I have an angus cow that aborted at 7 months. I gave her 72 hours to pass the placenta then hauled her to the vet. He pulled on it a little, gave her an antibiotic shot and told me some research has shown she will be better off if you let her be. It's now 5 days since the abort and it's still in. What would you guys do? Has anyone used a Lutalyse shot in treating this?
retained placenta
- Thread starter smitty
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D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
Only you can decide how important this individual animal is to you, but as an aggressive culler, I would load her on a trailer. My past experience with retained placenta is it will probably happen again, if she passes it this time and rebreeds without complications.
I agree with D.R. Cattle Unless she is something that you really want for a replacement, she should grow wheels. Very few females are good enough to keep when she is a problem. What caused her to abort?
I don't know what caused it. She had a lepto shot and there is no bangs in the area. I asked the vet if he had any ideas. He said I could expect a 2 % abortion rate anyway. This is the first abortion issue I've ever had. This was her second calf, no problems with the first one. I hate to give up on her, she is a nice 6807 cow, but I'll do it if I have to. Thanks.
D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
The 2% abortions could be for arguments sake, but I consider retention a defect just like cancer eye or bad udders. Could be genetic, could just be a 1 in a 1000 statistic or an accident. Either way it is an unfortunate problem that needs to be culled out of your breeding stock. Best of luck.
Retained placenta is very common when there is any kind of problem with the pregnancy, especially an abortion or when a cow has twins. Even more common is when there is vitamin or mineral deficiency. Its hardly something to cull against. Abortion, on the other hand, is.
CattleAnnie
Well-known member
Hi Smitty,
Lutalytes will work. Had a cow abort a couple days after the main bunch was processed earlier this winter. Guess she got too stressed, and she was ear marked for culling this fall due to age. A combo deal, I guess. Did you do any sorting or such recently? (Just a thought).
Good luck with your cow. Let us know how things turn out.
Take care.
Lutalytes will work. Had a cow abort a couple days after the main bunch was processed earlier this winter. Guess she got too stressed, and she was ear marked for culling this fall due to age. A combo deal, I guess. Did you do any sorting or such recently? (Just a thought).
Good luck with your cow. Let us know how things turn out.
Take care.
I hadn't done anything with her, she was just out in the pasture. I ran her up and pulled on it gently like the vet did lastnight. About 6 inches more came out easily then I stopped. Thanks for the lutalyse info.
Another thought-
did she just wean a BIG calf recently. its stressful for a heifer to raise a nice calf, breed back, and grow all at hte same time, but it must be done if she wants to stick around. Sometimes heifers will abort or have a weak second calf if the first calf isnt weaned in plenty of time for her to recover before number 2.
I have pulled RP out before at feeding time when cows were distracted with hay but if it doesnt come right out i leave it alone. although not recommended to pull it, a lot of times they jsut step on it and rip it out anyway..you might try tying it into a knot as dun has suggested many times before and let gravity work it on out. whatever you do, do not get the smell on your hands, i repeat, DO NOT get the smell on your hands!
did she just wean a BIG calf recently. its stressful for a heifer to raise a nice calf, breed back, and grow all at hte same time, but it must be done if she wants to stick around. Sometimes heifers will abort or have a weak second calf if the first calf isnt weaned in plenty of time for her to recover before number 2.
I have pulled RP out before at feeding time when cows were distracted with hay but if it doesnt come right out i leave it alone. although not recommended to pull it, a lot of times they jsut step on it and rip it out anyway..you might try tying it into a knot as dun has suggested many times before and let gravity work it on out. whatever you do, do not get the smell on your hands, i repeat, DO NOT get the smell on your hands!
Campground Cattle
Well-known member
smitty":tx8qnm2v said:
Have her checked for neospora
Campground Cattle
Well-known member
Campground Cattle":33m1wjxa said:
Neosporosis is a parasitic disease of many species of domestic animals caused by the protozoan Neospora caninum. In cows, the parasite can be transmitted to the fetus via the placenta and cause a variety of clinical effects including abortion. Calves born from Neospora-infected cows may exhibit neurological symptoms and die within one week after birth or may be infected with the parasite and show no clinical signs of disease. There is an urgent need control transmission of the Neospora to offspring by identifying cows infected with the parasite and removing these animals from the breeding population. The present study describes the use of a recombinant antigen-based serological assay to identify cows infected with Neospora. The level of antibodies specific for Neospora remained high in cows for at least one year after a primary neosporosis infection. Also, calves born from parasite-infected cows had high levels of Neospora-specific antibodies in their serum which remained high during the course of the study. Serum from cows which aborted a fetus due to nesoporosis had much higher levels of Neospora-specific antibodies than cows which aborted a fetus due to other causes. These results indicate that the recombinant antigen-based immunoassay is suitable for identifying Neospora-infected cows and may be useful for controlling neosporosis in the field.
