While surgery on cattle is less common than surgery on small animals, there are a number of reasons why cattle may need surgery – some examples are set out below.  

 

Our veterinarians can help you with these and any other surgeries that your cattle may require.

 

Dairy cattle are prone to a condition called Left Displaced Abomasum (LDA) where the cow’s fourth stomach (the abomasum) ends up on the wrong side of the cow’s abdomen.  LDA usually follows a period of decreased appetite or food intake (such as due to illness), or a sudden decrease in the volume of abdominal contents (such as after calving).  

 

The increased amount of free space in the abdomen allows the abomasum to migrate from its normal position on the right side and get trapped on the left side.  Surgical correction involves entering the cow’s abdomen, deflating the abomasum, pulling it back to the right side and securing it to the body wall.

 

Dehorning and cattle castration are procedures normally conducted on young stock by cattle producers.  If these procedures need to be performed on older cattle (for example if a testicle was missed during calf marking), by law a veterinarian must perform the operation using appropriate anaesthesia and pain relief.

 

Another reasonably common surgery done on cattle is removal of eye cancers.

 

Sometimes this is as simple as trimming the third eyelid but in more advanced cases it may require removal (ablation) of the entire eye. This is not a surgery for the faint-hearted as there is a lot of blood involved but the end result is worth it – a much happier cow!