The Veterinarian Part 13

SYMPTOMS: Diarrhoea, loss of flesh, although the appet.i.te is good, hair becomes dry and harsh, temperature remains about normal. The Diarrhoea becomes persistent and tinged with blood. The animal becomes emaciated and anemic, exhausted, and death follows. This disease may continue for a month or even a year before death takes place. However this is very uncommon. They generally die very shortly.

TREATMENT: Separate the affected cattle from the healthy ones. All fecal matter should be deeply buried or burned, the stalls, barnyards, also thoroughly disinfected. Administration of medicine thus far has been unsatisfactory, although a treatment should be directed toward the intestines with internal antiseptics such as Zinc Sulphocarbolates, one and one-half grains; Protan, three drams; Pulv. Nux Vomica, one dram; Bis.m.u.th Subnitrate, one dram. Place in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. This dose should be repeated three or four times a day.

Feed a good quality of food, such as wheat bran mashes or steamed rolled oats and see that the water supply is fresh and non-contaminated.

COLIC

CAUSE: Drinking large quant.i.ties of cold water when overheated. However, this disorder is very uncommon in cattle owing to the fact that they are not worked, seldom overheated and drink water very slowly.

SYMPTOMS: Kicking or raising of the feet to the belly. Lying down and getting up alternately. Distention of the stomach or paunch with gas.

The animal chills or shivers, etc.

TREATMENT: Strong stimulants or tonics as the following will give immediate results if administered in its first stages: Pulv. Nux Vomica, two ounces; Pulv. Ginger, two ounces; Pulv. Capsic.u.m, two ounces. Make into eight capsules and give one capsule every two hours until relieved.

Give the capsules with capsule gun. If severe bloating accompanies a case of Colic in cattle place one ounce dose of Oil of Turpentine in ounce capsules and give with capsule gun.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photograph of bull.]

CHAMPION GALLOWAY BULL, STANDARD FAVORITE, INTERNATIONAL 1913.

Owned by C. S. Hetehncr, Chariton, Iowa.

CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS

CAUSE: Cattle permitted to stand in drafts when warm after being driven, etc., irritating drugs escaping into the lungs when drenching, as it is very difficult for cattle to swallow when their heads are elevated.

SYMPTOMS: Dullness. The animal loses its spirits, so to speak, usually shivers or trembles. When this ceases, the temperature rises to perhaps 105 or 106 degrees F. The ears and legs grow cold, the nose hot and dry, pulse rapid but firm, breathing short and labored, a short hacking cough will be present. Such animals generally remain standing.

Other symptoms are constipation, the feces covered with mucus or a slime, great thirst. The eyes are inflamed and look gla.s.sy. The secretions of milk are suppressed, if these symptoms develop in milking cows.

TREATMENT: Place the animal in clean, warm, comfortable quarters permitting light and as much pure air as possible, but avoid drafts and blanket the animal if chilly. Hand rub the legs and bandage with woolen cloths. Administer Pulv. Carbonate of Ammonia, four ounces; Pulv. Nux Vomica, three ounces; Quinine, two ounces; Nitrate of Potash, two ounces; Pota.s.sium Iodide, one ounce. Make into twenty-four capsules and give one capsule every four hours with capsule gun. Also apply a paste made from Mustard and cold water over the lung cavities just back of the fore legs. Apply once a day and perhaps one or two applications will be sufficient.

If this disease is treated when the first symptoms develop, a good recovery will follow. Feed easily digested food as hot wheat bran mashes or steamed rolled oats, vegetables and green gra.s.s if possible.

CONTAGIOUS ABORTION

(Infectious Abortion)

CAUSE: Due to a germ (Bacillus Abortus) coming in direct contact with the genital organs of a bull or cow and can be indefinitely transmitted from one herd to another by infected bulls serving healthy cows, or infected cows when served transmit the infection to healthy bulls.

Healthy cows become infected by their genital organs coming in contact with litter on floors when lying down or rubbing against fences, walls or posts previously soiled by aborting cows. Cattle licking one another is also a prolific cause.

SYMPTOMS: The signs of calving are not so well marked as in normal calving, especially where the aborting animal is a heifer and the gestation period has not exceeded three or four weeks. In cows, especially where the gestation period has advanced to five or seven months, the symptoms are easily detected as a rule by a swelling of the udder, or what is commonly termed "making bag," the outer portions of the womb swollen and inflamed as in normal calving. As the period of abortion approaches, there will be a discharge of mucus and blood from the womb. Labor pains are not as severe as in normal calving, owing to the absence of hair on the foetus and being smaller; although the afterbirth (foetal membranes), may be retained the same as in normal calving.

PREVENTIVE TREATMENT: This perhaps is the cheapest and best method of treating Contagious Abortion. When purchasing bulls or cows, ascertain whether the farm you purchased from has Contagious Abortion. An investigation of this kind often saves labor, time and money.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: When once Contagious Abortion makes its appearance, separate infected from non-infected animals, remove all litter, manure, etc., from barns, corrals, and burn or bury deeply. The conveyances used should be tight so as to prevent scattering. Scrub and disinfect floors, fences, walls of barns and rubbing posts with a solution made from three pounds of Copper Sulphate to ten gallons of water, permitting it to thoroughly dissolve before using. Use an ordinary barrel and cover so as to prevent any cattle drinking same, as it is very poisonous. When a cow aborts, remove the calf and afterbirth in a tight receptacle that will prevent any portion from being scattered, and burn or bury deeply; disinfect the floor and walls of stall where the abortion took place as long as the cow is discharging any fluids from the womb. A gallon of distilled or boiled water containing about one per cent Carbolic Acid should be injected into the womb with an ordinary hose and funnel. This should be repeated once a day for a week. Use a solution of the same strength for washing the tail and parts around the outer part of the womb, or in fact any part that the discharge of an aborting cow may come in contact with.

Internally, give Methylen Blue in thirty grain doses, every other day for two weeks. This is an exceptionally disagreeable drug to administer as it stains everything it comes in contact with. Place it in a gelatin capsule or have your druggist prepare six or seven capsules containing thirty grains each. Then administer with capsule gun. Insist on pure Methylen Blue, accept no subst.i.tute. This treatment has proven very effective in many localities where strict aseptic precautions were carried out, as washing out the womb or any parts that the discharge of an aborting cow may come in contact with and proper cleanliness and disinfection of stables, etc. Cows should not be bred for several weeks following abortion or as long as there is a discharge present. Bulls should be treated in much the same way, as administering Methylen Blue in same size doses for the same length of time as that of the cow. But in addition to this, use a one per cent solution of Carbolic Acid for injecting into the bull's sheath, holding the end of the sheath while the solution is being injected, until it is well distended; holding the opening of the sheath allowing the solution to remain as long as convenient. Also, wash belly, muzzle, etc., with a solution of the same strength.

COUGH

(Acute and Chronic)

As a cough is a symptom of various diseases, these in addition to the cough should be treated.

KINDS OF COUGH: Many writers give several different varieties, but for the sake of convenience I will divide them into two forms, namely: Acute and Chronic.

CAUSE: Acute coughs are generally due to sudden exposure to cold, drafts and are the forerunning symptom of a disease of the organs of breathing.

Chronic Coughs are a.s.sociated with, and are a result of sore throat, lung fever, pleurisy, bronchitis, catarrh and tuberculosis.

TREATMENT: Under each disease, of which a cough is a symptom, I have also prescribed to include its suppression. The following prescription is reasonable in price, yet very effective in all forms of cough: Tannic Acid, one ounce; Pota.s.si Chlorate, four ounces; Pota.s.si Nitrate, four ounces. Powder well and mix with Black Strap Mola.s.ses, one pint, placing container retaining the above in hot water, which a.s.sists in dissolving.

When this is thoroughly mixed, add Pine Tar, one pint, and place one tablespoonful well back on the tongue with a wooden paddle every three or four hours, according to the severity of the cough.

Sometimes a liniment applied to the throat and windpipe has a good effect, and I would recommend the following on account of its penetrating qualities: Aqua Ammonia Fort., two ounces; Turpentine, two ounces; Raw Linseed Oil, four ounces. Mix and apply twice daily, shaking the contents of the bottle well before using.

COWPOX

(Variola)

CAUSE: Investigations lead us to believe that it is due to a protozoa.

So far, the true micro-organism has not been discovered. This disease is very contagious and is transmitted by direct communication but not through the air. Perhaps the most common way of transmitting the disease is by the hands of the milker.

SYMPTOMS: A slight raise in the temperature, especially that of the udder and teats. They are red, swollen and tender and after three or four days small pimples or pustules will appear on the teats about the size of a pea. The pimples or pustules become larger and within a few days may attain the size of one-half inch in diameter. At the end of the second week the pimples or pustules burst and discharge an amber colored fluid leaving raw sores, which cause the animal to suffer intensely when being milked. The supply of milk is also markedly decreased in this condition.

PREVENTION: A person should not milk both healthy and diseased cows unless the hands are thoroughly washed in a Carbolated Solution; the clothes that are likely to come in contact with the udder, coat sleeves, etc., changed.

TREATMENT: It is advisable to give a physic as it has a very good effect on the blood, such as Aloin, two drams, and Ginger, two drams, which is easily prepared and administered by placing in capsule and giving with capsule gun.

Also, the application of Zinc Ointment two or three times a day affords immediate relief and causes the sores to heal rapidly. Good results are also obtained by feeding food that is easily digested, as bran mashes, steamed rolled oats and vegetables.

CUD CHEWING

(Physiology of Rumination)

The cow when eating gra.s.s or hay merely moistens it with saliva and swallows, then it pa.s.ses into the rumen or paunch which acts as a storehouse or reservoir for food. After the paunch or rumen is filled, the cow finds a comfortable place to stand or lie down and she regurgitates it into the mouth by a contraction of the muscles of the walls of the esophagus in small quant.i.ties or pellets from the rumen or paunch back into the mouth and is there masticated. When it is chewed finely she swallows and it pa.s.ses into the second stomach and is there digested for a.s.similation.