uterine prolapse?
 

Well Bliss finally calved tonight but it did not go well. DH noticed around 7pm that she was in labor. When I got out she'd already passed the big bubble and we were seeing a hoof or two and thinking she'd deliver right away.

After a couple more hours of no progress I was worried that the calf was dead or would be soon and we would not get it delivered at all, and I summoned my courage to try to help. Bliss is a large cow, not tame to touch, and I had been afraid she'd injure me. But by the time I determined I had to help, she was surprisingly accepting of it.

I put my hand in and was able to determine that the legs were both front legs and I felt the tongue. So I put my hand up over the head and eased it down into birthing position. DH came along and helped, and we pulled down with contractions and got it delivered pretty quickly.

Then the bad news. As she passed the back side of the calf, she also passed a rather large knotty mass. Uterine prolapse?

This is beyond something I can do anything about, and we are considering our only option to be taking her to the butcher in the morning.
:(

Funny thing the two small heifers calved on their own with no problems. I never worried about this large heifer having a problem. Sire was the little Wagyu bull.

Heifer appeared to be in good condition, and put on a good amount of milk prior to calving.

The other heifers had heifer calves. This one is a bull.

Don't quite understand. You say she passed it. Did the mass come out of her or is it hanging out of her?

Mary, if it isnt shredded all to bits, the vet can often sew it back in.
Might be worth it, then she could raise this calf and you wouldnt need to sell her unless she doesnt rebreed.

A uterine prolapse IS an emergency! If you haven't done so already, get in touch with your vet ASAP. I did a quick search to find photos:

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publ...F/FSA-3102.pdf

Definantly a vet emergency. We have put them back in and laced them up with hog rings and a shoe string when they weren't to bad and couldn't get a vet.

i haven't had this happen yet but plan on learning the procedure to fix it when it does .let us know how it all worked out ?

From experience, once a cow prolapses, odds are that she will do it again. Sell the cow and buy a replacement.

And, prolapses are somewhat genetic, passed from mother cow to her female offspring.

The vet is coming out this morning to look at it. I doubt there is anything she can do this long after the fact. I didn't call last night just because when I called at night before, the vet told me I was putting him in a bind and he could not come. I figured either I could take care of it or I couldn't.

When I had the problem before I ended up pulling a dead calf by myself, but I saved the cow.

This development came as a shock to me.

The lady coming out is an associate of the vet who wouldn't come before. Farm call, she told DH, will only be $60, worth it, I think, whether or not she can help. I don't expect her to be able to.

And since the cow is not up this morning, we won't be able to use her as meat, either. I'm expecting to have to put her down.

But I'll let y'all know.

While we were waiting for the vet I went out and gave the calf a bottle (just in case) and fly sprayed the cow. Since the cow does not like to be fly sprayed, she got up and moved away from me a piece, so I knew that she still could get up and move.

We debated how to restrain her since I do not have chutes. She got up and moved to another row of trees, and the vet assistant was able to tie her by the horns to the trees. Vet came over and gave the cow a sedative, and we all pushed and pulled to get her in the right position, which turned out to be splay legged with her back legs behind her.

Sugaring, as it turns out, draws out fluid and inflammation to make the process a little easier. It's still not easy. I was amazed that this young lady vet was able to do it. It was a very large prolapse. She explained that you have to be very careful not to puncture the membrane, or then you do have to put the animal down.

The bladder, as it turns out, had also prolapsed, and everything had to be back in the right position. The vet was happy when the cow peed on her.

Work had to be done quickly, and the cow still had to have a second shot of sedative.

Stitched up, big dose of LA 200, a big steroid shot, blackleg shot and tetanus.

And everything just finished and the cow untied just as she decided it was time to jump onto her feet. She didn't stay up long before she went and laid back down, but vet says her getting up is a good sign.

We have no guarantees. If she doesn't die in the next few days, she might recover.

Then we can let her get her legs back under her and raise the calf, but she is to go to the butcher without rebreeding.

I know not all situations are the same but I've had 2 cows prolapse, had vet sew them back up and they went on to rebreed several more years with no problems. I've also seen the other side and lost 2 to prolapse even with vet sewing them back up.

I would suggest getting the cow up several times a day. As long as she eats and drinks, it should take 2 weeks to 14 days for her to get back to where she can stand and walk.

If she stops eating and drinking, you need to plan on putting her down.

I hope you were able to give the calf colostrum from its mother or a good colostrum substitute. Also hope cow makes it and can raise her calf!

Vaginal prolapse that occurs prior to calving is often genetic and likely to be a recurring problem.

Uterine prolapse that happens after calving is often due to hard labor and likely will not be a future problem as long as the cow was tended to by a experienced vet.

Well, I have been in the business of a cow/calf operation for over 40 years and have dealt with both types of prolapse. Keeping a prolapsed cow in the herd is something I will not do. There are better things to do with my time and money than to deal with prolapses.

Yes. I am not as concerned about the calf. The cow had put on a good amount of milk, and was actually squirting milk after delivery. I put the calf up to nurse her last night, and DH saw him nurse again today.

I gave him a bottle of goat colostrum this morning, before DH saw him nurse again, just to be sure he'd gotten enough of something in his belly.

I will keep an eye on them both.

Keeping her won't be an option for me, either. This is not something I will want to have to worry about again. I'm sure she'll be good beef.

We've ate more then one heifer that had a c section and they were fine, I imagine your prolapsed heifer will be good eating as well.

Sorry this happened! We had our first ever prolapse recently, too (Calf Watch thread). Our vet was there within the hour to put it back in, and our cow seems to be recovering very well. We haven't decided yet if we will breed her again or if we will feed her up and beef her.

Our vet said uterine prolapse is due to long/difficult calving and she would be no more likely to prolapse again than she was during any other birth (she's calved 8 times before this with zero difficulty, 9 if you count twins). For some reason, this calf came butt-first, the hind legs were tucked under and the sac still around it all. She actually managed to push it out that way...but at a price.

I have a soft spot for this old girl, she was our first cow and she's been good as gold her whole life. Her calf sales are $7k, plus we've eaten one and she has a daughter still in the herd. She won't be run thru the auction as a kill cow, that's for sure; we'll give her a gentle last ride to the processor if we don't let her breed back.

Sugaring a prolapse to shrink it is an old time remedy, farmers and vets have been doing it for many years.

Bliss made me happy by being on her feet when we pulled up this morning. She wasn't up long when I saw her, but had moved a fair distance from where I'd last seen her.

And I saw the little calf run to her, which also pleased me.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Vet told us about one time they did the procedure and the cow stood up afterwards and immediately died. :( I figure every day she is still alive and able to stand is a good sign.

Any photos of her and the calf? Would love to see some!

https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...00544123_n.jpg
Thanks for asking. Here's one of the calf I took last night. Maybe I can get a picture of them together later. You can just see Bliss's horns in this one.

The first time I saw a prolapse was when I was about 7 years old.
The farmer told me the cow had "slipped its calf bed".
For many years after, I had a sort of idea that each cow has a sort of lumpy bloody crib or something inside of them.
Anytime a calving was due I would think how glad the calf would be to get out of that yucky bed.

Funny how kids minds work. LOL

I've only seen pictures of prolapses. The vet said "think 5 gal. bucket with a uterine prolapse" (to determine if it's a vaginal or uterine prolapse).

The calf looks none the worse for wear! What breed? Hope they're both doing well!

The sire was Wagyu. Dam is just a calf I brought home from auction a couple of years ago to bottle, so I don't know what she is.
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/liv...sion-pics.html

I was happy to see her make it to the water trough this morning. DH and I had been concerned about her not drinking. I did tote her a little bucket yesterday, but she wasn't interested.

https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...64749448_n.jpg
I'm concerned that she doesn't have much milk on her at this point. I may see if I can get a bottle in him again.