Prolapse cow

[Dave]

About two weeks ago one of my fine one and done cows prolapsed. There is a reason these old girls are at the sale. You could see the scars on her where she had been sewed up before. She hadn't calved yet so we had to pin her together. Well this morning there is a chunky looking Char cross calf laying beside her. I am calling this on a victory. Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

[coachg]

Some folks like to live on the edge !

 

[farmerjan]

Here's to hoping she will not do an unexpected "late prolapse" and will get on with raising the calf up well for you. Yep, there are reasons some are one and dones... but we bought a group of heifers a year ago, and one prolapsed calving and we lost her after vet put her back in and all that... So, it doesn't just happen to the old ones.

 

[CowboyRam]

I had one that prolapsed last year before calving. The bed put her back together, I was able to catch her just before she calved, cut the strings, and she calved just fine. She prolapsed again afterwards. She raised the calf, and she earned herself a ride to the sale barn last fall. Sold as a weigh up.

 

[TCRanch]

Here's to hoping she will not do an unexpected "late prolapse" and will get on with raising the calf up well for you. Yep, there are reasons some are one and dones... but we bought a group of heifers a year ago, and one prolapsed calving and we lost her after vet put her back in and all that... So, it doesn't just happen to the old ones.

You lost a heifer to a vaginal prolapse? Not uterine? Vaginal will reoccur & gets culled in my world. Uterine, if she doesn't bleed out or get infected, is almost always a single occurrence.

 

[Dave]

Here's to hoping she will not do an unexpected "late prolapse" and will get on with raising the calf up well for you.

When you pin then about two weeks after calving your have to pull the pins. When we do that we will go ahead and sew her up. The advantage to pinning them pre calving if you don't have to watch them real close and cut the stitches before calving.

Some folks like to live on the edge !

When doing the old one and done cows you have to figure on a 5% death loss. That is reality of the game. She was looking like a candidate for the 5%. But I have had young expensive cows die too.

 

[moses388]

The Vet told me a vaginal prolapse happens before parturition if the calf is too large. And to use an easier calving bull. Yes/No??

 

[TCRanch]

The Vet told me a vaginal prolapse happens before parturition if the calf is too large. And to use an easier calving bull. Yes/No??

That can be a cause and/or if the cow is too fat. Vaginal prolapses tend to reoccur and get worse. Genetics may play a role.

 

[wbvs58]

The Vet told me a vaginal prolapse happens before parturition if the calf is too large. And to use an easier calving bull. Yes/No??

I doubt it, but why would you give her a 2nd chance?

Ken

 

[kenny thomas]

When you pin then about two weeks after calving your have to pull the pins. When we do that we will go ahead and sew her up. The advantage to pinning them pre calving if you don't have to watch them real close and cut the stitches before calving.

When doing the old one and done cows you have to figure on a 5% death loss. That is reality of the game. She was looking like a candidate for the 5%. But I have had young expensive cows die too.

What are you referring to as pinning? That seems easier than trying to watch and cut the string.

 

[Dave]

What are you referring to as pinning? That seems easier than trying to watch and cut the string.

The vet did it. Basically pushed everything back in. Cut a small hole in the hide just behind the hip bone. He had big plastic washers. Two for each side. Had one of the washers attached to big steel needle. Pushed the needle from the inside out through the cut hole. The needle had a plastic tube around it. Once through he pulled the needle out of the center. Slid the other washer over the tube which has holes in it. Tightened it up and put a clip through one of the holes to hold it in place. Cut off the extra tube. Repeated on the other side. Took him maybe 20 minutes. In two weeks we will put her in the chute. Pull the clips off, reach inside her and pull the pin and washer out. We will probably sew her up after that just as insurance. She is headed to the kill plant in August so we aren't worried about any long term effects. Just stay alive and raise that big bull calf. If I remember I will get a picture of those washers on the outside tomorrow.

 

[kenny thomas]

Yes please get a picture. I can't wrap my brain around it. How do they calve with it pinned?

 

[farmerjan]

Me too ???? I have never heard of a vet "pinning them" we always had a couple of stitches and they had to be cut when it was time. That is a much better way... will have to see the pic and then talk to the vet here... we shipped a young cow that had a vaginal prolapse that was "probably 7 months"... we did not even preg check her... he just put it back in and put in a couple of sticthes and she got shipped with the opens a couple days later. It had only been out 24 hours or so, when the vet came to do the preg check, so it was caught pretty soon....said if she was his she would get shipped and with the price of culls we did not want to bury her... so salvaged what we could instead. But getting a calf out of her and then shipping her in the fall would have been a better deal... of course she could have died inbetween... but that is always a chance you take.
Thanks for info @Dave.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Me too ???? I have never heard of a vet "pinning them" we always had a couple of stitches and they had to be cut when it was time. That is a much better way... will have to see the pic and then talk to the vet here... we shipped a young cow that had a vaginal prolapse that was "probably 7 months"... we did not even preg check her... he just put it back in and put in a couple of sticthes and she got shipped with the opens a couple days later. It had only been out 24 hours or so, when the vet came to do the preg check, so it was caught pretty soon....said if she was his she would get shipped and with the price of culls we did not want to bury her... so salvaged what we could instead. But getting a calf out of her and then shipping her in the fall would have been a better deal... of course she could have died inbetween... but that is always a chance you take.
Thanks for info @Dave.

Sounds like it might work in a similar fashion as the plastic prolapse retainers for sheep. A bit different, but same principle.

 

[wbvs58]

About 15 years ago when I first moved up here I was doing a bit of part time work for the local vet and got to use the pins a couple of times. They come in a kit with all you need , I found they were easy to use and the result was it kept the vagina back where it was supposed to be a lot better than stitches and the birth canal was still left open. I really liked them.

Ken

 

[Dsth]

The Vet told me a vaginal prolapse happens before parturition if the calf is too large. And to use an easier calving bull. Yes/No??

no, at least not on the two cows that I did that. both sold after second time.

 

[Dave]

Here is a picture from this morning. That blue dot is the outside washer. There is one just like it on the inside. I didn't try to get a picture of the inside one.
And yes I know she looks mighty thin. It has been a tough couple weeks on this old girl. Hopefully she will start picking up now that the calf is out of her.

 

[Ferd]

Anyone have a vaginal prolapse picture, I had a cow with a uterine prolapse once. Vet saved her

 

[kenny thomas]

Here is a picture from this morning. That blue dot is the outside washer. There is one just like it on the inside. I didn't try to get a picture of the inside one.
And yes I know she looks mighty thin. It has been a tough couple weeks on this old girl. Hopefully she will start picking up now that the calf is out of her.

View attachment 14071

Thanks, I still can't wrap my mind around how it's installed. I will check them out.

 

[Lucky_P]

That's some old-school stuff there. They taught us about that procedure when I was in vet school... 40 years ago... but they didn't demonstrate it, and I never saw or heard of anyone who actually did it.
Essentially, it's a plastic 'nail', with a button that fits over the 'head', then you shove it from inside-out, through vaginal wall, pelvic musulature, skin, and slip another button over the pointy end, slide a cotter pin into holes pre-drilled in the shaft, to hold it in place. Rinse & repeat on the other side.
https://www.outbackvetsupply.com/product.jhtm?id=713&cid=183

Working on mostly Beefmasters & Gerts when I was in practice...30 years ago... I saw plenty of vaginal/cervical prolapses. Just did an epidural, cleaned 'em up, shoved 'em back in, and did a Buhner stitch - and recommended pounding them out... but, since so many were 'valuable registered' cows... not enough of them went to town. Most calved relatively uneventfully, even if the owners didn't follow my instructions to keep them up and cut out the stitch when calving was eminent. Guess the cotton umbilical tape we used had rotted enough by the time that most got around to calving that it just broke (or tore through... IDK).