What do these three cows have in common? They all have holes in their sides.
I did a double take on my way in to work this morning. This is the kind of thing you read and hear about in vet tech school but don't get to see or use. Of course now that I am at a vet school, this is no longer the stuff of myth and legend but there are real live fistulated cows.
fistula: a surgical opening made into a cavity or hollow organ of a person or animal
A fistula allows for sampling of the contents of the rumen, and, as it was explained to me back in nursing school, to transfer contents from the rumen of a healthy cow to the rumen of a sick cow that lacks the proper bacteria for digestion.
It might look painful, but it is not so there is no reason to be upset. Cows are amazing creatures.
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