Uterine Prolapse

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Rob Johnson

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Having only been raising Beef Cattle for about five years, I just had my first experance with a Uterine Prolapse. The Prolapse was discovered after the Uterus was out of her body about 8 hours. The Vet tried to replace the uterus but was unable to get it into place. She then wanted to try to amputate. I gave her the go ahead. The cow died in about ten minutes. My question is, what went wrong? Talking to others a prolapse is more or less common. I would also like to know why cattle aren't sedated during emergency procedures.
Thanks,
 
Uterine prolapses are most often fatal in my experience. The act of expelling the uterus can tear/rupture a lot of of the internal blood supply system. After 8 hours I would think that the shock would be darn neart enough to kill it. Vaginal prolapses are pretty routine, uterine prolapses are much rarer and much more serious.
 
Rob Johnson":3oqtec71 said:
Having only been raising Beef Cattle for about five years, I just had my first experance with a Uterine Prolapse. The Prolapse was discovered after the Uterus was out of her body about 8 hours. The Vet tried to replace the uterus but was unable to get it into place. She then wanted to try to amputate. I gave her the go ahead. The cow died in about ten minutes. My question is, what went wrong? Talking to others a prolapse is more or less common. I would also like to know why cattle aren't sedated during emergency procedures.
Thanks,
did she clamp the uterine artery first? they will bleed out and die pronto ... i heard of prolaspe being put back longer then that... a vet friend went on a call where the cow was out and running loose in the dark. and could hear the sloshing of the uterus then all of a sudden, no more sloshing but she was still running the uterus had snapped off and apperently stretched the artery so, to the point it closed off.
 
When I found the Cow in the morning when I went to feed, she was laying down on her belly as if she was just sunning herself. When I fed and she didn't get up is when I went in to check and found the Prolapse. The Cow was fine except for her uterus hanging out. As far as the procedure, the vet said there was no bleeding before she went to put things back in after amputating the uterus. I can only guess that one of the arteries started to bleed when the stump of the uterus was put back. The vet asked me to go get some hay to see if she would eat, and by the time I got back the cow was dead.
Now, if a Uterine Propapse is almost always fatal, would it not be better to just put the cow down without messing around with Vets and there bills??
 
Rob Johnson":wzekfh97 said:
When I found the Cow in the morning when I went to feed, she was laying down on her belly as if she was just sunning herself. When I fed and she didn't get up is when I went in to check and found the Prolapse. The Cow was fine except for her uterus hanging out. As far as the procedure, the vet said there was no bleeding before she went to put things back in after amputating the uterus. I can only guess that one of the arteries started to bleed when the stump of the uterus was put back. The vet asked me to go get some hay to see if she would eat, and by the time I got back the cow was dead.
Now, if a Uterine Propapse is almost always fatal, would it not be better to just put the cow down without messing around with Vets and there bills??
its not always fatal... i pulled a calf years ago went too wash up, and my friend yelled to me and said this cow just turned inside out! thank God she was still in the chute, the vet put it back and stitched her up..... it is critical but not fatal if handled in time and properly
 
first of all, vaginal and uterine prolapses are different and uterine are rare and much more serious. A uterine prolaspe is very stressful on the cow and even if you catch it early there are many things that can go wrong and some make it and some don't. I think a lot has to do with the cow and how they handle it, sometimes the shock kills them or they bleed out internally. I would say with 8 hours out it would be a slim chance the cow would survive. Sorry it happened and she didn't make it.
 
Each cow is different. We have lost more cows to lighting strikes then we have to uterine prolapses.
Some have prolapsed immediately after giving birth and a couple several hours after.

As for sedation a spinal block is given to stop the cow from continuously pushing and straining.

Was this cow really hard to get up?
 
No, the cow was not hard to get up at all. In fact, if it wasn't for her urterus hanging out, you would think nothing was wrong with her. The vet did spook her and spent five minutes chaseing her around the pasture to get a halter on her. She then laied down and was worn out. Never did get back up.
UPDATE:
Talked to an old retired Cattle Vet and was told the cow needs to be in one of two positions to get the uterus back into the correct spot. One would be with the cow on it's haunches with her back legs pulled out behind her and the other would be with the cow standing. My cow was on her side. I was told she would never be able to get things back in correctly like that.
 
I had a heifer have a uterine prolapse last year .The calf was dead but I got the vet out in the dark and we cleaned her up and he put the shoestring type stitch in her. I meant to sell her after she healed up and I never got around to it. Bought a month ago , I went to check on my cows and she was the first to calve and had a healthy bull calf. She had some extra skin hanging out of her. The vet said it was probable a lot of scar tissue. After about 2/12 weeks the swelling went down and she now looks like a normal cow again.
 
The 2 we lost were really hard to get up. Vet had to use a hot shot on them.
The other cows we have had prolapse got up easily, vet put them back in and we shipped them in the fall.
 
Was the fetus small? an abort?
The cow couldn't have lived or ran around if the calf had been full or near full term. The Uterus would have been much larger and gorged with blood.
The main problem with the uterine prolapse is blood loss and shock.
I have saved a couple cows by putting the uterus back, stitching, antibiotics. Cow will never be worth much.
My opinion, Save yourself a vet bill, and a lot of wasted time, energy feed etc. Put a bullet in the forehead and bury the problem ASAP.
 
The calf was aborted at about 4-5 months. Haven't even begun to try and find out why yet. I feed corn silage and hay during the winter. I wonder if she got ahold of some mold in the silage. I check every load I feed, but that stuff grows in clumps.
 
Hard to say. It's been a tough Winter. Probably a combination of things. Stress, a fall on ice, fighting with another cow? Other heath issues? Don't think it was moldy silage. Are your cattle on silage alone?
Oh yeah, I see your feeding hay too. I don't understand why the vet couldn't get it back in? It does take some strong arms. And it doesn't make sense that the cow died so quickly. Unless she had other issues. Maybe bad heart, cancer inside somewhere, liver or other organ problems. That would explain the abort and prolapse.
 
It happens, I see you have only been doing this for five years.
I could write a book on the different ways I have lost cattle over the years.
It is amazing in some of the inovative ways they can find to die besides natural.

If you own cattle you are going to loose cattle.
 
Caustic Burno":oivqkkw0 said:
It happens, I see you have only been doing this for five years.
I could write a book on the different ways I have lost cattle over the years.
It is amazing in some of the inovative ways they can find to die besides natural.

If you own cattle you are going to loose cattle.
and how they'll fight you while your trying too save their life,,,,dam ungrateful rascals ;-)
 

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