Veterinary case
A cow stops ruminating: the real cause was hidden inside
⚠️ This information is provided for awareness only and does not replace an examination by a veterinarian.
🤖 Summary produced automatically from the scientific publication cited at the bottom of the page.
A cow arrived struggling to breathe, but the real culprit was a piece of metal hidden inside her stomach.
What happened?
This 7-year-old cow was brought to the veterinary hospital after two days of breathing difficulty, left-side abdominal swelling, and heavy drooling. Before arriving, the owner had tried passing a tube through her mouth, suspecting an esophageal blockage. The vets first suspected a foreign body stuck in the esophagus.
What did the vet find?
On examination, the cow was depressed and off her food, breathing fast, coughing, with a foul smell on her breath. Her rumen was swollen and had stopped moving. A flexible camera passed through the nose showed redness and later ulcers in the esophagus wall, but no blocked foreign body. A second look with a camera placed directly inside the abdomen revealed adhesions and a rumen packed with stuck material.
What did the vet do?
ℹ️ Treatment given to THIS animal, decided by its veterinarian. It is not a prescription: never apply it without veterinary advice.
From day one, the cow received antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, and vitamins. Since she wasn't improving, the vets performed a small camera-guided minimally invasive procedure, placing a handmade tube made from a breathing tube, fixed to the abdominal wall to reach the rumen directly. For three days, they poured in rumen fluid taken from healthy cattle through this tube to help restart digestion.
What happened next?
For five days, the cow seemed stable. Then her condition suddenly worsened: she stopped eating and her rumen completely stopped moving. An exploratory surgery revealed severe, widespread abdominal infection with many adhesions. Given this grave outlook, the vets decided to euthanize her, and the postmortem exam revealed the true cause: a piece of metal had pierced her second stomach, causing the infection, along with aspiration pneumonia.
Advice for the farmer
Make sure your cattle cannot swallow metal debris in pasture or feed, and avoid trying to pass a tube yourself if you suspect a blockage, as this can make internal injuries worse.
Source
- Source
- PubMed Central
- Title
- Transnasal Esophagorumenoscopy and Laparoscopic Assisted Rumenostomy in a Cow With Digestive Distress-Case Report.
- Authors
- Araújo LHV, Novais LGES, da Silva Cardoso T, Carvalho LS, Cerqueira PHL, da Silva Gonçalves JL, de Medeiros Costa Lins A, Ferreira TTA, da Silveira JA, Dutra MD, Salvarani FM, de Oliveira Monteiro FD, Teixeira PPM.
- Year
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1155/crve/8183318
- Licence
- CC BY
