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| Has any one had this happen to any of there cow. I know it happens more in dairy cow but did not think it happened much on beef cows. |
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West Texas | Had a heifer with a twisted uterous. She sure did taste good. |
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Wow! I have never seen this in a beef animal. Certainly dairy cows have it happen with frequency. Go figure. |
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| It was the first one I ever heard of too. It was a nice red angus too hate to have to ship her out she did have a nice bull calf. But dont feel like spending 300 dollars on her either. |
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Manitoba | rather than dump her or spend the big bucks having surgery done you can try toggling her.
www.ldatogglesuture.com
I don't have the vet do twists anymore, just do these myself. takes a couple to get proficient but not hard to do. just the rolling alone will fix some. I have a few that the toggling didn't seem to be going well so I did not put the sutures in just rolled them over and presto, theve been fine ever since. That is the exception to the rule but I'd give that a try rather than unload them if they are a good animal. Just cause the twist once does not mean they will do it again. If you need more info ask and I'll see if I can explain it better but I think the site does a good job.
if you try just rolling (follow the technique on the site, can't remember the name of the rope work to get them to lie down) it has to be (when looking at the cow from the rear, her facing away from you) to the right, hold her upside down for a bit (not as hard as it sounds, when they are like that they kind of just sit there) and palpate the stomach just ahead of the udder to get the gas filled stomach to float up in the stomach cavity and then let her continue to roll to the right and back up. takes a couple guys, a harness and a length of rope to roll them. Plus a stethascope, and a toggle kit to do the whole procedure.
works here anyway, martin
Edited by Oakwood 4/27/2011 22:26
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Manitoba | took a better look at the toggle site and did not see the rope technique explained well. They call it casting. sorry if my jargon is not rope savvy, I was never a boy scout. i think having 2 assistants works best.
start by putting a halter on the cow and have someone hold her there or tie her to a post with the halter. Doing this on some flat straw pack or on some dirt is best. leave a fair bit of halter rope free so she is not tied up close if you use a post. (so she can lay down and not get hung up because there is not enough slack)
rope has to be quite long. make a loose noose that goes around the neck of the cow. don't know if it matters but I usually have the length of rope after the noose on the right side of the neck up close to the spine but maybe a hands width down the right side. pull it back along the spine to just past (behind) the front legs. hold it there with one hand and pass the remaining rope under the belly of the cow and have a helper pass it back to you on the opposite side. pull it under the piece you are holding up near the spine (so you have made a loop around the cow just behind her front legs) and continue along the spine (again hands width down the right side) to just before the back legs . again hold the rope there near the spine with one hand and pass the remaining rope under the belly of the cow, this time having it pass just in front of the udder) and have your helper pass it back up and over the spine to you. again take this remaining rope he passes to you under the piece your holding near the spine and continue with it straight out behind the cow. so you end up with what you saw in the toggle site, a loose, noose around the neck of the cow with 2 loops, one just rear of the front legs, and the 2nd just before the back legs. Now all you do is pull on the remaining rope behind the cow as if you are trying to pull her backwards. And she just lays down.
Usually once she lays down I will untie her from the post and have one person hold her head back along her body to her left. If you have the head back and against her body it just seems that she will not try to get back up again. Depends a lot on the cow. So now with the cow in this position I have my 2nd helper assist me by pushing her front legs (I always take the rear legs in case a get a kick but it's never been a real problem) while I use the rear legs to slowly push her over to her right. Slow up as you near getting her close to being dead centre upside down, you dont want to have her continue over immediately and have to do it all again. Carefully get her to dead centre upside down and in a steady spot so you can control any movement. Amazingly once at this point if you have her head still back along her neck they almost always just sit there. I put my knee just on front of her udder and lean on it with all my weight. This gives the gas filled stomach no choice but to float up into the right spot. I usually also palpate (push / work the stomach wall with your fists just ahead of your knee back and forth to work everything in the stomach cavity around) If toggling it's at this point I use the stethascope to listen for the characteristic ping of a twisted abomasum and follow the toggle site instructions. If your just going to roll her without the toggling I'd probably keep her at this point for a couuple minutes while working the stomach with your fists just ahead of your knee. Then slowly let her continue to the right until she is upright again. your done.
The sooner you discover the twist and the stronger the cow is the better the chance of recovery is but at the same time the more difficult (not all the time but most) the procedure. If she has been twisted for a while and is weaker the procedure is easier but the chance of recovery is less. Just rolling without the toggle, there is a good chance she will retwist but not always. Like a mentioned in the previious post I have a couple good cows that I just rolled over. If the twist corrects itself you should notice the cow eating and ruminating fairly quickly (if you do it in the morning by the afternoon or for sure the next day) but a lot depends on how quickly you found the twist and tried to correct it and also the strength and will to llive of the cow.
One note. This only works with the more common LDA (left twists). I don't think it works at all with the more serious but relatively rare RDA (Right twists)
That might sound daunting but it's really not that bad. If you like your cow I'd try it. And if you had the vet out to diagnose the twist and they didn't tell you about this option give them a slap. Either they knew about this procedure and failed to mention (deserved the slap for not telling you) or they did not know about the procedure (deserved the slap for being a bad vet) it is not a new thing.
martin
Edited by Oakwood 4/27/2011 23:53
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ND | You don't want to spend $300 to save a $1,000 animal? |
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| Not when I can ship her and get 1200 and buy a hiefer that is due in May for 1200. |
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twisted stomach on beef cow
