Abstract

A day-old Bunaji bull calf weighing 15kg from a herd of 59 was presented to the large animal unit of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with the chief complaint of inability to defecate. History revealed that the bull calf was calved 17 hours prior to presentation and had not defecated since then. On further clinical examination, it was observed that there was no anal opening and there was intermittent straining characterized by the bulging of the anal region anytime the calf strained. A diagnosis of atresia ani type II was made and was surgically managed with local infiltration of lidocaine hydrochloride using a ring block. The calf recovered fully uneventfully 15 days post-operation. This report presents a classical form of a congenital anomaly of atresia ani type II and a successful surgical intervention.

Key words: Atresia ani, Bull-calf, Congenital anomaly, Surgical management, Type II