One side of cows belly is sticking out really far -PICTURES-

[angus4ever]

hi i have a black angus cow thats about 7 years old and she calfed in march and the calf is nice and healthy but the one side of the cows belly is sticking out really far and the other side makes her look like she has been starved. The pictures wernt that great but she was starting to get cranky with me so I just left her alone

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Which side is sticking out? The left? And how far up, or is it a bit lower?

 

[angus4ever]

Its the right side and her belly is saging i will try and post a pic tommorow

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Yes...I can see why you are questioning it. In the first picture it is vary noticable. I will wait with you for some more educated folks to chime in.

 

[redtailgal]

If this is a cow that you would like to keep around, I'd suggest some immediate vet care. I think she is in the beginnings of a gastric torsion, namely the abomasum. This compartment of the stomach can be displaced to either the right or left, and is esp common to cows with calves on. If left alone she could go into ketosis (and since the other side looks so caved in, she may already be in ketosis).

She would also be VERY prone to a gut twist at this point, with the only possibly outcome being a painful death.

 

[Royd Wood]

That doesn't look good - if it were me I would ship her for beef instead of spending with the vet for the same end result - good luck

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I'm not sure it's a DA (displaced abomasum). I've had several cows with DA and none of them looked any different like this girl does.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Is she bred? It could be hydrops.

Oh, just saw she calved in March.

 

[angus4ever]

we are going to bring her into the coral tommorow and put her in the squezze so when can get a better look at her and i think i am going to ship her because she is getting older but i dont want to get rid of her till fall when her calf is weaned cause i dont want to try to bottle feed her calf cause it is a little bit wild

 

[redtailgal]

DA can look many different ways. It can displace to the left or right or even towards the front or the back. I've seen a treated a number of cattle with a very similar look......some had DA, some had an outright torsion and others did not (they had tumors, hernias, etc). DA cannot be diagnosed by looking.

However, on a post par tum cow, a non symmetrical gut that is not frothy or gassy bloat........I immediately think DA. Because of the way a cow carries a calf, the abomasum is moved in the belly to make room for the calf, after delivery it normally goes back into place. If there was a rough delivery, or an immediate stress during or afterwards or the internal swelling and contractions that come after delivery were just a little off, then the abomasum cannot get back into the proper position.

The fact that she is an older cow, makes her even more prone to post par tum DA.

I'm not saying that it is DA, I am saying that given the circumstances, it is a very real possibility and if this cow is to be salvaged, DA should be carefully considered now rather than later.

Angus4ever.........you said "we are going to bring her into the coral tommorow and put her in the squezze so when can get a better look at her and i think i am going to ship her because she is getting older but i dont want to get rid of her till fall when her calf is weaned cause i dont want to try to bottle feed her calf cause it is a little bit wild"

That is exactly what I would do, esp since she is an older cow. Some folks like to try to salvage a DA cow, so that's why I suggested a vet. I wont breed one that has had a displacement, and would probably watch her offspring carefully, culling them harshly as well.