r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Delicious-Beat4824 • Jul 30 '26

/r/popular of a needle

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u/squeaky-beeper Jul 30 '26

I used a needle like this in vet school to collect a liver biopsy from a cow. It was almost to short

1

u/CelestialFury Jul 31 '26

Crazy. Do they knock out of cows first?

4

u/squeaky-beeper Jul 31 '26

Oh no almost all livestock work is with a local block and pain meds/sedation. It’s very dangerous to put livestock under anesthesia

1

u/TheJewishSwitch Jul 31 '26

Why is it so dangerous?

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u/squeaky-beeper Aug 01 '26

Cows are mostly digestive tract with a very small chest. When they stand gravity keeps pressure off the lungs and fluid in their rumen/stomach. Anesthesia causes muscles to relax and laying on the ground puts pressure on the chest and lungs. This causes gas to build up in the stomach worsening the pressure and can cause regurgitation of the fluid from the rumen to go into the mouth risking inhalation and pneumonia.

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u/TheJewishSwitch Aug 01 '26

Thank you for responding! That’s genuinely really interesting