Dave
Well-known member
The last one I did was a real fight. And then just about the time I put the last stitch in her she died. You hate loosing them. Hate putting in all that work only to have one die. Just a bad situation all the way around.
I would respectfully disagree about it being her fault Lucky. I know, there is university research that shows prolapse being random but don't you believe it. I've seen maybe thirty of them in Herefords, not a single one in my angus. Doc Hoffert taught me to use a sheet of plywood to keep it clean and powdered sugar, I stuffed many of those back in myself without an epidural. Sorry for your loss Murray, but I'd sell everyone related to her. A prolapsed uterus is a medical emergency, time is not on your side, especially in cold weather.It ain't her fault... it just happens.
Plain ol' white granulated sugar... 5-10 lbs of it, smeared liberally over that uterus, and massaged, will greatly relieve swelling, over a 10-30 minute period, but I can only imagine how hard it will be to try to shove that thing back in without being able to give her a lidocaine epidural to keep her from pushing back harder against you as you attempt to put it back in.
Caught unprepared without a Buhner needle and tape... I've sewed a couple with shoelaces and holes poked with my pocketknife. It wasn't pretty, but serviceable.
From what my vet told me, and what I've learned/heard/read, vaginal prolapse can be a heritable trait but uterine is not. But I didn't know it was more common in certain breeds.It is a heritable trait, like in the old Hereford breed lines. But, it can randomly happen. Don't want to jinx myself, but I can only remember 1 uterine prolapse - 2 yr old. Vet got right out. Kept her and she calved unassisted til an old age. Kept all daughters with no problem.
Edit - sorry Murry - not the way you wanted another bottle baby!
A lot of good advise Timer, let me share some my life experience. After I started running cows on the neighbor's place sixteen or seventeen years ago, I went from one or two retained placentas per year to maybe twenty, seemed like a quarter of my herd. Did some research and found a human study that showed a correlation between low blood calcium and retained placenta. Limed his farm and mine with high calcium lime a little and often. Haven't seen a retained placenta in years now. Thinking back, we had a retained placenta occasionally at home, also had at least one rectal prolapse in a Hereford. I only remember one cow, an angus, that had vaginal prolapse every year maybe twenty years ago, and I would argue nearly every ailment has a genetic component. Specifically, after dealing with prolapsed uterus' frequently in the Herefords growing up, someone finally made the observation that her mother did that too. I learned then that if you send your problems to town, eventually you have less problems, a solution many folks who raise "good" stock, as in she's too good to sell, fail to understand. I have not seen a prolapsed uterus in over thirty years, let me find some wood to knock on, not that I'm superstitious but I hope I never see one again. I don't doubt it can be random, but I'm sure it can be hereditary.I have a couple comments. I will disclose, I have 50 ears experience as a large animal veterinarian who has had beef cattle for 60 years. There is a genetic predisposition to vaginal prolapse. Replace, suture the vulva shut, and cure by culling. Do not keep breeding stock from any relatives of the culprit. Uterine prolapse is somewhat random. It can be related to low blood calcium especially in dairy cows. If replaced properly, there is no need for sutures. Epidural anesthesia is critical to success. If the uterus is severely swollen, the sugar and massaging are very helpful. Lots of cleaning with warm water and soap and lubrication are very important. If the cow is down, pull the hind legs straight back to tip the pelvis forward. If the cow is bloated, bloat should be relieved before replacement is attempted. Oxytocin after the replacement is helpful. The long necked wine bottle is also a good idea if you cannot reach the tip of the replaced uterine horn. Always work with a closed hand to avoid perforating the uterus. Good luck.
What kind of condition are your cows in? Are they out on pasture most of the year? We run cattle out in the hills until after the wheat is harvested. They run on the stubble up until snow flies. Then in December they are on a dry lot and fed twenty pounds of hay and straw until they calve. Then after they calve we bump it up to 28 pounds. So they are in good condition but not fat. Free choice minerals, protein tubs and salt. Also give Multi-min injectable twice a year. You will run into trouble when the cows are to fat. Just my thoughts best of luck to you!Have seen prolapsed uterus almost once a year here. Almost all the time it's when the cow has a hard calving. Maybe just one time cow has prolapsed while calving an average size calf and she somehow managed to rupture her bladder while calving, so placing uterus back only kept her alive for three days. Most of the time the prolapse happened to 1st or 2nd calf cows with too big calves for them and, I mean, way too big, like 145.5lbs for 1350lbs second calver, or 110lbs calf for hardly 1200lbs heifer. Never have any of them repeat the prolapse again. Never seen any breed predisposition or noticed some repeat prolapses in the family lines. The main and probably only reason what causes an uterine prolapse in our herd is too big calves for some cows causing prolonged and hard calving. The last prolapse we had was two years ago. Trying to work with reducing prolapse numbers even more.
They are outside all year round. Grazing in natural grass since may/june until november. Then on almost just hay, rarely some haylage until the new grazing season. Those, which had more time between calvings or have lost their calves and stayed dry until the new calf, sometimes get abit fatter. However, others never get fat. And as much as I remember, none of the prolapsed cows were fat. Have heard about it being the cause, but not here.What kind of condition are your cows in? Are they out on pasture most of the year? We run cattle out in the hills until after the wheat is harvested. They run on the stubble up until snow flies. Then in December they are on a dry lot and fed twenty pounds of hay and straw until they calve. Then after they calve we bump it up to 28 pounds. So they are in good condition but not fat. Free choice minerals, protein tubs and salt. Also give Multi-min injectable twice a year. You will run into trouble when the cows are to fat. Just my thoughts best of luck to you!