What happened??

[alisonb]

I looked up Metritis, endometritis and pyometra and read a bit about infections as a result of retained placenta.

Infection is not necessarily caused by a retained placenta.

A cow showing no outward signs of infection could possibly have the uterine infection Pyometra, where the cervix closes and actually traps the infection not allowing discharge to pass while animals immune system tries to fight it.

Would she smell? There's no mistaking if you get a whiff of infection from RP.

If it's a RP you have a watery red brown discharge plus rotting tissue... very ripe :shock: In a case were the cervix has closed and discharge/pus cannot escape most probably not.

 

[alisonb]

There was a lot of nasty fluid on the ground behind her in addition to what you can see in that photo. Does that happen with pneumonia?

I'm not Kenny but...

It's obviously far more complicated than this but this is a start. If I look at a sick cow and see discharge/pus from the nose and eyes, I'll immediately think respiratory organs. If the discharge/pus is coming out of the vagina, I think reproductive tract/organs. Diarrhea... will be digestive tract etc. A cow with pneumonia will not have pus coming out of her vulva unless it has other complications or secondary infection.