Special Report on Diseases of Cattle Part 15

It is well to remark that when the disease follows injuries to the head the symptoms may not be manifested until two or three days (or longer) after the accident.

_Treatment._--Recoveries are rare in spite of careful attention. To be of any service whatever the treatment must be prompt and begin with the disease. In the early stage, when the pulse is large, most cases will admit of bleeding. Eight or 9 quarts of blood should be taken from the jugular vein. This should be followed immediately by a purgative, the following for a cow of average size: Epsom salt, 24 ounces; pulverized gamboge, one-half ounce; croton oil, 20 drops; warm water, 3 quarts; mix all together and give at once as a drench. About 2 quarts of warm water or warm soapsuds should be injected with a syringe into the r.e.c.t.u.m every three or four hours. It is best to keep the animal in a quiet, sheltered place, where it will be free from noise or other cause of excitement. All the cold water the animal will drink should be allowed, but feed must be withheld, except bran slops occasionally in small quant.i.ties, or gra.s.s, if in season, which may be cut and carried fresh to the patient.

The skull must be examined, and if sign of injury is found, appropriate surgical treatment should be given.

During the convulsions all possible efforts should be made to prevent the animal injuring itself. The head should be held down on the ground and straw kept under it. Cold water may be continuously poured on the head, or bags filled with ice broken in small pieces may be applied to the head.

Different authors recommend different remedies to allay the convulsions, but for two reasons it will be found extremely difficult to administer medicines during the convulsions: (1) While the animal is unconscious the power to swallow is lost, and therefore the medicine is more liable to go down the windpipe to the lungs than it is to go to the paunch; (2) the convulsions are often so violent that it would be utterly useless to attempt to drench the animal; and furthermore it must be borne in mind that during this stage the functions of digestion and absorption are suspended, and as a consequence the medicine (provided it finds its way to the paunch) is likely to remain there unabsorbed and therefore useless.

A blistering compound, composed of mustard, 1 ounce; pulverized cantharides, one-half ounce; hot water, 4 ounces, well mixed together, may be rubbed in over the loins, along the spine, and back of the head on each side of the neck. This is occasionally attended with beneficial effect, and especially so in those cases when paralysis is present.

If the purgative acts and the animal shows signs of improvement in the course of two or three days, 2 drams of iodid of pota.s.sium may be given every night and morning, dissolved in a half bucketful of drinking water, if the animal will drink it, or it may be dissolved in a half pint of water and given as a drench. Great care must be observed in regard to the food, which should be nutritive, but not coa.r.s.e, and at first in small quant.i.ties, gradually increased as the patient improves. After some progress is made toward recovery 1-1/2 drams of pulverized nux vomica may be given twice a day, added to the iodid of pota.s.sium drench. This should be administered so long as a staggering gait continues.

In those rare cases when recovery takes place it is only partial as a rule, as there is generally a sequel which remains, such as partial paralysis.

However, this is but a slight drawback in cattle, because when it is seen to persist the medicine should be stopped and the animal fattened for butchering.

Post-mortem examinations discover congestion of the brain and its membranes. In those cases which have exhibited much paralysis of the hind legs before death the cord may be congested in the lumbar region (loins).

When the disease has been caused by injury to the head, the congestion and extravasated blood may be found inside of the cavity in the location corresponding to the place where the injury was inflicted externally. In some cases pus is also discovered. It remains to be said that in all animals that have died from this affection the lungs are found very much congested. This may lead the superficial observer to suppose that the disease was a lung affection, but in fact it is only a natural consequence when death ensues from brain disease.

APOPLEXY.

That form of congestion of the brain known as parturient apoplexy, or parturient paresis, which is so frequently a.s.sociated with the period of calving is described in another part of this work. (See "Milk fever," p.

226.)

Cerebral apoplexy, not connected with parturition, is a rare disease among cattle. However, it may be due to degeneration and consequent rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.

The attack is sudden, the animal in most cases falling as if it had received a blow on the head. It may stagger and reel some time before going down. After falling, there are convulsive movements of the legs or the animal sinks into insensibility. There may be remissions in the severity of the symptoms, but the pressure from the continued escape of blood soon causes death. Rest, quiet, friction to the legs and surface, frequent turning of the animal and cold to the head are to be practiced, if treatment is attempted.

CONGESTION OF THE BRAIN.

There is a form of congestive apoplexy affecting cattle which are in a plethoric condition. The congestion, or overfilling with blood, causes pressure on the brain substance and disorganizes its function. It occurs mostly in hot weather. In this disease the symptoms are somewhat similar to those exhibited when the animal has encephalitis, but the onset is more sudden, the duration is shorter, and there is less fever. There may be frenzy or coma, or alternations one with the other. The intelligence is diminished, staring eyes, bracing with the legs, pressing against the stall part.i.tion or manger, red mucous membranes. This condition usually terminates in recovery.

In such cases bleeding should be resorted to immediately, and when the power of swallowing is not lost purgatives should be administered. Cold applications to the head and the general treatment recommended for encephalitis are indicated.

CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN.

Severe blows on the head, striking the head against some hard object while running, or falling on the head may cause concussion of the brain. The injury may fracture bones of the cranium and produce compression of the brain.

_Symptoms and treatment._--The symptoms and the treatment that is indicated differ very little from what has been said under congestion of the brain and under encephalitis. In some cases it may be necessary to operate to remove a piece of bone that is pressing on the brain or to remove a clot of blood under the area which received the blow.

EPILEPSY.

This affection is characterized by the occurrence of sudden convulsions.

The animal may appear to be in a fair state of health usually, but at any time, in the stable or in the field, it may have a convulsion in which it will fall and lose consciousness. Epilepsy must not be confounded with vertigo--the fainting which is an effect of heart troubles.

The exact cause of epilepsy in the majority of cases is unknown.

Post-mortem examinations in many instances have failed to discover any lesion in connection with the brain or nervous system, while in other instances disease of the brain has been found in the form of thickening of the membranes, abscesses, and tumors, and in some cases the affection has been manifested in connection with a diseased condition of the blood.

The cause has also been traced to reflex irritation, due to teething, worms, and chronic indigestion.

_Treatment._--When the affection is due to the last-named causes treatment may be successful if the cause is removed. If there are symptoms of worms or of indigestion, follow the general treatment advised for those troubles under their proper heads. If due to irritation caused by teething, the inflamed gums must be lanced. Examination of the mouth often develops the fact that one of the temporary teeth causes much irritation by remaining unshed, and thereby interfering with the growth of a permanent tooth. The offending tooth should be extracted. When the cause of epilepsy can not be discovered, it must be confessed that there is no prospect of a cure.

However, some benefit may be expected from the occasional administration of a purgative dose of medicine. A pound of Epsom salt dissolved in a quart of warm water, for a cow of average size, may be given as a drench once or twice a month. In addition to the purgative, 4 drams of bromid of pota.s.sium, dissolved in the drinking water, three times a day, has proved very beneficial in some cases.

SUNSTROKE (PROSTRATION FROM HEAT).

Owing to the fact that cattle are seldom put to work at which they would have to undergo severe exertion, especially in collars, they are not frequently prostrated by the extreme heat of the summer months. When at pasture they select the coolest places in the shade of trees, in water, etc., when the heat becomes oppressive, and thereby avoid, as much as possible, the effects of it.

It does happen, however, that cattle that have been kept up for the purpose of fattening, when driven some distance in very hot weather, are sometimes prostrated, but it must be remembered that it is not really necessary for the animal to be exposed to the rays of the sun, as those confined in hot, close places may suffer. This often happens in shipping, when they are crowded together in cars.

_Symptoms._--The premonitory signs are those of exhaustion--dullness, panting, frothing at the mouth, tongue hanging out, irregular gait, uneasiness, palpitation--when, if the circ.u.mstances which tend to the prostration are not mitigated, the animal staggers or sways from side to side, falls, struggles for a while, and then gradually becomes quiet, or the struggles may continue, with repeated but ineffectual efforts to regain a standing position. In serious cases the attack may be very sudden, unconsciousness occurring without continued or distressing premonitory symptoms.

_Treatment._--At first, when not very serious, removal to a quiet, sheltered place, with a few days on a reduced diet, is all that need be done. When the animal has fallen, apply cold water or ice to the head; rub the body and limbs with cloths or wisps of straw and continue the rubbing for a considerable time. If the power of swallowing is not lost (which may be ascertained by pouring a little cold water into the mouth), give 3 drams of stronger liquor ammonia, diluted with a quart of cold water. Be very careful in drenching the animal when lying down. Repeat the drench in a half hour and an hour after the first one has been given. Instead of the ammonia, a drench composed of 3 ounces of spirits of nitrous ether in a pint of water may be given, if more convenient, but the ammonia drench is preferable. If unconsciousness continues, so that a drench can not be administered, the same quant.i.ty of ammonia and water may be injected with a syringe into the r.e.c.t.u.m. The popular aqua ammonia, commonly called "hartshorn," will do as well as the stronger liquor ammonia, but as it is weaker than the latter the dose for a cow is about 1-1/2 ounces, which should be diluted with a quart of water before it is given to the animal, either as a drench or an enema. When ammonia can not be obtained, an ounce of tincture of digitalis may be given.

As soon as the animal is able to rise it should be a.s.sisted and moved to the nearest shelter. All the cold water it will drink should be allowed.

The ammonia or spirits of nitrous ether drench should be administered every three hours so long as there is much failure of strength. The diet should be limited for several days--bran slops and a little gra.s.s. When signs of returning strength are presented, 12 ounces of Epsom salt dissolved in a quart of warm water may be given in those cases which have been down and unconscious, but do not give it while much weakness remains, which may be for several days after the attack. The flesh of an animal that is suffering from heat stroke should not be prepared for use as food. On account of the fever with which the animal suffers, the flesh contains toxins that may render it poisonous to the consumer.

INJURIES TO THE SPINAL CORD.

The spinal cord is liable to concussion from blows and falls, and paralysis, to a greater or less extent, may be the result. Fracture, with displacement of the bones (vertebrae) which form the spinal column, by compressing the spinal cord, produces paralysis, which varies in its effect according to the part of the cord that is compressed. If the fracture is above the middle of the neck, death soon follows, as communication between the brain and diaphragm (the essential muscle of inspiration) is stopped.

When the fracture is farther down in the neck, posterior to the origin of the phrenic nerve, the breathing continues, but there is paralysis in all parts posterior to the fracture, including the fore and hind legs. When the fracture is in the region of the loins the hind legs are paralyzed, but the fore legs are not. If the fracture is in the sacrum (the division of the spinal column between the loins and the tail), the tail alone is paralyzed.

As a matter of course, when the back is broken there is no remedy; the animal should be killed at once.

PARALYSIS.

Paralysis, or loss of motion in a part, may be due to a lesion of the brain, of the spinal cord, or of a nerve. It may also be caused by reflex irritation. When the paralysis affects both sides of the body, posterior to a point, it is further designated by the name paraplegia. When one side of the body (a lateral half) is paralyzed, the term hemiplegia is applied to the affection. When paralysis is caused by a lesion of a nerve, the paralysis is confined to the particular part supplied by the affected nerve.

As already pointed out, paralysis may be due to concussion of the spine, fracture of a bone of the spinal column with consequent compression of the spinal cord, concussion of the brain, or compression of the brain. An injury to one side of the brain may produce paralysis of the same side of the head and of the opposite side of the body (hemiplegia). Paralysis may occur in connection with parturient apoplexy, lead poisoning, ergotism, etc.

CONGESTION OF THE SPINAL CORD.

Paraplegia, or paralysis of the rear part of the body, is the dominant symptom in congestion or inflammation of the spinal cord. The cause is not known, but the disease is probably due to chilling. It is thought by some that some toxic influence (poison) may be responsible for its development.

_Symptoms._--The symptoms usually appear suddenly and consist in inability to stand. Sometimes this is preceded by a period of excitement. The animal usually lies quietly, but sometimes it groans and tosses its head about in a way that indicates pain. Cows heavy with calf are sometimes affected with a form of paraplegia, which usually attacks them from about a month to a few days before calving. Apparently they are in good health in every respect except the inability to stand up on account of the paralysis of the hind quarters. This form is generally attributed to feeding on feeds containing insufficient protein and ash. It is most likely to occur in cows that are weak and thin. With good care and feed recovery usually occurs.

_Treatment._--The animal must be given a soft, dry bed under shelter and in a quiet, airy place. It is well to apply mustard along the spine. The action of the mustard may be intensified by rubbing the skin with ammonia or turpentine. Internally give a purge of Glauber's salt. Nux vomica or strychnia (1 to 2 grain doses) may be given. Turn the cow two to four times daily and rub the legs well each time.

There are instances when cows will persist in lying down (in spite of all efforts that are made to compel them to stand up), when it can not really be said that they are paralyzed. They have sensation in all parts; they can move all their feet; they can change their position; and in fact every function seems to be normally performed, but they obstinately refuse to rise or even make an effort to do so. Cases of this kind have been killed, as it was an utter impossibility to get the animal on its feet. However, there are instances when a cow, after refusing to rise when all other means had been tried, quickly jumped to her feet and showed fright upon the appearance of a dog or other terrifying object.

RABIES (HYDROPHOBIA).