Veterinärmedizinische Wissenschaft und Technologie

Surgical Removal of Indigestible Foreign Bodies in Cattle and Economic Losses to Farmers

Abstract

Fekadu Gutema and Beksisa Urge

Background: Even though livestock are the main stay of the livelihood of the majority of the human population, the presence of many infectious and non-infectious diseases have resulted in low productivity, stunted growth, and signification loss of economic gain among the producer. Of the non-infectious diseases of livestock, ingestion of indigestible foreign bodies is extremely common especially in developing countries like Ethiopia.

Case presentation: A 2 years old male Jersey Bull (body weight: 215kg) owned by Holeta Agricultural research center was presented to Animal health research and veterinary clinic department with enlarged abdomen, inability to walk, frequent abdominal distention, reduced feed intake, progressive weight loss and dullness. Based on the clinical examination and case history, the Jersey Bull was suspected to have Indigestible foreign body in its rumen. After taking all the necessary preoperative precautionary measures, rumenotomy was conducted and all indigestible foreign body was removed.

Conclusion: After opening the rumen, indigestible foreign materials like plastic bag, rope, curled clothes and others were removed. This indigestible foreign body is known to induce significant negative impact on the wellbeing of the animals and economic gain of the county. Therefore, overall animal health management improvement and provision of good quality feeds are the best way to prevent its occurrence whereas, rumenotomy is the best surgical intervention to handle confirmed case.