Prolapse in Old Cow

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sansonet

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This cow is almost 20 years old (born in 2005) and lives in a pasture near my house, where my ex keeps her. She is not raised for meat; rather, she is more like a pet. She was part of the herd he had been raising and selling, but this one was special as she was bottle-raised, so she stayed.

I noticed a prolapse about a week ago. I have never seen anything like this before. I researched it and found that it typically occurs only if the cow is pregnant, but I don't think she is. My ex has retired now and only keeps her and her daughter, with no bulls around.

She eats well and acts normally, but she does not want me to get close to her rear end. I had a difficult time taking pictures. We have no way to immobilize her to address the issue. Is there a chance that the prolapse will resolve on its own? Is there anything that can be done other than euthanizing her? I hope it doesn't come to that, but if she suffers and doesn't recover, we may have to consider it.
Pictures are here, they are graphic, which is why I'm not attaching them to the post: pictures of prolapse
 
Is it her vagina or rectum? Vaginal seems unlikely if not bred.
Looks more like a vagina to me. But she can't be pregnant, maybe age issues. She had babies before, but nothing like this ever happened.
 
It's vaginal, not rectal.
It will not 'correct itself'. It needs to be replaced - probably will require an epidural and a Buhner stitch or Caslick's technique performed if the owner is going to keep her around and not breed her. I'd be concerned that she might have prolapsed her urinary bladder out into that external prolapse; if so, it could be a life-threatening issue.

Next-door neighbor had a Ton+ cow (predominantly Angus, but descended from my last red SimAngus bull, who went visiting, back around 2004) with a prolapse slightly smaller than that one. Started out as a Grade I - would go back in when she stood, but it rapidly progressed to staying out all the time. I did an epidural on her and replaced it (had no Buhner needle at the time), and it stayed in until she calved about 3 months later. She'll probably be taking a ride to town when it's time to wean this calf.
 
As an old pet cow keeper I agree. It might be time to lead her to her final resting place, put a pan of sweet feed down and while she's eating, and shoot her in the head in the proper place. It could possible be replaced my husband says but probably wont stay in and there's no way to restrain her. You could have a vet out to give their opinion and put her to sleep by injection if need be.
 
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No that's I got the pictures loaded finally… I agree with all the above. There is no fix. Sorry for your luck.

Edit to add: I just remembered that many years ago on a big ranch I worked on we had a cow do something similar. I got tired of putting it back in so gave her an epidural of wood alcohol. Seemed to do the trick for the remainder of the summer until she got on the truck. But she never swatted another fly and her tail was a mess.
 
I had one that prolapsed around New Year, but wasn't due until April. Vet came and pushed it back in and put in a stich to keep from coming out. We cut the stich about a weak before calving and she had the calf without issue. I kept her because she was a great cow and very friendly, my pasture buddy. The next January she did it again and had the vet put back in and stich it, again. Cut the stich out right before calving without a problem, again. Sent her to the sale barn that fall after weaning the calf.
It's odd that yours did it while not pregnant.
 
I've put in Buhner stitches and done 'shoelace' sutures to keep prolapses in pregnant cows, but always worried about the owners cutting/removing them in time when the cow went into labor.
Recently learned about the 'Barth Blow-out stitch', a Buhner placement of Buhner tape/OB tape with a single stitch thrown in it, instead of the tape being tied in a knot. When the cow goes into labor, the stitch pulls through the OB tape, and she can deliver normally, with no tearing.
Video here:

Most vaginal prolapses are related to genetic/heritable factors (it used to be very prevalent in Herefords, Shorthorns, and breeds descended from them (Beefmasters, Santa Gertrudis, etc.), but sometimes they just occur in excessively fat cows. The very first one I ever saw was in a little black polled Brahman-cross cow. I've seen them in Holsteins, a 3/4Bison-1/4Red Brangus heifer, and the neighbors' cow that has no Hereford or Shorthorn in her background for at least the last 40 years, if any at all.
 
Do yourself and ALL OF US a favor. NEVER, EVER keep one, OR THEIR OFFSPRING, for breeding stock... no excuses. Predisposition is very genetic. Get rid of all of them that do it and their younguns, and you'll likely not have to deal with it again. Not worth the trouble... NOBODY needs these kind in their herd. Sheep have a stronger propensity for it... my wife got really good at making a twine string harness to "keep them in" after replacing it... because they were "prized sheep"... problem just got worse as the years went along, until we took a strong culling position against it. In no time, the problem was gone. I lost one of my favorite cows in the herd two years ago to one... and she had a heifer calf that we saved by bottle feeding it... it became hamburger a week ago.
 
Agree it is probably not fixable without some restraint... and that is a temp fix at best if they could put it back in. She is fat... definitely eats well at your ex's place... but at this age, it is the "end" for her.
If you really don't want her to leave alive, then shooting and putting her in the ground is the only option... except... why not let her pay you back for all those good years by at least letting her supply you with ground beef in the freezer... either load her up and take to a butcher... or shoot, hang, gut, and then take her to someone that could cut out the filets, maybe a few other cuts....stew meat..... and grind the rest...
 
Do yourself and ALL OF US a favor. NEVER, EVER keep one, OR THEIR OFFSPRING, for breeding stock... no excuses. Predisposition is very genetic. Get rid of all of them that do it and their younguns, and you'll likely not have to deal with it again. Not worth the trouble... NOBODY needs these kind in their herd. Sheep have a stronger propensity for it... my wife got really good at making a twine string harness to "keep them in" after replacing it... because they were "prized sheep"... problem just got worse as the years went along, until we took a strong culling position against it. In no time, the problem was gone. I lost one of my favorite cows in the herd two years ago to one... and she had a heifer calf that we saved by bottle feeding it... it became hamburger a week ago.
At 20 and being fat, I doubt this is something that was predispositioned to be passed down...most people would never keep one this long, and she is retired now... so not the same thing as one in the breeding herd.
 
Let us know the outcome.

My advice is if you do fix the issue with stitches, the cow is so fat it may have some influence on why this happened and how well any fix will solve the issue. Reduce her extra feed.
She's always looked like this - the picture is from 2011.
 

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