Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Part 14

PLEURISY.

The thoracic cavity is divided into two lateral compartments, each containing one lung and a part of the heart. Each lung has its separate pleural membrane, or covering. The pleura is the thin, glistening membrane that covers the lung and also completely covers the internal walls of the chest. It is very thin, and to the ordinary observer appears to be part of the lung, which, in fact, it is for all practical purposes. The smooth, shiny surface of the lung, as well as the smooth, shiny surface so familiar on the rib, is the pleura. In health this surface is always moist. A fluid is thrown off by the pleura, which causes the surface to be constantly moist. This is to prevent the effects of friction between the lungs and the walls of the chest and other contiguous parts which come in contact. It must be remembered that the lungs are dilating each time a breath is taken in, and contracting each time a breath of air is expelled. It may be readily seen that if it were not for the moistened state of the surface of the pleura the continual dilatation and contraction and the consequent rubbing of the parts against each other would cause serious friction.

Inflammation of this membrane is called pleurisy. Being so closely united with the lung, it can not always escape partic.i.p.ation in the disease when the latter is inflamed. Pleurisy may be due to the same predisposing and exciting causes as mentioned in the beginning of this work as general causes for diseases of the organs of respiration, such as exposure to sudden changes of temperature, confinement in damp stables, etc. It may be caused also by wounds that penetrate the chest, for it must be remembered that such wounds must necessarily pierce the pleura. A fractured rib may involve the pleura. The inflammation following such wounds may be circ.u.mscribed; that is, confined to a small area surrounding the wound, or it may spread from the wound and involve a large portion of the pleura. The pleura may be involved secondarily when the heart or its membrane is the primary seat of the disease. It may occur in conjunction with bronchitis, influenza, and other diseases.

Diseased growths that interfere with the pleura may induce pleurisy. The most frequent cause of pleurisy is an extension of inflammation from adjacent diseased lung. It is a common complication of pneumonia.

Pleurisy will be described here as an independent affection, although it should be remembered that it is very often a.s.sociated with the foregoing diseases.

The first lesion of pleurisy is overfilling of the blood vessels that ramify in this membrane and dryness of the surface. This is followed by the formation of a coating of coagulated fibrin on the diseased pleura and the transudation of serum which collects in the chest. This serum may contain flakes of fibrin and it may be straw colored or red from an admixture of blood. The quant.i.ty of this acc.u.mulation may amount to several gallons.

_Symptoms._--When the disease exists as an independent affection it is ushered in by a chill, but this is usually overlooked. About the first thing noticed is the disinclination of the animal to move or turn around. When made to do so he grunts or groans with pain. He stands stiff; the ribs are fixed--that is, they move very little in the act of breathing--but the abdomen works more than natural; both the fore feet and elbows may be turned out; during the onset of the attack the animal may be restless and act as if he had a slight colic; he may even lie down, but does not remain long down, for when he finds no relief he soon gets up. After effusion begins these signs of restlessness disappear.

Every movement of the chest causes pain; therefore the cough is peculiar; it is short and suppressed and comes as near being no cough as the animal can make it in his desire to suppress it. The breathing is hurried, the mouth is hot, the temperature being elevated from 102 or 103 to 105 F. Symptoms that usually accompany fever are present, such as costiveness, scanty, dark-colored urine, etc. The pulse is frequent, perhaps 70 or more a minute, and is hard and wiry. The legs and ears are cold.

Percussion is of valuable service in this affection. After effusion occurs the sound produced by percussing over the lower part of the chest is dull. By striking different parts one may come to a spot of greater or less extent where the blows cause much pain to be evinced. The animal may grunt or groan every time it is struck. Another method of detecting the affected part is to press the fingers between the ribs, each s.p.a.ce in succession, beginning behind the elbow, until a place where the pressure causes more flinching than at any other part is reached.

Auscultation is also useful. In the first stage, when the surfaces are dry and rough, one may hear, immediately under the ear, a distinct sound very much like that produced by rubbing two pieces of coa.r.s.e paper together. No such friction sound occurs when the membrane is healthy, as the natural moisture, heretofore mentioned, prevents the friction. In many cases this friction is so p.r.o.nounced that it may be felt by placing the hand over the affected part. When the dry stage is succeeded by the exudation of fluid this friction sound disappears. After the effusion into the cavity takes place sometimes there is heard a tinkling or metallic sound, due to dropping of the exudate from above into the collected fluid in the bottom of the cavity, as the collected fluid more of less separates the lung from the chest walls.

Within two or three days the urgent symptoms may abate owing to the exudation of the fluid, and the subsidence of the pain. The fluid may now undergo absorption, and the case may terminate favorably within a week or 10 days.

If the quant.i.ty of the effusion is large its own volume r.e.t.a.r.ds the process of absorption to a great extent, and consequently convalescence is delayed. In severe cases the pulse becomes more frequent, the breathing more hurried and labored, the flanks work like bellows, the nostrils flap, the eyes stare wildly, the countenance expresses much anxiety, and general signs of dissolution are plain. After a time swellings appear under the chest and abdomen and down the legs. The acc.u.mulation in the chest is called hydrothorax, or dropsy of the chest.

When this fluid contains pus the case usually proves fatal. The condition of pus within the cavity is called empyema.

Pleurisy may affect only a small area of one side or it may affect both sides. It is oftener confined to the right side.

_Treatment._--The instructions in regard to the general management of bronchitis and pneumonia must be adhered to in the treatment of pleurisy. Comfortable quarters, pure air, warm clothing to the body and bandages to the legs, a plentiful supply of pure cold water, the laxative feed, etc., in this case are equally necessary and efficacious.

The hot applications applied to the chest, as directed in the treatment of pneumonia, are very beneficial in pleurisy, and should be kept up while the symptoms show the animal to be in pain.

During the first few days, when pain is manifested by restlessness, apply hot packs to the sides diligently. After four or five days, when the symptoms show that the acute stage has somewhat subsided, mustard may be applied as recommended for pneumonia. From the beginning the following drench may be given every six hours, if the horse takes it kindly: Solution of the acetate of ammonia, 3 ounces; spirits of nitrous ether, 1 ounce; bicarbonate of pota.s.sium, 3 drams; water, 1 pint.

If the patient becomes debilitated, the stimulants as prescribed for pneumonia should be used according to the same directions. The same attention should be given to the diet. If the animal will partake of the bran mashes, scalded oats, and gra.s.s, it is the best; but if he refuses the laxative diet, then he should be tried with different kinds of feed and allowed whichever kind he desires.

In the beginning of the attack, if the pain is severe, causing the animal to lie down or paw, morphin may be given by the mouth in 5-grain doses, or the fluid extract of _Cannabis indica_ may be used in doses of 2 to 4 drams.

If the case is not progressing favorable in ten or twelve days after the beginning of the attack, convalescence is delayed by the fluid in the chest failing to be absorbed. The animal becomes dull and weak and evinces little or no desire for feed. The breathing becomes still more rapid and difficult. An effort must now be made to excite the absorption of the effusion. An application of liniment or mild blister should be rubbed over the lower part of both sides and the bottom of the chest.

The following drench may be given three times a day, for seven or eight days, if it is necessary and appears to benefit: Tincture of the perchlorid of iron, 1 ounce; tincture of gentian, 2 ounces; water, 1 pint. Also give 1 dram of iodid of pota.s.sium, dissolved in the drinking water, an hour before feeding every night and morning for a week or two.

_Hydrothorax_ is sometimes difficult to overcome by means of the use of medicines alone, when the operation of tapping the chest is performed to allow an escape for the acc.u.mulated fluid. The operation is performed with a combined instrument called the trocar and cannula. The puncture is made in the lower part of the chest, in the s.p.a.ce between the eighth and ninth ribs. Wounding of the intercostal artery is avoided by inserting the instrument as near as possible to the anterior edge of the rib. If the operation is of benefit, it is only so when performed before the strength is lowered beyond recovery. The operation merely receives a pa.s.sing notice here, as it is not presumed that the nonprofessional will attempt it, although in the hands of the expert it is attended with little danger or difficulty.

We have described here bronchitis, pneumonia, and pleurisy mainly as they occur as independent diseases, but it should be remembered that they merge into each other and may occur together at one time. While it is true that much more might have been said in regard to the different stages and types of the affections, and also in regard to the treatment of each stage and each particular type, the plan adopted of advising plain, conservative treatment is considered the wisest on account of simplifying as much as possible a subject of which the reader is supposed to know very little.

PLEUROPNEUMONIA.

This is the state in which an animal is affected with pleurisy and pneumonia combined, which is not infrequently the case. At the beginning of the attack only one of the affections may be present, but the other soon follows. It has already been stated that the pleura is closely adherent to the lung. The pleura on this account is frequently more or less affected by the spreading of the inflammation from the lung tissue.

There is a combination of the symptoms of both diseases, but to the ordinary observer the symptoms of pleurisy are the most obvious. The course of treatment to be pursued differs in no manner from that given for the affections when they occur independently. The symptoms will be the guide as to the advisability of giving oil and laudanum for the pain if the pleurisy is very severe. It should not be resorted to unless it is necessary to allay the pain.

BRONCHO-PLEUROPNEUMONIA.

This is the term or terms applied when bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia all exist at once. It is impossible for one who is not an expert to diagnose the state with certainty. The apparent symptoms are the same as when the animal is affected with pleuropneumonia.

SUPPURATION AND ABSCESS IN THE LUNG.

There are instances, and especially when the surroundings of the patient have been bad or the disease is of an especially severe type, when pneumonia terminates in an abscess in the lung. Sometimes, when the inflammation has been extreme, suppuration in a large portion of the lung takes place. Impure air, the result of improper ventilation, is among the most frequent causes of this termination. The symptoms of suppuration in the lung are chronic pneumonia, a solidified area of lung tissue, continued low fever, and, in some cases, offensive smell of the breath, and the discharge of the matter from the nostrils.

MORTIFICATION.

Gangrene, or mortification, means the death of the part affected.

Occasionally, owing to the intensity of the inflammation or bad treatment, pneumonia and pleuropneumonia terminate in mortification, which is soon followed by the death of the animal. Perhaps the most common cause of this complication is the presence of a foreign body in the lung, as food particles or medicine. Rough drenching or drenching through the nostrils may cause this serious condition.

HEMOPTYSIS, OR BLEEDING FROM THE LUNGS.

Bleeding from the lungs may occur during the course of congestion of the lungs, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, purpura hemorrhagica, or glanders. An accident or exertion may cause a rupture of a vessel.

Plethora and hypertrophy of the heart predispose to it. Following the rupture of a vessel the blood may escape into the lung tissue and cause a serious attack of pneumonia, or it may fill up the bronchial tubes and prove fatal by suffocating the animal. When the hemorrhage is from the lung it is accompanied with coughing; the blood is frothy, of a bright red color, and comes from both nostrils; whereas when the bleeding is merely from a rupture of a vessel in some part of the head (heretofore described as bleeding from the nose) the blood is most likely to issue from one nostril only, and the discharge is not accompanied with coughing. The ear may be placed against the windpipe along its course, and if the blood is from the lungs a gurgling or rattling sound will be heard. When it occurs in connection with another disease it seldom requires special treatment. When caused by accident or overexertion the animal should be kept quiet. If the hemorrhage is profuse and continues for several hours, 1 dram of the acetate of lead dissolved in a pint of water may be given as a drench, or 1 ounce of the tincture of the perchlorid of iron, diluted with a pint of water, may be given instead of the lead. It is rare that the hemorrhage is so profuse as to require internal remedies. But hemorrhage into the lung may occur and cause death by suffocation without the least manifestation of it by the discharge of blood from the nose.

TUBERCULOSIS OF THE LUNGS.

Pulmonary consumption or tuberculosis has been recognized in the horse in a number of instances. The symptoms are as of chronic pneumonia or pleurisy. There is no treatment for the disease.

HEAVES, BROKEN WIND, OR ASTHMA.

Much confusion exists in the popular mind in regard to the nature of heaves. Many hors.e.m.e.n loosely apply the term to all ailments where the breathing is difficult or noisy. Scientific veterinarians are well acquainted with the phenomena and locality of the affection, but there is a great diversity of opinion as regards the exact cause. Asthma is generally thought to be caused by spasm of the small circular muscles that surround the bronchial tubes. The continued existence of this affection of the muscles leads to a paralysis of them, and the forced breathing to emphysema, which always accompanies heaves.

Heaves is usually a.s.sociated with disorder of the function of digestion or to an error in the choice of feed. Feeding on clover hay or damaged hay or straw, too bulky and innutritious feed, and keeping the horse in a dusty atmosphere or a badly ventilated stable produce or predispose to heaves. Horses brought from a high to a low level are predisposed.

In itself broken wind is not a fatal disease, but death is generally caused by an affection closely connected with it. After death, if the organs are examined, the lesions found depend much upon the length of time broken wind has affected the animal. In recent cases very few changes are noticeable, but in animals that have been broken-winded for a long time the changes are well-marked. The lungs are paler than natural, and of much less weight in proportion to the volume, as evidenced by floating them in water. The walls of the small bronchial tubes and the membrane of the larger tubes are thickened. The right side of the heart is enlarged and its cavities dilated. The stomach is enlarged and its walls stretched. The important change found in the lungs is a condition technically called pulmonary emphysema. This is of two varieties: First, what is termed "vesicular emphysema," which consists of an enlargement of the capacity of the air cells (air vesicles) by dilation of their walls. The second form is called interlobular, or interst.i.tial, emphysema, and follows the first. In this variety the air finds its way into the lung tissue between the air cells or the tissue between the small lobules.

_Symptoms._--Almost every experienced horseman is able to detect heaves.

The peculiar movement of the flanks and abdomen point out the ailment at once. In recent cases, however, the affected animal does not always exhibit the characteristic breathing unless exerted to a certain extent.

The cough which accompanies this disease is peculiar to it. It is difficult to describe, but the sound is short and something like a grunt. When air is inspired--that is, taken in--it appears to be done in the same manner as in health; it may possibly be done a little quicker than natural, but not enough to attract any notice. It is when the act of expiration (or expelling the air from the lungs) is performed that the great change in the breathing is perceptible. It must be remembered that the lungs have lost much of their elasticity, and in consequence of their power of contracting on account of the degeneration of the walls of the air cells, and also on account of the paralysis of muscular tissue before mentioned. The air pa.s.ses into them freely, but the power to expel it is lost to a great extent by the lungs; therefore the abdominal muscles are brought into play. These muscles, especially in the region of the flank, are seen to contract, then pause for a moment, then complete the act of contracting, thus making a double bellowslike movement at each expiration, a sort of jerky motion with every breath.

The double expiratory movement may also be detected by allowing the that the expiratory current is not continuous, but is broken into two jets.

When the animal is exerted a wheezing noise accompanies the breathing.

This noise may be heard to a less extent when the animal is at rest if the ear is applied to the chest.

As before remarked, indigestion is often present in these cases. The animal may have a depraved appet.i.te, as shown by a desire to eat dirt and soiled bedding, which he often devours in preference to the clean feed in the trough or manger. The stomach is liable to be overloaded with indigestible feed. The abdomen may a.s.sume that form called "potbellied." The animal frequently pa.s.ses wind of a very offensive odor. When first put to work dung is pa.s.sed frequently; the bowels are often loose. The animal can not stand much work, as the muscular system is soft. Round-chested horses are said to be predisposed to the disease, and it is certain that in cases of long standing the chest usually becomes rounder than natural.

Certain individuals become very expert in managing a horse affected with heaves in suppressing the symptoms for a short time. They take advantage of the fact that the breathing is much easier when the stomach and intestines are empty. They also resort to the use of medicines that have a depressing effect. When the veterinarian is examining a horse for soundness, and he suspects that the animal has been "fixed," he usually gives the horse as much water as he will drink and then has him ridden or driven rapidly up a hill or on a heavy road. This will bring out the characteristic breathing of heaves if the horse is so afflicted, but will not cause the symptoms of heaves in a healthy horse. All broken-winded horses have the cough peculiar to the affection, but it is not regular. A considerable time may elapse before it is heard and then it may come on in paroxysms, especially when first brought out of the stable into the cold air, or when excited by work, or after a drink of cold water. The cough is usually the first symptom of the disease.

_Treatment._--When the disease is established there is no cure for it.

Proper attention paid to the diet will relieve the distressing symptoms to a certain extent, but they will undoubtedly reappear in their intensity the first time the animal overloads the stomach or is allowed food of bad quality. Clover hay or bulky feed which contains but little nutriment have much to do with the cause of the disease, and therefore should be entirely omitted when the animal is affected, as well as before. It has been a.s.serted that the disease is unknown where clover hay is never used. The diet should be confined to feed of the best quality and in the smallest quant.i.ty. The bad effect of moldy or dusty hay, fodder, or feed of any kind can not be overestimated. A small quant.i.ty of the best hay once a day is sufficient. This should be cut and dampened. The animal should invariably be watered before feeding; never directly after a meal. The animal should not be worked immediately after a meal. Exertion, when the stomach is full, invariably aggravates the symptoms. Turning on pasture gives relief. Carrots, potatoes, or turnips chopped and mixed with oats or corn are a good diet. Half a pint to a pint of thick, dark mola.s.ses with each feed is useful.

a.r.s.enic is efficacious in palliating the symptoms. It is best administered in the form of a solution of a.r.s.enic, as Fowler's solution or as the white powdered a.r.s.enious acid. Of the former the dose is 1 ounce to the drinking water three times daily; of the latter one may give 3 grains in each feed. These quant.i.ties may be cautiously increased as the animal becomes accustomed to the drug. If the bowels do not act regularly, a pint of raw linseed oil may be given once or twice a month, or a handful of Glauber's salt may be given in the feed twice daily, so long as necessary. It must, however, be borne in mind that all medicinal treatment is of secondary consideration; careful attention paid to the diet is of greatest importance. Broken-winded animals should not be used for breeding purposes. A predisposition to the disease may be inherited.

CHRONIC COUGH.