Food Animal Surgery & Anesthesia

• Some of the most common surgeries on food animals relate to the bovine stomach. Cows have a four-chambered stomach made up of the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.


• Cows might need surgery if their rumen gets too full and causes them to become bloated and have too much acid in the blood. The rumen contents are removed, and then the rumen and body wall are sutured closed.


• Cows may also need surgery if the abomasum gets flipped and twisted. To repair it, the abomasum is pulled back into place and sutured (sewn) to the body wall to keep the stomach from flipping and getting twisted again.


• Another common surgery is to castrate bulls. This keeps them from being able to breed and makes their meat better for consumption.