Water Belly

[VB RANCH]

Found one of these in one of my pastures yesterday, was there two days befor, never seen it, showed up bigger than life yesterday
Urinary Calculi Or "Water Belly"

Urinary calculi (kidney stones) are hard mineral deposits in the urinary tracts of cattle. Affected cattle may experience chronic bladder infection from mechanical irritation produced by the calculi. In more serious cases, calculi may block the flow of urine, particularly in male animals. The urinary bladder or urethra may rupture from prolonged urinary tract blockage, resulting in release of urine into the surrounding tissues. The collection of urine under the skin or in the abdominal cavity is referred to as "water belly." Death from toxemia may result within 48 hours of bladder rupture. Signs of urinary calculi include straining to urinate, dribbling urine, blood-tinged urine and indications of extreme discomfort, e.g., tail wringing, foot stamping and kicking at the abdomen. Phosphate urinary calculi form in cattle on high grain diets, while silicate urinary calculi typically develop in cattle on rangeland.

 

[VB RANCH]

never had one of these
i short my salt mineral mix
of salt, while calving till i pull bulls
spose i had sumthin to do with this ?
vet say's no
one thing about a cow
a guy can learn sumthin bout every day

 

[gcreekrch]

We had a waterbelly problem the last time we backgrounded. We ended up adding calcium to our existing mineral until we were feeding 6-1 cal to phos. The problem went away.

Good luck.

 

[Kato]

Sometimes it happens a while after cattle are shortchanged on water too. We had a couple of them many years ago one fall, after we had been having a lot of trouble with water pumps in the pasture.

The calf can be saved with an operation to re-route the urethra out the back. It's actually not that big of a surgery, and they end up peeing like a heifer. Depending on how long the urine has been pooling under the belly, some skin may slough off, but that's better than a dead calf.

 

[katrina]

We use to have lots of them when I was home. We blamed it on the calves not getting or drinking enough water. Dad would do surgery on them and take the stone out. just behind the little curve in the uretha tube you would find them..