A sharp piece of metal breaks off of your farm’s feed mixer, getting accidentally mixed into the TMR (total mixed ration). Because cattle are indiscriminate eaters, one of your cows eats the piece of metal. A few months later, you notice the cow has a poor appetite, seems depressed, and is reluctant to move.

Upon necropsy, you find a severe case of pericarditis (image below) and a piece of metal embedded in the cow’s stomach (large image).

What part of the stomach is this?

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What is your diagnosis?

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What measure could you take to prevent this in your other cows?

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A worried farmer calls you out to examine their “fat” cow and doe.

Which of these animals has something wrong? What’s “wrong” with the normal one?

Consider the anatomy related to the one in need of emergent attention, and what your treatment options may be.

At your referral hospital, a horse presents with a history of intermittent mild colic episodes, but is now down and thrashing – obviously very painful.

You rush the horse to surgery to find a blockage caused by 3 enteroliths.