Diseases of the Horse's Foot Part 26

This condition is commonly the result of a severe and jagged tread with the calkin, and takes the form of an ulcerous and excessively granulating wound. As time goes on the granulations become hard and h.o.r.n.y-looking, and their fibrous tissue as hard and unyielding as tendon or cartilage.

These if treated in the early stages with repeated dressings of caustic, or, if very exuberant, the use of the knife, usually yield to treatment. If neglected until the condition depicted in the figure is arrived at, then treatment, as a rule, is of no avail. Neither is treatment of any use if any great loss of the coronary cushion has occurred.

D. FALSE QUARTER.

_Definition_.--False quarter is the term applied to that condition of the horn of the quarter in which, owing to disease or injury of the coronet, the wall is grown in a manner that is incomplete.

_Symptoms_.--This condition of the foot appears as a gap or shallow indentation, narrow or wide, in the thickness of the wall, with its length in the direction of the horn fibres. By this we do not mean that the sensitive laminae are bared and exposed. Horn of a sort there is, and with this the sensitive structures are covered. Running down the centre of the incomplete horn is usually a narrow fissure marking the line of separation in the papillary layer of the coronary cushion, which, as we shall later see, is responsible for the malformation.

On either side of the indentation, as if wishing to aid further than ordinarily it should in bearing the body-weight, the horn takes on an increased growth, and stands above the level of the horn surrounding it. It may, as perhaps it really is, be regarded as a form of hypertrophy, brought about by the increased work that the loss of substance in the region of the false quarter puts upon it.

So long as the sensitive structures are protected the animal remains sound.

Sometimes, however, from the effects of concussion or of the body-weight, a fissure appears in the narrow veneer of horn that covers them. Into this, which, of course, is but a form of sand-crack, gravel and dirt penetrate, and so set up inflammatory changes in the keratogenous membrane. As a result suppuration ensues, and the animal is lame.

_Causes_.--False quarter may result from any disease of the foot that involves destruction of a portion of the coronary cushion. As we may see from a reference to Chapter III., it is from the papillae of this body that the horn tubules of the wall are secreted. Destruction of any portion of it necessarily results in a corresponding loss of horn in that position. The disease occasioning this more often than any other is perhaps quittor. It may also result from suppurating corn, from a severe tread or overreach, or from the effects of a slowly progressing suppurating coronitis.

_Treatment_.--A radical treatment of false quarter is not to be found. Once destruction of the secreting layer of the coronary cushion has occurred, the appearance of the fissure in the wall will always have to be reckoned with. A false quarter, therefore, not only renders the horse liable to occasional lameness, but also renders weaker that side of the hoof in which it occurs.

The only method of treatment that can be practised, therefore, is that of palliation. Seeing that the trouble the veterinary attendant will have to deal with is loss of a portion of the weight-bearing surface, his attention is immediately directed to the shoeing. As with sand-crack, so with false quarter, the frog and the bars must be called upon to take more of the body-weight than commonly they do with the ordinary shoe. The indication, then, is a bar shoe. At the same time, the bearing of the wall on the shoe on either side of the fissure should be eased by slightly paring it, and the hypertrophied horn on the outer surface of the wall removed with the rasp.

In cases where penetration of the sensitive structures has occurred, complicated with the formation of pus, the same treatment as for complicated crack is to be followed. The foot should be poulticed for several days with hot antiseptic dressings, and thorough cleansing of the infected parted brought about. Afterwards strong solutions of suitable antiseptics should be applied daily until such time as the h.o.r.n.y covering has renewed itself. This done and the bar shoe applied, the fissure may be plugged with any effectual stopping. Either a mixture, such as Percival's, of pitch 2 parts, tar 1 part, and resin 1 part, melted and mixed together, or one of the artificial hoof-horns may either be used with advantage.

E. ACCIDENTAL TEARING OFF OF THE ENTIRE HOOF.

_Causes_.--Seeing that this accident to, and consequent severe wounding of, the keratogenous membrane nearly always occurs in but one way, it is worthy of special mention. So far as we are able to ascertain, it is an accident peculiar to horses continually engaged in shunting operations either in pits or station-yards. At the moment the animal is released from the waggon he has been pulling, and should turn to the right or the left in order to allow it to pa.s.s him, the shoe either becomes wedged in between two converging rails, or is trapped by the wheel of the waggon. Either the approaching waggon with the added weight its impetus gives it then pushes the animal suddenly away, leaving a part of his foot still fixed to the rails, or the animal himself, feeling securely held, makes a sudden effort to release himself, and draws his foot cleanly out of the imprisoned h.o.r.n.y box.

The author calls to mind a case in which entire removal of the horn of the foot of an ox occurred through the pa.s.sing over it of the wheel of a heavily-laden cart. It is therefore quite conceivable that the same accident might occur to the horse. As a matter of fact, we find one case on record where one-half of the h.o.r.n.y box was thus removed.[A]

[Footnote A: _Veterinary Record_, vol. xiii., p. 129.]

So far as we are able to gather, it is more a result of imprisonment of the shoe than of the foot. It appears, further, to be always a result of the animal being newly shod, and the clinches firmly secured; so much so that it would be probable, with imperfectly secured clinches, that the animal would draw the hoof from the clinches and the shoe rather than the foot from its h.o.r.n.y covering.

Therefore, as the author of one of the cases we shall afterwards relate suggests, it should be proposed as a preventive that the shoe-nails of animals regularly engaged in work on the metals should not be clinched in the regulation manner, but should have their points merely screwed off, and the nails afterwards rasped level with the wall.

These cases are particularly interesting as ill.u.s.trating the rapid manner in which a new hoof is afterwards formed, and the way in which the exposed sensitive laminae take their share in adding to, though not forming the bulk of, the horn of the wall.

From the cases we are able to record it will be seen that this accident need not be looked upon as fatal, nor the injury itself beyond hope of repair. Dependent largely upon the temperament of the animal, the amount of pain that is caused, and the way in which the animal bears it, recovery may be looked for. Even from the very commencement of the accident, however, the pain may be so acute and the animal so violent with it that slaughter becomes necessary.

_Treatment_.--This consists in applying an antiseptic and sedative dressing to the injured parts (for example, Carbolized Oil and Tincture of Opium, equal parts) and afterwards bandaging.

From the only data we are able to work on, it appears that this dressing should be repeated daily, the bandage being removed, each time, the foot well bathed in warm water, and the dressing and bandage afterwards replaced. On first sight, it would appear that once cleansed and bandaged the dressings might be left _in situ_ for several days. Seeing, however, that suppuration, if once set up, would add further to the intense pain the animal is already suffering, and considering the always constant exposure of the foot to infection, it is perhaps wise to persist in daily changing of the dressings.

At the same time, the general health of the animal should be attended to.

Suitable febrifuges should be administered, either in the shape of a dose of physic, or salines and liq. ammonia. acetatis; and the pain, if appearing unbearable, allayed by doses of choral and hypodermic injections of morphia.

_Recorded Cases_.--1. 'A short time ago I was called to see a horse which had had his hoof torn off in a railway "point." When I arrived at the stable the injury had been done two hours, and the horse had been led from the railway to a loose-box nearly half-a-mile off. On going to this box I was surprised and horrified to find the poor animal mad with pain, rolling and dashing himself about. When on his back he would struggle and kick the walls with the injured foot, as though unconscious of pain. Not one moment was he still, and as I could see that the sensitive structures were much damaged by his violence, I obtained a gun and put him out of his pain.

'The accident happened in this way. The horse was employed in shunting coal-waggons, and had just drawn four loaded trucks up to a point at which they diverged to the left, and the horse, being unhooked, ought to have turned to the right. Here, unfortunately, the near fore-foot became wedged in between two converging railway plates, one of which formed a part of the waggon-way, on which the trucks were running. The horse was a big animal, and freshly shod with heavy shoes, on which a toe-piece and calkins were used. The shoe was roughly but strongly nailed on with eight nails, the clinches of which were all firm. This shoe was fitted wide at the heels, and when the foot was fixed in the points (toe downwards) it protruded over the face of the rail. When the trucks reached it they pressed it down, and, the horse leaning forward, the hoof was drawn off like a glove. The hoof was almost as clean inside as if taken off by maceration--only towards the toe was a small portion of the coffin-bone and some torn laminae left inside the hoof.

'As soon as possible after the accident, so I was told, the foot was bound up with tow and a bandage; then a sack was cut up and placed over all, and the horse slowly led to his loose-box. He "carried" the leg all the way, limping along on the three sound ones. Almost immediately after reaching the box he lay down, but only for a short time. The standing position was not long maintained--profuse perspiration set in, and the alternations of position became more rapid and violent, till plunging and rolling were added to the other signs of excruciating pain. I was also told that the groaning of the poor animal was almost constant, and at times so loud and prolonged as to amount to a shriek.

'I have no experience of a similar case, and I should not have supposed that this accident would have caused such acute suffering and violent symptoms. I think I have heard of such cases making a complete recovery; but I feel sure that, in this case, I only antic.i.p.ated death by, at most, a few hours.'[A]

[Footnote A: _Veterinary Record_, vol. iv., p. 127.]

2. 'The case I am about to give you an account of, being one of rare occurrence, I thought would not prove uninteresting to the members of the Veterinary Medical a.s.sociation. It is an instance of complete removal of the hoof by mechanical force.

'Our patient was a brown mare, five years old, the property of Messrs.

Crawshaw and Co., railway contractors on the Sheffield and Manchester line.

'On June 20 the mare was, as usual, working on the line, drawing one of the waggons for the removal of soil from one place to another, and, as was the custom, the pace is generally increased at about the distance of from sixty to eighty yards from where the unloading takes place, in order to add to the velocity, so that the contents of the waggons might roll down so great a precipice. It was at this increased action, when the mare was being removed from the waggon, that she stepped between the ends of two iron rails, sufficiently apart to admit the foot only, when one end of the rail inserted itself between the sole and toe of the shoe, the other at the top and in front of the crust.

'The mare, finding herself fixed, endeavoured to disengage herself, and, in doing so, got in front of the waggon, which, coming at a great pace, forced her down into the pit, leaving behind the off fore-hoof, which was only removed from its situation between the two rails by a large hammer, it being so firmly wedged in. The shoe and hoof were bent in a very peculiar manner, as the accompanying cuts will show, the inside heel being completely raised from above the level of the frog, not one of the nails being unclenched, or in the slightest degree having given way to so large an amount of force imposed upon them, although the toe of the shoe was raised from the sole by the rail being immediately under it (see Fig. 114).

The mare had been shod the day before, and, having a good sound foot, the shoe was firmly put on.

'Being a mile from home, she was with some difficulty made to travel that distance. On her arrival, my preceptor, Mr. Taylor, was immediately sent for, who found her, as I have before stated, with the off fore-foot hoofless.

'Proceeding to examine the foot, he ascertained that it had bled considerably, which, however, was stopped by bandages to the foot and a ligature round the coronet. The laminae on one side and a small portion of the sensitive sole, though not to any great extent, were lacerated. The coffin-bone was not at all injured. The bleeding having nearly ceased, she was put into slings, the foot carefully washed with warm water, and immediately bound up with pledgets of tow saturated with the simple tincture of myrrh and tincture of opium, of each equal parts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 114.--HOOF TORN FROM THE FOOT BY ACCIDENT.]

'The dressing was ordered to be allowed to remain on all night, and on the following morning to be removed. The foot was then bathed, as before, in warm water, and the application of the tinctures repeated night and morning. The medicine internally given was castor oil, with tinct. opium, and this, in a diminished dose, was ordered the next morning. Blood was also abstracted from the jugular vein, to the amount of 6 quarts, so as to allay the inflammatory fever set up. The food consisted of bran and linseed, with small portions of hay and water. The mare being in a highly excited state, and suffering such severe pain, the opinion Mr. Taylor gave was that, should she get over the first four days (which appeared quite uncertain), he had no doubt of her ultimately getting well, and also that she would have a perfect hoof formed. It was now left for the owners'

consideration, whether they thought the mare worth her keep till such took place, the time mentioned by Mr. Taylor being four or five months. She was seen again the fourth day after the accident, and was then found to be perfectly tranquil and feeding well; her pulse, which at the first visit could not be counted, was now not more than 65 beats in the minute. On removing the dressings, the foot presented a very favourable appearance, the treatment therefore varied only in the application of a linseed-meal poultice over the former dressings of tinctures of opium and myrrh, confining the whole in a soft leather boot. Diet as before, in addition to which give a few oats. Should the bowels become constipated, repeat the castor oil without the opium.

'_June_ 28.--The animal was again seen, and appeared to be going on very favourably. The poultices were directed to be discontinued, and the parts dressed every other day with sol. sulph. cupri, as the granulations were getting rather luxuriant.

'_July_ 6.--To-day she was found to have gone on so well, having two days before been removed from the slings, that it was thought justifiable to turn her out, protecting the foot with a boot, and ordering the dressings to be repeated.

'_July_ 23.--She was seen by me in the field, where I had the boot removed, and so much had she improved, that not less than 2 inches of crust, proceeding from the coronary ring, had been formed, and the foot looked remarkably healthy.

'It will be seen that the accident occurred on June 20, a fortnight after which time I observed the h.o.r.n.y crust to be forming from the coronet, and the insensitive laminae at the same time, in which on every visit an increase of growth was perceptible, and it soon attained a thickness exceeding that of the other hoof, but which at the same time presented a more upright appearance. It was not until three weeks after our first visit that any formation of new sole or frog was to be seen. Of the two the sole was the first, being secreted by the sensitive sole, the growth proceeding from the heels. In like manner the insensitive frog was being produced by the sensitive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 115.--HOOF TORN FROM THE FOOT BY ACCIDENT.]

'During the last week in October the mare, having her foot protected with a bar shoe plated at the bottom, and so formed as to open without necessity of removing the shoe, in order to facilitate the applications of the tinctures, was put to light work, which has since been gradually increased, and she now performs her usual labour equal to any other horse.

'The growth of the wall or crust and insensitive laminae is not yet quite complete, nor is the sole, there being wanting about an inch of the h.o.r.n.y substance of it, the entire completion of which I should rather doubt, as I mentioned in my former communication that the sensitive laminae and a small portion of the sole were lacerated, and it is in these parts that the imperfections exist.

'The yet imperfectly-formed wall not admitting of the insertion of nails all around it, the shoe is held on partly by nails and partly by a strap attached to it bound round the coronet.'[A]

[Footnote A: _Veterinary Record_, vol. iv., p. 182 (B. Cartledge).]

3. 'This case is related by Mr. A. Rogerson, F.R.C.V.S. It occurred to an animal regularly engaged in shunting, and happened through the corner of the shoe becoming "trapped" between a line of metal and the wheel of a truck. It is particularly interesting on account of the photograph accompanying it, and which we here reproduce in Fig. 115.

'The photograph shows plainly the manner in which the holding of the "clinches" on the left side of the hoof has resulted in drawing it off from the foot. Had these clinches, as Mr. Rogerson suggests, been left unfastened, then the accident in all probability would not have occurred.

The animal was destroyed.'[A]