CHAPTER XIX. 



RETENTION OF THE PLACENTA. 



This is a matter which many stockmen do 

 not regard with due seriousness, possibly be- 

 cause they have not had an opportunity of ob- 

 serving the various evils resulting from the 

 failure of the cow to clean properly. 



When any great portion of the placenta or 

 afterbirth is retained in the uterus for any 

 length of time after the cow has given birth 

 to a calf, there usually develops a varied chain 

 of symptoms, which are very noticeable, often 

 serious, and many times fatal. There may oc- 

 cur a simple catarrh of the uterus in which the 

 discharge is of a mucous consistency or it may 

 be a thick, hea^y pus sometimes containing 

 streaks of blood. There may be a cachexia, 

 unthriftiness or a wasting away, or there may 

 be an absorption of the septic or poisonous 

 matter, known as septic metritis, which often 

 times result in death or barrenness of the cow. 

 A portion of the afterbirth may remain after 

 the cow has apparently cleaned normally, and 

 we sometimes find shreds or portions remain- 



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