Day 38 - Inside-Out Calf *WARNING - Graphic Content*

Sorry if you are squeamish.  This one is kind of gross.  And sad.  Don't read if you are easily affected....

What you are looking at is known as a 'schistosomus reflexus' calf.  It's a pretty rare birth defect that obviously is fatal.

Most large animal vets only encounter one in their entire career.  This is mine.

I was called out by one of our more experienced beef farmers for help with a calving.  It's the first time I know of that he's called us - so he's pretty good with getting stuck calves out on his own. (That means it's going to be difficult on my end.)  When I arrived, he told me there were twins and he couldn't sort out which legs were which.

The cow was actually a very uncooperative heifer - it was her first calving and she had no idea what was going on.  I gave her an epidural to relax her a bit and she calmed down.  When I reached in, I knew pretty quickly that this was NOT twins but a deformed calf.  I wasn't sure what the defect was until I felt the winged-out rib cage and could feel the intestines just behind it - then I knew, pretty certainly, that it was a schistosomus.  I explained to the farmer what was going on.  He had never heard of it before and was skeptical that this little tiny female vet knew what she was talking about. 

I told him that he had two options - 1) C-section or 2) put her down.  She was a very hard-to-handle heifer with a nonviable offspring.  He is a full-time farmer and he had to consider the expense and the benefit/risk of a c-section.  They have to give antibiotics post-op and he had such a hard time getting her caught THIS time that his biggest worry is that he wouldn't be able to care for her properly after the surgery and she would die.  Her dying after a c-section is a risk even if able to do all post-op care well.  It happens.

So, due to a multitude of factors, he opted to put her down.  I explained that I would really like to examine the calf after she was deceased if he was ok with that.  He was - because he still was convinced there was a twin.

Because of his insistence that there was a twin, lethal injection was not an option.  IF there was another calf, the euthanasia solution would kill it, as well.  So, the farmer shot her.  Now, for those of you who think that is terrible, let me just say this:  a proper shot is an instantaneous death.   Even a lethal injection is not painless and is often more stressful for a heifer like this than shooting her would be. He delivered an excellent shot and she dropped instantly.  We quickly pulled her from the chute with a truck and I did a c-section post-mortum to deliver the calf.

There was just the one calf - and this is it.  It had 3 front legs and one back leg - all pointing forward (hence why he thought there were twins.)  In this particular birth defect, the spine folds in half so that the ribs 'flare out' and the intestines are on the outside.  Schistosomus are known as 'inside out' calves. 

It's amazing to me that the farmer reported that this calf was alive and moving when he first reached in to try and help deliver it.  It had died prior to my arrival.

I hope that this is the only one of these I ever see in my career.  But I am thankful for the learning experience of it and that the farmer was quick to know that the heifer was in distress and she did not have to suffer. 

And it's rare things like these that make me grateful for all of the healthy animals running around.  It really is a miracle, when considering all the things that CAN go wrong in development, that the majority of baby animals come out completely normal and healthy.  Tomorrow will be a happier blog.  :)