A cow’s ruptured uterus can take producers by surprise.
The cow is showing signs of labor, but isn’t producing a calf. Producers try to assist, but there isn’t a calf in the uterus. Under other circumstances, a healthy calf is delivered along with a jumble of intestines.
Understanding what is happening can ease the confusion.
A pregnant cow’s uterus resembles a large water-filled balloon. A relatively thin taut uterine wall surrounds a heavy fetus and its fluids.
Trauma can cause this wall to tear. Imagine a pregnant cow struck by a car or a cow in a trailer accident. The force placed on the cow’s abdomen can cause the uterine wall to rupture, the fetus to spill out of the uterus, and possibly fatal bleeding.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
The most common cause, however, is a preexisting and unsuspected weak spot in the uterine wall.
Uterine tears have varied consequences, from none at all to life threatening. A small tear usually goes unnoticed.
The calf will develop normally, as long as the fetus remains in the uterus and the blood supply to the placenta is intact.
With larger tears, the fetus can emerge through the hole and escape into the abdominal cavity.
There are many potential results.
The calf may continue to develop if the fetal blood supply remains intact and the cow does not suffer excessive blood loss. Of course, a normal vaginal
delivery is impossible under these circumstances.
It isn’t until calving time that the producer finds out something is wrong. The cow’s behavior suggests it has started calving, but nothing happens.
A rectal examination reveals the presence of a small and empty uterus and a calf in the abdomen, usually in an abnormal position.
A vaginal examination is another way to determine what is happening.
Because it is calving time, the cervix should be
dilated so that a small uterus with no calf can be felt.
The placenta may be palpated as it disappears through a defect in the uterine wall. In these cases, the calf must be delivered with a caesarian section.
In some cows with large uterine tears, the placental blood supply can be disrupted.
Though the fetus dies, there may not be evidence of a problem. The cow may remain healthy but fail to deliver a calf and later has difficulty conceiving.
In some cases, the dead fetus will cause illness.
The cow may develop sterile peritonitis if its immune system reacts to the dead fetus. Adhesions develop between the fetus and abdominal organs, disrupting their function.
Uterine tears sometimes develop at the start of calving. Under these circumstances, producers will be greeted with both a calf and the cow’s intestines in the birth canal.
The intense abdominal pressure during labor pushes the intestines through the uterine tear and out the vagina.
In these cases, the calf is delivered and then the hole in the uterus is stitched, either through the vagina or a flank incision.
A sudden bleed-out is another dramatic possible result of a uterine rupture.
When a large uterine tear occurs, the large maternal blood vessels that supply nutrients to the fetus can also break.
Because these vessels are deep in the abdomen, producers will not know there is a problem because the blood cannot be seen.
In cases of severe hemorrhage, so much blood can be lost through the uterine arteries that the cow will go into shock and die.
The cause of a sudden death like this can only be discovered with a post-mortem examination.
Uterine ruptures require surgical repair.
If the calf is in the abdomen, it is delivered through an incision just like that made for a caesarian.
A small tear can be sewn and the cow is likely to return to normal production.
Large tears make the cow’s reproductive future questionable. These animals should be allowed to raise their calves and then culled.
