help needed bad...

Our steer had a bad moment ealier and decided he was still hungry this morning and eat a plastic wal-mart bag someone had threw out in our yard and the wind caught it just right and blew into his pen. Called the vet and said should be able to pass in a few days with plenty of hay and water. Anyone else ever had anything similiar happen and what was the outcome?

yep,net wrapping,baling twine,magazines and the ends of rope halters.if metal then worry.Rusty

When I was working on my doctorate, I had 8 ruminally canulated steers that I used for my research.  When we weren't using them, they were kept in a pasture along the highway.  You wouldn't beleive some of the things we would find in those steers.  Walmart sacks were pretty common.  Even pulled out a big blag plactic trash bag once.  And all of those steers died of old age.  I bet he doesn't even pass it, it will probably just slosh around in the rumen until he goes to market.  I wouldn't worry about it.

forbes family farms said:

Call vet asap

Click to expand...

They already did. It says it above.

clearly states it above forbes...

A friend of mine ran test on feed lot cattle and if they ate twine, most of them had it there when they were killed.  I try to pick my twine all up and burn it.  I have pulled bags out of little calves that were chewing on them and had swallowed the larger portion.  I thing Rusty is correct, worry more about metal.  We did loose a lamb at a show that swallowed an entire halter and rope because he could not pass it.  The halter and rope were not ours and the lamb was always muzzled when we were present....

I do think that my Dad has lost cows from consuming too much twine from the large 4 x 4 x 8 bales.  He will be 87 in a couple of weeks and does not want to get out of the tractor.  I have tried to tell him, but.......

a wal-mart sack is small enough that even if it does make it out of the rumin,  the bag will/should ball up and pass with no problem at all. were you run into a big problem is a lot of net wrap, large peaces that would ball up big enough to plug the intestine and not let him defecate .

Thanks everyone for your help, when it comes to our cattle we have alot of money invested and don't want to loose one to wal-mart sack..