Prolapsed Cow....options?

[kdhansen]

History: 3 year old cow was injured early last Winter from a fall, she was pretty gimpy (hind end) all winter and spring, but held onto her calf and calved the middle of August. She has always been a little loose-stooled, fat as a tick, BVD negative, wormed, put in driest small pasture with other fatsos, etc..... (abnormally wet weather and gobs of grass hasn't helped) She started looking like she was going to prolapse as she got closer to calving, but calved an 88# calf without prolapsing...vet was hoping things would heal without carrying the extra weight, however, 4 days later she prolapsed BOTH rectally and vaginally...started with the rectal prolapse, but by the time the vet got here she had vaginally prolapsed as well. Vet stitched her up...rectum with dissolving stitches, vulva sewn up as usual for a prolapse. This morning, calf at 5.5 weeks, cow has prolapsed rectally, again. Vet has been called, and will be here in a couple hours. I have been trying to figure the way to go...
1. Pull the calf, put on milk replacement, dispose of cow now. (Do not have an extra nurse cow).
2. Stitch cow up again, IF POSSIBLE; hopefully keeping her in tact for another month or two, then wean calf and dispose of cow. (This would be my preferred option of the two, I think)
3. ???

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[hillsdown]

I would ship the cow ,sounds like she is more trouble than she is worth. Try the milk replacer for the calf, and get a really good dairy calf starter ration for it. You can ween calves at 6 weeks old as long as they are consuming enough grain ,if it will not take to replacer . I have done this a few years ago with a beef steer, he was 5 weeks old when his dam broke her femur and had to be put down, he would not drink replacer so I made sure he had free choice 22% calf starter ration with decox ,nice leafy 2nd cut alfalfa and fresh water. His weight at 6 months old was right with his contemporaries that were weened at that age.

 

[thommoos]

I would try option 2 first get the calf to eight weeks then ship her off, the follow his steps, by eight weeks he will be better suited to be weaned.

 

[kdhansen]

hillsdown: Thanks for the information...will call feed store to check on supply
thommoos: Option 2 is my preference...will see what the vet says when he gets here (he sounded more optimistic than I about keeping her intact for another month). Cow milks exceptionally...nice good sized chunky calf...would be nice not to have to do the milk replacer.

 

[ANAZAZI]

I would go for option 2 If she is stitched again she will likely be ok and you can sell to slaughter when the calf is ordinary weaning age. It is worth a bit of trouble with the cow to avoid trouble with the calf.

 

[dun]

Remember with withholding from slaughter times for any drugs/antibiotics he gives her

 

[kdhansen]

Got the cow back together yesterday afternoon, vet had a workout, but seems optimistic. Wish now that I would have taken a few quick pictures to post the before and after (and in between), but at the time that was the last thing on my mind. He used a non-dissolvable suture this time, hoping that will make the difference. Asked vet if he thought the backhoe should be close by if it happens again in the next couple weeks...after the first 30 minutes, he answered "probably wouldn't hurt"...but when he finally was able to get it back in, he was more optimistic, except for he said if I called again on this cow, he was going to have the appt gal tell me he was on vacation Did ask him withdrawal time on drugs...28 days, so am hoping she can keep it together for at least a month. Thanks all for input.

 

[hillsdown]

If she lasts a month load her up and cut your losses, cull prices are still pretty good. Sometimes they get an infection and go down fast , nothing left to do but the kindest thing you can do for them . Speaking form experience in these chronic cases it is better to ship as soon as you can while she is upright and you can get still a few bucks. The calf will be old enough to ween if you start preparing it now with grain etc.

Good luck .

 

[kdhansen]

hillsdown...sounds like a plan...fixed up a creep like area with some nice soft alfalfa, calf already has gone in and picked at it...setting up for grain, too. I'm going to hope the cow is still upright by this time next month. Thanks.