low and she was a nice looking 5 year old who raises a decent calf each year to that time. She usually is easy to breed. I gave her a chance at fall calving. Should of sold her then since cattle were up. She has a 3 month old calf on her now. I just don't know that $100 vet bill + whatever a surgery costs will pencil out over another calf or two. Now if she went on to live to 25, it would be well worth it. I know she would make some good burger. We did that to an 8 year old cow two years ago and it was great. If we burger her, I will have a better idea of what the problem was. The butcher is going to turn her inside out. We just can't put her back together after that!

 

[farmerjan]

I think that if the cow has several strikes on her record, I would talk to the vet, but plan to let her raise this calf and make her hamburger at this point. It might be the safest and best option financially. There might too many "if's" to this to keep her.

 

[SIMMGAL]

I think that if the cow has several strikes on her record, I would talk to the vet, but plan to let her raise this calf and make her hamburger at this point. It might be the safest and best option financially. There might too many "if's" to this to keep her.

X2! Sounds like there are too many ways for it to only get worse, especially with her age!

 

[bigbluegrass]

Talked to the vet this evening. I did not have him do a farm visit. I just sent him pictures and talked to him on the phone. He has been out here before and I think he even looked at this cow before. He was nice enough to review pictures and talk about it without coming out. He is thinking it is a hernia or possibly scar tissue. He didn't rule out tumors. He told me to keep an eye on her and if she gets worse to give him a call and he could come out. He said to keep an eye on her to make sure she can defecate ok and without straining. Also watch how she is acting. If she starts looking worse or acting off, he said to cull her. He said the surgery for a hernia repair is probably $300 on up. I didn't ask, but I am guessing surgery to remove tumors costs about the same. $300 is too much for me to spend on her at her age. If it is scar tissue, there isn't much he can do.

I'm going to hold on to her until spring. Re-evaluate things then. I will not be re-breeding her.

 

[farmerjan]

If she stays the same, and can do manure and urinate okay, I think you are making the right choice to just let her feed the calf and then cull her. Nice of the vet to talk to you over the phone. It saves him a trip, you an expensive farm call, and you will be more likely to think of this and use him because he is not out to soak you. There are a couple of vets here in this area and we don't use one because even though he has been here before, he insists on a farm call every time and it just costs too much. Good luck with her and I hope things just stay quiet and you can get her to the spring. Who knows, it might just shrink and retract and you'll never know she had it...

 

[bigbluegrass]

I had the vet out today and figured I would update this. Several new bumps showed up, over the anus. The one on the right has almost doubled in size since the photo. The cow is still eating good and looks fine (except the large growths).

The vet confirmed the cow is bred. The tumors are in locations that would make it near impossible to remove them without causing permanent damage to the rectum and/or anus. Pretty much inoperable. Vet said we could biopsy them and determine what kind, but it would not change his recommendation. Vet thought they felt like melanoma, but that surprised him since she is a black cow. Vet's recommendation is to let her live as long as she is not loosing weight or suffering and she can keep crapping. It would sure be nice to get one more calf from her, but I just don't see it happening.

I have a call into the butcher. We could use the beef.

 

[Margonme]

Very sorry to hear that my good friend.