Vets Don't Always Know!

I had a couple strange cases over the last week or so. The first case was a group of heifers that escaped the fenced in pasture. They spent the night gallivanting around the neighborhood before being rounded up in the morning by the farmer.  There were about 20-30 animals in the group. One animal was found dead in front of a near-by hardware store. Once the farmer had put them all back in the pasture and fixed the fence, he went about his morning routine of preparing their feed. As he was driving the tractor down the feed alley, delivering the feed, two more animals, standing side by side, dropped dead. Strange, and upsetting to say the least. He called us to perform a necropsy on the two that died at the feed bunk. A necropsy is the animal term for an “autopsy.” We perform necropsies on a pretty regular basis for situations where there is more than one animal dying. I’ve spared you the pictures of them, since there really is no pretty way to perform a necropsy.

We start by laying the animal on its left side so the giant rumen is not the only thing you see when you open up the abdominal cavity. An overall evaluation of the animal from the outside is done to check for blood coming out the nose, bloating, broken skin, etc. We then cut back the front and back leg, allowing access to the abdominal and chest cavity.  Trying not to puncture any intestines or stomach compartments, we check the abdominal organs for any discolorations, twists, bumps, lumps or blockages, etc. Then we move on to the chest cavity, to evaluate the heart, lungs and rib cage.  As in this case, there were no obvious signs of cause of death. Samples can be taken to be sent to the lab for various tests such as bacteriology and virology. Also, they can be then checked by a pathologist under the microscope for any cellular changes.

As I said, there were no obvious signs for cause of death in these cases. The farmer was concerned about something they could have eaten that caused toxicity. The stomach contents looked normal to me, and without at least an idea of what they could have gotten into, it’s really an expensive wild goose chase to just submit samples for anything and everything.  I presume these heifers may have suffered from a heart attack or exhaustion. Cows are not racehorses by any stretch of the means. I didn’t have a definite answer for the farmer, and also didn’t feel that sending samples in, for a few hundred dollars, would result in a definite cause either.  It’s very frustrating for all involved. As the farmer, he just lost $3000 and some quality animals for his farm and as a veterinarian, who is supposed to have answers, I don’t.  

My second case was a cow that was fresh about a week and was off feed. Normally these cows are our typical DA cows. However, upon her physical exam, I found a normal temperature, normal heart and lung sounds and a slow moving stomach. The cow was also ketotic.

Ketosis is common in cows that are in a negative energy balance, which means that can’t eat enough to meet the energy demands their body is requiring. So, the body breaks down fat, and through the Krebs Cycle, produces ketones. Unfortunately the brain cannot use ketones for energy- it must have sugar. A cow with ketosis is very inefficiently providing the body with energy and can become very sick if not supplied proper sugar.  We often supplement ketotic cows with dextrose in the vein. This is like eating a lot of candy. The blood sugar increases rapidly, but then will crash about 30 minutes later. Propylene Glycol is another energy source that we give to cows that is a more prolonged and sustained blood sugar increase.  Glycol is something that we can give orally. This cow had already received two doses of glycol.

As I mentioned, this cows stomach was also moving really slowly.  I decided to pump her stomach with an energy mix, to help fill the rumen and provide the bugs in the rumen with some microbes and feed to start working better.  It’s very important that when you pass a tube down the cows stomach, that you are 100% sure the tube went down her esophagus rather than her trachea. If you pump 10 gallons of fluid down the trachea of a cow, you will have a dead cow within minutes.  I double and triple checked my tube placement before I started pumping the fluid in. The cow doesn’t particularly like the feeling of a tube stuck down her throat so they like to chew on it, burp up what is going down and throw their head around a bit. This cow was doing all that. She started breathing really heavy and seemed to start bloating all at the same time.  Being worried I did get into her lungs, I checked AGAIN. Still I knew I was in the stomach.

 

Normally cows will take 10 gallons of fluid with no problems. This cow was having a hard time.  After the fluid was in her stomach and I was able to see how bloated she was, I passed a different tube to release the gas/air that she had accumulated. As I’ve mentioned before, when cows bloat, it puts lots of pressure on their lungs and makes breathing difficult. This cow was no different.  She appeared in respiratory distress. I was able to relieve some of the gas.  Again, I’m not sure what was wrong with her. I suspect she had some nerve damage, or old scaring from pneumonia that may have placed some stricture on the stomach.  Her stomach was not moving things through like they normally should.  Frustration again as being the doctor, I’m supposed to have an answer, and I don’t. This cow was acting really weird and there was nothing I thought I could do.  I had some calves to look at on the same farm, and by the time I was done with them, I went back to check on her. She had calmed down and was picking at some of the hay in front of her.  I have not heard back from the farmer to know how she is doing now.  

I’m sure with time; I will gain experience and may have a better answer for these weird cases. But for now, it’s frustration.  As the doctor, the farmer expects you to know. I’d rather be honest with the farmer and tell him I don’t know, than make up some random far-fetched explanation.