A busy and interesting few weeks

Published on: Oct 5, 2022

My first few weeks at Shepton Vets have been very busy and I am starting to learn my way around the practice area. I am really enjoying getting out on farm and meeting farmers, and have seen a variety of cases including ketosis, LDAs, calvings, several cases of New Forest Eye and suspected acorn poisoning.

I also saw a case of Schistosomas Reflexus – a very rare condition that most vets only see a handful of times during their career, so I was ‘lucky’ to see one in my first week of being a vet!

Otherwise called an ‘inside out calf’, the spine is folded backwards so that all 4 limbs are facing forwards with the abdominal contents hanging freely behind. It is thought to be caused by a genetic abnormality that results in the calf forming inside out during early embryonic development.

These cases present where either all 4 limbs, a head and a tail can be felt, or abdominal contents are hanging out of the cow’s vulva. Due to the structure of these calves, they are unable to be born naturally and the majority require a c-section.

Performing a c-section with these cases can be very difficult and a large incision in the uterus is needed to get the calf out. Some schistosome calves are already dead when they are born, but others are alive and require euthanising.

In the case that I saw, the schistosome calf was a twin, and a healthy twin had been born beforehand. We performed a c-section which went as well as it could have done given the circumstances and, after a few post surgical complications, the cow has recovered.

No doubt there will be more busy and interesting weeks ahead too!