Packed cell volume (PCV) in connection with uterine prolapse and in parturient paresis in cows.

Packed cell volume was determined in 317 cows with uterine prolapse, the condition being in more than half of these cases associated with varying degrees of hypocalcaemia, in 133 cows with parturient paresis and in 73 clinically healthy newly calved cows. Independently of each other uterine prolapse and fall in plasma calcium were associated with a significant rise in PCV. The present investigation demonstrated a marked fall in circulating blood volume in a considerable number of cows suffering from uterine prolapse. The risk of irreversible hypovolemic shock developing in connection with uterine prolapse is not to be neglected, and may be aggravated by the simultaneous occurrence of hypocalcaemia, as several of the compensatory mechanisms are calcium dependent.