Synonyms

Fat cow

Name of the disease in English

Free gas bloat by esophageal obstruction

The disease in brief

A bovine that is drooling and making efforts to regurgitate, with its neck stretched, may suffer from gaseous bloating because belching is hindered by obstruction of the esophagus, linked to a foreign body such as an apple, a beetroot, a mango, etc. The gas pressure in the rumen reinforces the obstruction of the esophagus. The urgency of the situation related to bloating must be assessed.

Clinic & diagnosis

A bloated left flank in a bovine that is drooling or making efforts to regurgitate or shows a deformation at the level of the cervical esophagus is suggestive of this bloating by obstruction of the esophagus.

Typical sign of the disease

No description

Pictures

See below

Diagnostic formulas

No description

Differential diagnosis

– Acute gaseous meteorization due to lack of eructation DG24

– Foamy bloating by fodder or cereals DG22

– Chronic bloating (Hoflund) DG25

Confirm a suspicion?

It is by identifying the cause of the esophageal obstruction that a possible solution to relieve the bovine is chosen. Confirmation is definitive when the freed esophagus allows the rumen to deflate in a few seconds.

Prognosis and treatment

–In case of cervical obstruction, manual extraction is a preferred method when the object can be reached; light sedation is sometimes useful, as is lubrication of the esophagus. The object must be moved up the esophagus by pressure-taxis, and held in a high position, before attempting to extract it.

– If the object cannot be extracted manually, if it is deep - in the thoracic position - we can try to push it back towards the rumen with an esophageal probe and great caution. Here too, light tranquilization, as well as lubrication of the esophagus, are recommended. An antispasmodic may be administered beforehand.                                                                                                           

– In the event of obstruction that persists in the cervical position, we reach a chronic stage; the obstruction may be complicated by a diverticulum or megaesophagus; an esophagotomy may be attempted with reservations about complete functional recovery linked to possible cicatricial stenosis.

Prevention

-Avoid leaving cattle in orchards, cutting beets or potatoes from the ration...

References

Blackwell's five-minute veterinary consult-Ruminant; Haskell SRR Ed Wiley-Blackwell p338