Just wanted to give some updates on all that was going on in mid-Michigan the past couple weeks. While I am technically done with this externship, I still wanted to share some final, interesting cases.
Clinton is wonderful in that they offer so many different avenues into the world of large animal medicine. I'm sure all of the hospitals and clinics have a handful of amazing veterinarians, and Clinton has been able to show me the other half of that as well. While I know that this is for the Equine Blog, I wanted to share a little bit about the bovine world that I encountered. It's fairly standard, the farms generally like to have the same vet come out consistently, about once a week typically. They go and perform the standard herd healths; preg checks, palpations, ultrasounds, etc. However, there are always the emergency situations as well. I got to help with a DA (displaced abomasum) surgery on site. It was very clearly audible on percussion on the left side, and was a routine, common left DA. The owners did mention that they had already tried to "roll and toggle", which is basically just trying to anchor the abomasum in the correct place. However, she was still lethargic and ketotic. So Dr. Trierweiler went in on a right flank abomasopexy and attempted to deflate and reposition the abomasum. It was difficult and she could tell that she had been in this state for a while because the fat was very thin and tearing very easily. She got in the best position possible and just secured the omentum to the abdominal wall and closed her up. Based on the state of the cow however, she will most likely get culled from the herd, but we did what we could.
Another cow story, I went with Dr. Mike Trombley on an emergency calving. She had been in labor for over two hours by the time we got there, and as horse people, this might make us cringe..! I learned a lot of differences between bovine and equine delivery aspects, and there's a great deal of difference. The length of labor is drastically different, as well as the amount and frequency of dystocias. Cows are much more inclined to a dystocia because the fetus has no real restrictions in growth, and if the heifer is too small or has been bred to a large bull, this baby can be majorly disproportionate to mom! Also the angles and shapes of their pelvis leads to more complications. Another difference encountered is the retained placenta. Horses cannot stand to have it retained for more than a few hours without running into massive potential problems, yet cows can keep it for much longer, with no trouble.
A final case I wanted to mention was a yearling filly we met who had decided to try to jump a fence in between pens. She had failed miserably and ended up falling right on her chest. She immediately had massive swelling, and was far from her rambunctious self. The owners kept her on stall rest for the night, and believed she had a large hematoma. We traveled out to the farm and immediately took an X-ray. Even when we got there, she was markedly depressed and struggled to move, exhibiting some neurologic signs. She was eating and drinking normally though, which was a plus. The results, however, were not so optimistic.
That was definitely not a case seen everyday, and although it was with less than ideal results, the owner was very reasonable and did what was best for the animal. At the end of the day, I guess that's all we can hope for. I am very sad to have concluded my time at Clinton Vet, but incredibly thankful for what this summer had for me and am truly grateful to all the staff there and the Fellows Program for the opportunity, I hope you all have a great rest of the summer as well! Enjoy and see you soon.
-Taylor
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