Premature labour: 258 days

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Putangitangi

Putangitangi

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Yesterday a two-year-old heifer went into labor, standing and walking around with her tail out, lying down pushing, etc. She didn't appear to be expelling any mucus. She was in my insemination mob during mating, so no access to a bull and I inseminated her on 14 Feb, which made this day 258 of her pregnancy. She only had as much udder development as I expected for a heifer still 2-3 weeks out from calving. Knowing something was wrong I called my vet to come and help. I've had a couple of dead calves this season and this looked likely to be another late-term death and I wanted to get whatever PM tests/exam we could to attempt to nail down a problem.

Vet noted that the heifer was really tight vaginally/vulvally and that while she was definitely in labor, her cervix wasn't much dilated or softened either. The calf was alive. Because the cervix wouldn't stretch and he couldn't get a chain around the head to ensure it followed the feet out to help, we eventually decided on a C-section and the calf came out the side door. A live heifer, looking quite a good size (by the end of it all we really didn't have time to set up the scales, but I'll put her over them today or tomorrow for an estimate) - I could carry her, so she'll be around 55# at a guess.

What makes a heifer go into labor before she's ready or before sufficient signalling between calf and mother has occurred?

It was a pretty dirty operation, but the vet gives her a 90% chance of survival. I don't know what to think about her future yet; I guess I'll wait and see if she even has one to decide about. So far she's talking to the calf, tentatively licking it, but I'll have to feed it at least to start with, since I don't think she has the milk yet. I wonder if it'll come, now there's no pregnancy?

Any thoughts, please? This is a new one on me. It's been a pretty nasty calving season with more problems than usual (although still vastly in the minority). The heifers which have calved on their own have done so with ease and been great mothers.
 
Could you have some with Anaplasmosis?
A friend of mine experienced some of the same things when she had some of her cows affected with Anaplas a couple of years ago. Not all were affected. They went into labor early and did not dilate. One of the tel-tail signs was pale colored vulvas as opposed to nice and pink. They have a blood test for it.
Just a thought to throw out there..........
 
We had a cow that kept aborting twins around 7-8 months.. She got second and third chances because she always adopted and did well, but I had had enough and shipped her after. We had one that had a uterine torsion, thus a C section, and she never turned out into anything either and ended up open a year or two later.
If you don't find a good reason for her to have done this, I would suggest you ship her... We've never had luck with them if they messed up like that.
 
Stress is enough to cause premature calving - I lose one every time I truck the herd to a new farm, usually about seven months gestation and five to seven days after arrival.
Also consider neospora.
I'd say *probably* she'll come into milk as most of mine that calve at seven to eight months do (and most never slip the calf again). Having a hard calving doesn't help.
Getting a live calf is a great result.
 
I've tested all the families in my herd for Neospora when it became apparent we had it. I'm just about to works the last heifer, having decided it was all too much bother and having bred some lovely bulls from the cows which carried it - index case and her vertically infected daughter. Another couple of the commercial families had it, but I've eliminated them.

Stress isn't an issue. These heifers get evening cocktail hour, grooming, etc. etc.

A couple of weeks ago I tested my yearling bulls and the 5yo herd sire for BVD - antigen and antibodies - and all were clear. There'd be some antibody positives in there somewhere if we'd had an event of that nature. We have a closed herd, nearly completely secure double-fenced boundaries and management to keep the cattle clear of those not yet done when there are other animals present nearby.

The calf's interesting to watch, much weaker and floppier in her movements than a calf usually is by the following day. I presume she's just not quite ready for gravity. She's taking a bottle well so far and her mother's beginning to be pretty protective about her, although no suckling yet. I'll be happy if that happens, will carry on doing it if I have to. I'll keep the calf, because she's the last of that branch of her family, unless I come up with a good reason to suspect there's more than an individual cause for yesterday's problem.
 
Animals that have twins may give birth up to 2 weeks prior to their due date and that is normal.

If calving occurs earlier than that, I would talk to your vet about giving dexamethasone (corticosteroids). Premature calves tend to produce insufficient surfactant which is necessary for adequate lung expansion. If I recall correctly, dexamethasone is usually given before calving to counter this problem and help proper lung development.
 
Koffi Babone":grr19nye said:
Animals that have twins may give birth up to 2 weeks prior to their due date and that is normal.

If calving occurs earlier than that, I would talk to your vet about giving dexamethasone (corticosteroids). Premature calves tend to produce insufficient surfactant which is necessary for adequate lung expansion. If I recall correctly, dexamethasone is usually given before calving to counter this problem and help proper lung development.
Click to expand...
I was wondering about the dex thing. I know when inducing from a guess breeding date that we always wuded it for the very reason of the lungs. After it was born I wondered if it would work. Also wonder if may a shot of selenium ight help the calf.
 
I think you might have jumped the gun a bit and if left alone things would have happened by themselves with the milk and all.
It is hard to know what to do in situations like this and taking the calf was probably the safest option. I find that you will get the occaisional heifer or cow for that matter that shows signs a bit different, may strain for a bit as they are feeling uncomfortable with the calf and it can be very stressfull just watching and waiting. No one, even the most experienced cattle vet can accurately say when it is the appropriate time to intervene and by taking it everyone can get some sleep.
Sounds like the calf will get going and hopefully the heifer will eventually come on with her milk. All the best with them.
Ken
 
Ken, your answer's come up as I was posting. Jumped the gun with the c-section, or the feeding?

If the heifer were having twins, I'd have seen udder development and a few other hints and have often had them early, which is also one of the pointers. This was labor before labor should have happened. There was no prior warning, she just started when she should have waited 2-3 weeks more. The calf appears well able to breathe and was ok right from the start, fortunately, because we all had our hands full and had to just leave it to work out the world sitting in the yard.

This morning she took a liter bottle from me, then went hunting for more, so I pushed her toward her mother and she fed from her for about twenty minutes. I'm very pleased about it, even though she may not be getting a lot there. At least they're well bonded despite my ongoing involvement. Then she did a little bit of a skip as she wandered around. If she doesn't wake up and fall into the stream beside which she's insisted on sleeping, I think she's going to be alright. I'll keep supplementing until the calf doesn't need it, if that happens. The heifer's pretty tame, except for hating all the needles.

She very probably hasn't passed her membranes yet, which is a bit worrying. But I guess we give her a couple of days. I have to phone and talk to the vet about more drugs anyway.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Milk may come. We had aheifer last year that calved 22 days early to her AI date. Never appeard that she had much milk. Only wieghed 48 pounds at birth but weaned at 593. To look at her udder today she still looks like a heifer that never calved.
 
Things are looking hopeful still here. Little calf appears to be feeding adequately from her mother, even though she looks pretty hollow. She won't take the bottle any more, but she's started bouncing around a little when she gets up from her long sleeps, which tells me she's feeling pretty good.

The cs mother has a tiny peek of the afterbirth at her vulva when she's lying, so I imagine more of that will come out in the next couple of days. She's on daily antibiotics and had her second three-day pain relief shot yesterday. There was quite a bit of fluid pooling under her belly yesterday, but that is not so noticeable today. She's eating, behaving normally. I don't think we're anywhere near the edge of the woods yet, but we're going in the right direction.
 
It sounds like things are moving forward. I hope they continue to do so. I'm glad to hear that the calf is doing well. Hopefully momma will come through with flying colors as well.
 

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