Special report on diseases of cattleUnited States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Science
Special report on diseases of cattle
United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Cattle -- Diseases
gained by cutting off the limb at the hock, and the stifle is less
accessible than the hip, and amputation of the stifle gives much poorer
results.
_Hind limbs bent forward from the hip_--_Breech presentation._--This is an
exaggeration of the condition last described, only the hocks and stifles
are fully extended and the whole limb carried forward beneath the belly.
(Pl. XVII, fig. 2.) The water bags appear and burst, but nothing presents
unless it may be the tail. Examination in this case detects the outline of
the buttocks, with the tail and anus at its upper part.
The remedy, as in the case last described, consists in pushing the buttock
upward and forward with a repeller, the cow being kept standing and headed
downhill until the thigh bone can be reached and used as a lever. Its upper
end is pushed forward and its lower end raised until, the joints becoming
fully flexed, the point of the hock can be raised above the brim of the
pelvis. If necessary a noose may be passed around the leg as far down
toward the hock as possible and pulled on forcibly, while the hand presses
forward strongly on the back of the leg above. When both hocks have been
lodged above the brim of the pelvis the further procedure is as described
under the last heading.
If, however, the case is advanced and the buttocks wedged firmly into the
passages, it may be impossible safely to push the fetus back into the womb,
and the calf must either be dragged through the passage as it is or the
limbs or the pelvis must be cut off. To extract successfully with a breech
presentation the cow must be large and roomy and the calf not too large.
The first step in this case is to separate the pelvic bones on the two
sides by cutting from before backward, exactly in the median line below and
where the thighs come together above. This may be done with a strong
embryotomy knife, but is most easily accomplished with the long embryotome
(Pl. XX, fig. 3). The form which I have designed (Pl. XX, fig. 1), with a
short cutting branch jointed to the main stem, is to be preferred, as the
short cutting piece may be folded on the main stem so that its cutting edge
will be covered, and it can be introduced and extracted without danger.
This is pushed forward beneath the calf's belly, and the cutting arm
opened, inserted in front of the brim of the pelvis and pulled forcibly
back through the whole length of the pelvic bones. The divided edges are
now made to overlap each other and the breadth of the haunch is materially
reduced. One end of the cord may then be passed forward by means of a cord
carrier (Pl. XXI, fig. 5) on the inner side of one thigh until it can be
seized at the stifle by the hand passed forward on the outer side of that
thigh. This end is now pulled back through the vagina, the other end passed
through the cord carrier and passed forward on the inner side of the other
thigh until it can be seized at the stifle by the hand passed forward
outside that thigh.
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