Retained Placenta in the Cow 799 



from the presence of a vaginal discharge, with the general appear- 

 ances of ill-health. In other cases, there occurs a more or less 

 evident prolapse of the vagina. 



When retention of the placenta is neglected, the membranes 

 and cotyledons may slowly slough away, the os uteri contract, 

 chronic metritis and pyometra become established, marasmus and 

 emaciation follow, and the disease continue month after month, 

 to finally terminate in death, or in recovery with sterility. 



Under such conditions, following within a few days or a 

 few weeks upon parturition, it behooves the veterinarian, when 

 called to attend the animal, to make a careful search of the 

 uterus. If the os uteri is open, he may profitably make this ex- 

 amination direct through the vagina, but, if the os be closed, 

 the examination needs be made per rectum, when the enlarged 

 uterus will be discovered and the nature of the disease understood. 



The handling of retained placenta .in the cow calls for care- 

 ful study, and the display of great judgment. Mostly the work 

 has been undertaken in a haphazard way by the layman or the 

 dairyman, and these methods have been largely copied by the 

 veterinary practitioner. No practice in connection with our 

 professional duties could be more unfortunate. As a general 

 rule, the layman or the veterinarian removes the afterbirth by 

 manual force, more or less completely, at a time which is arbi- 

 trarily fixed, or when it may siiit the convenience of the parties 

 concerned. As a result of this haphazard and unscientific 

 method of handling this very serious disease, the lives of many 

 valuable cows are annually sacrificed, and many more are ren- 

 dered useless for dairying or other purposes. In order to handle 

 retained placenta successfully, the veterinarian must first under- 

 stand the physiologic expulsion of these membranes and the 

 pathologic conditions which occur in the course of the disease. 

 Three different courses present themselves for consideration in 

 the handling of each case of retained placenta in the cow, and 

 the veterinarian must use good judgment in determining which 

 of these three courses he should pursue. 



I. The manual removal of the placenta. As early as 24 

 hours after parturition, the veterinarian should examine the 

 retained luembranes and determine whether or not they may be 

 safely and completelj- detached by manual force, and, if practi- 

 cable, .should remove them. The preci.se time for this examina- 



