Abomasal dilatation and impaction in two Hampshire rams

Two adult Hampshire rams, unrelated and from separate farms, were examined for the cause of intermittent bloat and, or anorexia which lasted for three to six weeks and caused depression and cachexia. The rumen of each ram was hypermotile and ballottement of the ventral abdomen of each animal revealed an enlarged doughy viscus. Mild prerenal azotaemia, hypokalaemia with metabolic alkalosis, and high rumen chloride concentrations were evident. One ram died during the induction of anaesthesia for an abomasotomy and the other was euthanased after unsuccessful medical therapy. The abomasum of each ram was four to six times larger than that of a normal adult ram and filled with coarse, semi-moist, impacted ingesta. This abnormality was clinically identical to the abomasal emptying syndrome which has been described only in the Suffolk breed.