Renal failure and severe hydroperitoneum in a pastured reproductive cow

A Japanese Black cow (5 years old and 6 months pregnant) was brought to our veterinary hospital with abdominal pain, listlessness and weakness. Ultrasound examination, performed because the severe abdominal distention noticed atinitial examination, suggested severe ascites and neoplastic hyperplasia of the tissues. Blood and abdominal fluid examinations showed high levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine. Suspecting a tumor or bladder rupture, we conducted diagnostic laparotomy, and found severe ascites. However, abdominal endoscopy revealed no neoplastic lesion. Endoscopy of the bladder showed suspended matter in the urine and erosion of parts of the urinary bladder mucosa. From these results, we suspected that the cow had consumed some nephrotoxic plants, and developed nephrosis and uremia. The treatments of continuous drip, systemic administration of antibiotics, intravesical instillation of drugs, and draining of the abdominal fluid were ineffective in symptom remission, and the cow died on 11 days after it was brought to the hospital. Hemorrhage in the renal cortex, multiple infarctions caused by thrombosis in the arcuate arteries and extensive enlargement of the renal lymph nodes were found at autopsy. From the fact that the abdominal fluid consisted mainly of urine components, we concluded that the ascites was caused by urine leakage from the infarcted areas of the kidneys. However, the original cause of the thrombosis that caused the renal infarction could not be ascertained.