Holey Cow

Back by familial demand (and the availability of a new, disgusting story!)... The Blog.

This is a very fuzzy picture of me with Stella, CUHA's fistulated cow, in our Rumen Function Lab, the crowning jewel of Block III (and by that I mean, the only animal contact we get in Block III). Your questions are as follows...

1. "A fistu-what?"
Fistulated cows have a permanent hole in their side that allows access to the rumen, the big giant fermenting vat that is one of the cow's "four stomachs" (see post, Rumens Are Awesome for a refresher). It is plugged when not in use.

2. "DOESN'T THAT HURT??!!!!"
Judging by Stella's reaction... no. The tissue is completely healed, they have no sensation in a healthy rumen, and since the rumen interior and the outside of the cow are actually the "same" surface, it doesn't get infected. Basically, the GI tract of an animal is continuous with the animal's exterior (mouth to anus), so it isn't sterile in any animal, least of all the giant barrel of microbes that is a cow.

3. "EW. Why would you do that???"
Directly and indirectly, Stella saves other ruminants' lives. Indirectly, by being a research animal, since studies can be done on her rumen contents with minimal disruption to her (seriously, she was snacking on hay while we were fishing around in there) and by teaching vet students such as ourselves what a healthy rumen interior should feel like. Cows are not what you'd call discriminate eaters and foreign bodies are not at all uncommon. Stella also directly helps sick ruminants in the hospital by donating rumen fluid to animals that have had their stomachs emptied out for medical reasons. Cows, sheep, goats etc. who break into the grain bin and gorge themselves can come down with a potentially fatal bellyache known as lactic acidosis, caused by rumen bacteria going wild on an influx of starchy food. Severe cases in valuable animals result in the rumen being emptied out and started from scratch... with Stella-juice as a microbe innoculant :)


Fun facts... rumen stink takes several successive showers to get off of your skin. It's a delicious mixture of methane and rotting sauerkraut that just clings on and on and on... Also, to get this picture, I definitely took a blast of rumen juice to the face when Stella sneezed... and by sneezed I mean the pressure blew juice right out of the rumen hole. It was awesome. Actually, to quote my instructor... "Med students don't get to do anything NEARLY this cool." And it's true :)

Coming up...
- the end of Block III
- the beginning of Hell on Earth, also known as Host, Agent, Defense (Block IV). This block includes parasitology, bacteriology, virology, immunology and so on... or, in other words, Every Bug that infects Every Species and How You and They Fix It. I may or may not see the light of day until Christmas...
- Shelter Med clinics :) kittens, puppies, the occasional bunny with half an ear...
- BIG RED HOCKEY!!!!!
- er... I have a final Tuesday so I haven't thought much past that...

So, that's it for now... will update when I have more stories to tell :)