The American Reformed Cattle Doctor Part 33

GENERAL DEBILITY, OR EMACIATION.

The falling off in flesh, or wasting away, of swine is in most cases owing to derangement in the digestive organs. The cure consists in restoring the tone of these organs. We commence the treatment by putting the animal on a boiled diet, consisting of bran, meal, or any wholesome vegetable production. The following tonic and diffusible stimulant will complete the cure:--

Powdered golden seal, } " ginger, } equal parts.

Dose, a tea-spoonful, repeated night and morning.

When loss in condition is accompanied with cough and difficulty of breathing, mix, in addition to the above, a few kernels of garlic with the food. The drink should consist of pure water. Should the cough prove troublesome, take a tea-spoonful of fir balsam, and the same quant.i.ty of honey; to be given night and morning, either in the usual manner, or it may be stirred into the food while hot.

EPILEPSY, OR FITS.

The symptoms are too well known to need any description. It is generally caused by plethora, yet it may exist in an hereditary form.

_Treatment._--Feed with due care, and put the animal in a well-ventilated and clean situation; give a bountiful supply of valerian tea, and sprinkle a small quant.i.ty of sc.r.a.ped horseradish in the food; or give

Powdered a.s.safoetida, 1 ounce.

" capsic.u.m, 1 tea-spoonful.

Table salt, 1 table-spoonful.

Mix. Give half a tea-spoonful daily.

RHEUMATISM.

_Causes._--Exposure, wallowing in filth, &c.

_Symptoms._--It is recognized by a muscular rigidity of the whole system. The appet.i.te is impaired, and the animal does not leave its sty willingly.

_Treatment._--Keep the animal on a boiled diet, which should be given to him warm. Remove the cause by avoiding exposure and filth, and give a dose of the following:

Powdered sulphur, } " sa.s.safras, } equal parts.

" cinnamon, }

Dose, half a tea-spoonful, to be given in warm gruel. If this does not give immediate relief, dip an old cloth in hot water, (of a proper temperature,) and fold it round the animal's body. This may be repeated, if necessary, until the muscular system is relaxed. The animal should be wiped dry, and placed in a warm situation, with a good bed of straw.

MEASLES.

This disease is very common, yet is often overlooked.

_Symptoms._--It may be known by eruptions on the belly, ears, tongue, or eyelids. Before the eruption appears, the animal is drowsy, the eyes are dull, and there is sometimes loss of appet.i.te, with vomiting. On the other hand, if the disease shall have receded towards the internal organs, its presence can only be determined by the general disturbance of the digestive organs, and the appearance of a few eruptions beneath the tongue.

_Treatment._--Remove the animal from its companions to a warm place, and keep it on thin gruel. Give a tea-spoonful of sulphur daily, together with a drink of bittersweet tea. The object is to invite action to the surface, and maintain it there. If the eruption does not reappear on the surface, rub it with the following liniment:--

Take one ounce of oil of cedar; dissolve in a wine-gla.s.s of alcohol; then add half a pint of new rum and a tea-spoonful of sulphur.

Almost all the diseases of the skin may be treated in the same manner.

OPHTHALMIA.

_Causes._--Sudden changes in temperature, unclean sties, want of pure air, and imperfect light.

_Treatment._--Keep the animal on thin gruel, and allow two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar per day. Wash the eyes with an infusion of marshmallows, until a cure is effected.

VERMIN.

Some animals are covered with vermin, which even pierce the skin, and sometimes come out by the mouth, nose, and eyes.

_Symptoms._--The animal is continually rubbing and scratching itself, or burrowing in the dirt and mire.

_Treatment._--First wash the body with a strong lie of wood ashes or weak saleratus water, then with an infusion of lobelia. Mix a tea-spoonful of sulphur, and the same quant.i.ty of powdered charcoal, in the food daily.

RED ERUPTION.