Physical and Miscellaneous Causes of Abortion

Physical and miscellaneous causes of abortion in livestock encompass a broad range of external and internal factors that adversely impact gestation.

Physical Causes

Douching the uterus: Intrauterine insemination or douching from 7 to 60 days of gestation will usually induce abortion in the cow without metritis. If this practice is followed in the third or succeeding months of gestation complications like metritis or fetal maceration may occur.

Manual rupture of the amniotic vesicle or rupture of the fetal heart or large vessels by manual pressure in early pregnancy (30 to 60 days of pregnancy) will terminate pregnancy.

Removal of corpus luteum: Removal of the corpus luteum of pregnancy in the cow invariably results in abortion.

Other physical causes of abortion in livestock:

• Sever torsion of the uterus.
• Displacements of the umbilical cord or torsion of the umbilical cord.

Miscellaneous Causes of Abortion

• Sever transportation fatigue
• Severe systemic diseases
• Major operations
• Genetic or Chromosomal Causes
• Twinning in cattle due to the lack of placental area and nutrition for the foetuses
• Allergies and anaphylactic reactions

In the above conditions excess production of glucocorticoids from the adrenal may be the cause for abortions.

Genetic or Chromosomal Causes

• In-breeding
• Trisomy (extra chromosome)
• Translocation
• Polyploidy: chromosomal abnormalities