What a day.
It appears Speckles is suffering from a vaginal prolapse. I noticed for a week or so now that when she lays down her vagina bulges out. When she stood the bulge went back inside. This afternoon I noticed that when she stood the bulge remained. I talked to other cattle owners then called the vet. She was busy all afternoon on calls. I sent a photo to the vet office and they talked with the vet. She asked me to check if the bulge remained when Speckles stood.
By 4 pm I saw that the bulge remained when Speckles stood. Because Speckles can have her calf anytime now, the only thing that can be done is to try to push the bulge back inside Speckles. The vet had after hours visits already lined up so the office suggested I try to push the bulge back in Speckles.
Donna left this morning to go to another town and house sit and horse sit while her daughter is on vacation this week. Larry, who has handled a cattle prolapse in the past, had a VFW / Eagles meeting and event and was unavailable to help me. I asked Ty for help. While waiting I let Speckles finish eating some hay then put her in the loading corral and then in the headgate. Then I washed and washed and washed the bulge. It was dirty and some of the dirt was sticking hard. Of course Speckles had to defecate while I was washing the bulge. About four or five times. And I had to re-clean the bulge.
About the time I was done with the cleaning Ty showed up. He has animal experience but never with a prolapse. He watched Speckles while I struggled to push the bulge back inside Speckles. I was being careful as I didn't want to injury or break anything. And, of course, Speckles defecated again. And again. And again. About four different times. One time the manure shot out and got all over the front of me. The manure was liquidly. I now needed to be washed off.
I finally got the bulge back inside a little bit. But it wouldn't remain inside and came back out when I let go. Speckles was arching as I tried to push the bulge inside her. I had to quit. The bulge wouldn't stay inside.
I tried calling the vet again. One can call after hours. But all I got was a busy signal. The vet office is a few miles from me so I rode my bicycle over in case they were still working there. Nope.
When I got home I let Speckles out of the headgate and am keeping her in the loading corral. It is easier to keep track of her, and the loading corral has grass and is cleaner than the rest of the corral which is mostly dirt with lots of manure.
I called the vet office again and got the after hours person. He then had the vet call me and we discussed the situation. Nothing we can do for now. It is mainly wait for the birth to occur. The concern is that after the birth the uterus may prolapse. If the uterus is not pushed back inside the cow, the cow can die from infection. The sooner one can get the uterus back in the better.
At any rate, once a cow has a prolapse it is best not to breed them again. So Speckles will be replaced. And I read that the calves that are born should not be kept for breeding either.
https://www.beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_prolapse_problems
So I am checking on Speckles every hour or two. And will have to do it throughout the night. During the last check a half hour ago, as I walked back from the corral to the house in the dark I noticed a dark shape moving less than five feet away from me. I turned on my flashlight thinking it was some stray cat. No! I had to look and look as we both walked. At a good pace. It was a beaver once I was able to see its large flat tail. It was a big beaver. I was very surprised.
The beaver was heading to my front yard, then the road. On the other side of the road is a creek. Apparently the beaver was either returning to the creek, or was walking from the river to my west to the creek to the east. I quickly went in the house to get my camera. The beaver was walking quickly and when I returned I couldn't find it to take a photo. The beaver was a very dark brown. In the darkness it looked almost back.
The first two photos are what I took this afternoon and sent the vet.
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