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Cow Magnets

Cow magnets are very popular with farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians since they are a well-known method of preventing hardware disease in cattle.

Compression by the uterus in late pregnancy, straining during parturition, and mounting during estrus can increase the likelihood of the object penetrating the abdominal wall or the heart sac. However, today they are more commonly several ring-shaped ferrite magnets attached to a stainless-steel or plastic core, in the same shape as the single-piece original. While the resultant mass of iron remains in the cow’s rumen as a pseudobezoar (an intentionally introduced bezoar), it does not cause the severe problems of hardware disease.

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