Prolaps

[Popa Cosmin]

I have a heifer that must calve in a few days. But her vagina is out when she is sitting down ( prolapse ).
Is any chance to calve normal?
She will die?
I must give her a second chance for the next year?

 

[dun]

If she hasn't completely prolapsed she may be able to calve without help. But it's best to be present to assist if needed. Frequently they will swell so much from the beginnings of the prolapse that the calf has a hard time passing through. After she weans the calf get rid of her and don;t breed her back.

dun

 

[CWT Angus]

I have a cow that is doing the same thing. Those ligaments are getting loose to allow the calf to come out & some cows have very loose ligaments to start with. Per my vet cows in this situation will continue to do this year after year & the problem will get worse, and yes they may eventually prolapse. Her heifer calves may have the same situation as this can be genetic, so be cautious about keeping calves from her.

On the brighter side, if she is as close to calving as you say..... A full term calf in there, plus any extra weight she is carrying probably idoesn't leave a whole lot of room left in there. So when she lays down everything gets squished.

She may calve fine and I hope she does. But as previously mentioned you should be around in case she needs your help. Let her raise her calf, don't breed her back & then sellf her & the calf. It's a bummer of a decision to be made. I have already made the same one so I can empathize with you. Good Luck

P.S. When in doubt call your vet & explain what you see.

 

[Popa Cosmin]

Thank you !
Speaking about vets, is hard to find good one here.
So I need yours advice an experience.
Cosmin

 

[dun]

Somthing to keep an eye out for with the partial types of prolapses is that she can urinate. There are times the swelling gets so bad that they can't and if that's the case you have to help them. If it gets to that point post the question and I or someone will explain how to go about doing it.

dun

 

[AngusLimoX]

Somthing to keep an eye out for with the partial types of prolapses is that she can urinate. There are times the swelling gets so bad that they can't and if that's the case you have to help them. If it gets to that point post the question and I or someone will explain how to go about doing it.

dun

If she stands and the "prolapse" goes away - is it a prolapse or 800 pounds of guts pushing against a weak point causing too much pink to show? Poppa said he was very new.

And as far as culling, in your country Poppa, thats gonna be a large financial decision , is it not? Limited access to buyers, sales barns, abbatoirs etc..?

Askin here dun, and are vaginal prolapses linked to heredity as much as uterine? Sounds almost worse from above posts.

 

[dun]

Askin here dun, and are vaginal prolapses linked to heredity as much as uterine? Sounds almost worse from above posts.

I've been told they are but it seems to me to have been more of just an isolated occasional thing rather then a bloodline. But we've never had enough Herefords (rightly or wrongly claimed to have a high incidence of prolapse) to really make a determination. The conventional wisdom is that if she prolapses before she calves that she'll continue and if it's after she calves she won't. Apparantly I don;t have any conventional wisdom because the one that prolapsed after she calved that lived prolapsed again the next year.

dun

 

[Popa Cosmin]

The cow calved yesterday without problems and without help. She looks fine.

Culling in our country is a hard decision. There are no others Charolaise in Romania. No sales barns, a few abattoirs.

Cosmin

 

[GMN]

I wouldn't say that this animal if she does have a calf normal, even with a prolapse shouldn't be bred back. We have had several that have bred back after a prolapse, and have not had reoccurring prolapses. The Vets in our area differ on their opinions on this subject. I'd say go with your gut, and the condition of the animal before you automatically just send her down the road, on something that may or may not happen.

GMN

 

[shorty]

Keep an eye on her, I had one last spring that prolapsed before she calved and it would go back in when she stood up , she calved with no problems, but afew weeeks later she prolapsed again and it wouldn't go back in by itself , I had to push it back in so she could urinate , this went on about 2 months I put it back 7 or 8 times , the last time was back in july and that was the worst both rectum and vagina were out , it took two of us to get it back in . We have had no problems since , she raised up a real nice heifer calf but I don't think she is bred back, in october and in november (about 3 weeks apart ) I saw the bull working on her . She had her calf in may so she should have been bred long before that . It's a shame because she is one of my best cows, this was her third calf but I guess we'll be sending her to the auction . Even if she is bred I can't take the chance of her prolapsing again . It was kind of nasty to put her back together.

 

[jcarkie]

the first time i dealt with vaginal prolapse i was checking cows at night and saw one bulging, i thought it was the sack for the calf well she didn't calve for awhile, then the next year it was worse,(as long as it goes back it is no problem) the next year it would not go back and she would strain like she was calving, i fought it and finally sewed it up and lost the calf. now if i see one bulging, i ship them, it only gets worse everytime she gets late in pregnancy. if they are loose they only get looser they don't tighten up !!!!!!!

 

[Roadapple]

I wouldn't say that this animal if she does have a calf normal, even with a prolapse shouldn't be bred back. We have had several that have bred back after a prolapse, and have not had reoccurring prolapses. The Vets in our area differ on their opinions on this subject. I'd say go with your gut, and the condition of the animal before you automatically just send her down the road, on something that may or may not happen.

GMN

I've had same experience with a couple, usually the ones a little to fat.

 

[GMN]

The younger the animal better chance that she will be fine, after having a prolapse as in the case of a first calf heifer.

GMN