M&M Sized Ovaries

On our second day of farm visits, I had to opportunity to palpate my first Kenyan cow. I note the difference between Canadian and Kenyan cow because for the most part, the Canadian cows I’ve palpated so far are nearly if not taller than me. Kenyan cows are generally smaller so far and the perfect height for me.

Overall, it was a pretty typical palpation. Now, for my non vet friends and family, I’ll tell you briefly what I mean by palpating. First off, I’ve been skipping adding the word rectal to the term palpate. Basically, you put on a very long plastic glove and put your hand up into the rectum of the cow then feel around for the cervix, uterus and ovaries (among other things).

There was however a memorable conversation comparing the size of the ovaries to M&Ms. We are told in vet school to avoid comparing things to food, especially in pathology, but I just can’t help it, I am a gourmet pathologist in the making.  The cow had ovulated a few days previous so one ovary was peanut M&M sized while the other was more plain M&M sized. I had found ovaries on a rectal palpation before but I had not found a burst follicle before and discussing it’s size as compared to the M&M has ingrained their size in my head.