Gynaecology and Obstetrics Section

CLINICAL SIGNS

• The clinical signs of uterine prolapse are dramatic and obvious
• In the period immediately after the prolapse occurs the tissues appear almost normal,but within a few hours they become enlarged and oedematous. Some animals will appear otherwise healthy, although many animals will exhibit varying degrees of hypocalcaemia:
• weakness
• depression
• subnormal temperature
• anxiety
• struggling
• prostration
• coma.
• Some animals will develop hypovolaemic shock secondary to internal blood loss (rupture of uterine and/or ovarian blood vessels), laceration of the prolapsed organ or incarceration of abdominal viscera.
• Signs of shock, such as pale mucous membranes,reduced capillary refill time and tachycardia are often associated with a grave prognosis.