The Veterinarian Part 21

BLACK TOOTH

CAUSE: Black Tooth, so called in swine, is princ.i.p.ally due to injuries to the teeth received by chewing hard matter, such as bone, etc., which causes them to decay.

SYMPTOMS: Toothache. Toothache in swine is similar to that exhibited by man, in showing loss of appet.i.te, salivation, or s...o...b..ring, hanging the head mostly to the side which is affected, loss of fear of man, and offensive breath. If the hogs are fed on strongly acid food for any length of time, their teeth may become dark colored. As the teeth are not materially injured; so long as decayed tooth substance cannot be noticed, and while the appet.i.te and chewing facilities of the hog do not appear to be diminished, no interference will be necessary.

It is customary with some people to examine the teeth of hogs, and if one tooth is found darker colored than the others, it is supposed to be the cause of the hog not doing well, if he is in a poor condition, and the tooth is hammered off flush with the jaw, leaving the broken roots, lacerated gums and nerves to increase the hog's suffering. If the hog recovers, it is often concluded that this was a case of Black Tooth.

My advice is, if you are determined to have the tooth out, extract it properly. Do not break it off. When your hogs are not thriving, give them the regulator and tonic prescribed on the first page of this chapter.

BLOOD POISONING

(Pyemia Septicemia)

CAUSE: Due to the toxic substance produced by germs that invade wounds, bruises, abscesses, or womb following farrowing, if lacerated.

SYMPTOMS: The seat of injury becomes swollen, pus may adhere to the hair, temperature elevated, appet.i.te poor, hog moves about very slowly, becomes separated from the rest of the drove, lies around in some cool, quiet place, eventually becomes very weak and poor and dies, if good attention is not given.

TREATMENT: Separate from the other hogs and remove to a clean, comfortable place and wash the seat of injury with some good disinfectant, as a five per cent Carbolic Acid solution. In case of abscess, open it low so as to a.s.sure good drainage. Keep clean, cool water before your hogs at all times. Give mashes made from wheat bran and hot water, or any good, substantial food that is easily digested containing regulator and tonic prescribed on the first page of this chapter.

BRONCHITIS

CAUSE: Lung worms, poorly ventilated sleeping quarters, sleeping in straw stacks, in manure heaps, overheated, filthy pens, where the animals inhale irritating gases given off the bodies of other hogs, and from filth. Smoke and dust are very common producers of bronchitis.

SYMPTOMS: Breathing fast, appet.i.te poor, slight rise in temperature and coughing. The hog is dull and stupid, refuses food, but drinks water frequently.

TREATMENT: Preventive; avoid the above named causes, but when hogs become affected, move them to clean, well ventilated quarters, avoiding dust and gases, disinfect bedding and floors with some good disinfectant, as Crude Carbolic Acid, sprayed. Also give large doses of the hog regulator and tonic, as prescribed on the first page of this chapter. Feed vegetables, or any easily digested food, and hot wheat bran mashes.

In case the disease is due to lung worms, confine the animals in a closed shed and permit them to inhale the steam from Turpentine and water for a few minutes, by placing water and Turpentine in a tin receptacle holding about two gallons, and inserting heated bricks or stones into the solution.

CASTRATION

This is generally understood by every stockraiser, yet there are some points many do not know. For instance, you should use in this operation an antiseptic solution, as Carbolic Acid or Bichloride of Mercury. Wash thoroughly with antiseptic yours hands and knife, also the seat of operation and make your incision as low as possible to permit the pus to drain out nicely. If this is not practiced, the pus will become absorbed into the blood, producing blood poison, which may produce death, or at the best will cause the hog to become stunted, whereas, if the operation is performed properly, the hog will thrive, regardless of the shock from the operation. I may add that it is much better to castrate pigs or hogs when their stomach and intestines are empty, and it is always good practice to feed laxative and easily digested foods sparingly after this operation.

CHOKING

CAUSE: Vegetables, such as potatoes, etc., roots, as carrots, turnips and sometimes pieces of bone or gla.s.s, lodge in the gullet. Paralysis of the muscular fibres of the gullet is a very common cause of choking in swine.

SYMPTOMS: The hog is unable to swallow, producing frothing at the mouth and, if the obstruction cannot be dislodged, death occurs in a very short time. Sometimes the obstruction in the gullet may be felt from the outside with the hand.

TREATMENT: The administration of small doses of Raw Linseed or Olive Oil, or Lard, will a.s.sist in dislodging the obstruction. Also careful manipulation of the gullet from the outside with the hand a.s.sists in either forcing it into the stomach or bringing it out through hog's mouth. If vomiting can be produced, it will dislodge the obstruction. If immediate results are not obtained from the above treatments, I would recommend butchering the hog for meat immediately.

COLD IN THE HEAD

(Nasal Catarrh)

CAUSE: Exposure to cold; a very common condition in cold, wet weather when hogs are allowed to sleep in manure heaps, straw stacks, or pile up together, when they become overheated and later chill. Nasal Catarrh may also be due to inhaling dust or irritating gases.

SYMPTOMS: The animal is stupid and feverish, coughing and sneezing frequently; appet.i.te is poor, eyes watery and inflamed; a discharge of mucus from the nose will terminate in yellow pus and the nose, if examined, is found to be inflamed and ulcerated.

TREATMENT: The best and safest treatment is to provide clean sleeping quarters, avoid overcrowding in dusty, dirty sheds, especially during cold weather. Pigs affected with cold in the head should be fed on laxative food, such as boiled carrots, potatoes, apples, hot wheat bran mashes and steamed rolled oats.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: Confine the affected hogs to a shed, close windows and doors and any large cracks; then compel them to inhale steam from the following mixture: Turpentine, eight ounces; Pine Tar, one pint; Water, two gallons. Place in tin receptacle in center of shed and heat the above solution by adding hot bricks or stones to the mixture occasionally. Compel the hogs to inhale this steam for at least thirty minutes twice a day. Give Chlorate of Potash in twenty grain doses three times a day in feed or drinking water. This treatment is very successful if the inflammation has not extended to the lungs.

DIARRHOEA IN YOUNG PIGS

(Scours)

CAUSE: Decomposed foods, slops, etc., fed to the mothers, causing them to give toxic milk. Poorly ventilated, filthy, cold and damp pens, insufficient exercise, lack of sunlight, raising pigs by hand or with other sow.

SYMPTOMS: Frequent movement of the bowels, the pa.s.sage being of a grayish-white color and the odor very disagreeable. At this stage of the disease, reliable remedies must be given or the pig will die very soon.

The discharge from the bowels becomes very thin, the tail and legs become soiled, loss of appet.i.te, the pigs become weak and dull, hair rough and it is difficult for them to move about. In very young pigs, treatment is of little value.

TREATMENT: As Scours in pigs is a disease frequently caused by faulty food and insanitary surroundings, a preventive treatment is of great importance, and much better results are thus obtained than by the use of medical agents. Medical treatment consists in first cleaning away the irritant present in the bowels. For this purpose give one to two tablespoonfuls of Castor Oil. At the time of farrowing all sows should receive a light diet and be kept in clean, dry quarters. The pigs should be allowed pure air, sunshine and exercise. If the sow appears hot and feverish, give one to three ounces of Castor Oil in milk or swill. Avoid feeding decomposed, moldy food, or sour milk. To check the diarrhoea in pigs, use the following after the irritant is removed or cleaned out as above stated: Zinc Sulphocarbolates, thirty grains; Protan, two ounces; Pulv. Gentian Root, two ounces. Make into sixty capsules or powders and give one, three or four times a day. The sow should receive a dose about eight times the size of that of the pigs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Photograph of three pigs.]

CHESTER WHITES.

Owned by C. A. Slepieka, Tobias, Nebr.

HOG CHOLERA

CAUSE: By the Bacillus Sius; contaminated food, stagnant water, filth, etc., all have a tendency to aid its progress. I have seen farms, although located in sections where Cholera was prevalent, not in the least troubled with the malady, perhaps due to careful feeding of clean foods, care in watering, cleanliness about the pens and sheds and disinfecting occasionally, but no doubt a better explanation is that those hogs received tonics, containing worm expellers, at least four times a year. Many a case of supposed Hog Cholera is due to worms irritating and producing inflammation of the intestines, followed by diarrhoea. A person not familiar with the disease calls this "hog cholera." In other cases, hogs which are fed swills from restaurants, hotels, etc., containing soap, washing powders, small particles of gla.s.s, etc., will die with symptoms leading a person to think they had Hog Cholera, but if a thorough investigation is made the true cause of death can easily be discovered.

SYMPTOMS: In true Hog Cholera, the temperature will be elevated two to four degrees above normal. There will be a loss of appet.i.te, vomiting, diarrhoea, although there may be constipation when the hog is first affected. The hog wanders off by itself to some cool, quiet place and lies down. When it walks it will stagger and show great stiffness in its hind parts, due to soreness of the intestines. The hair will have a roughened appearance, the back arched, the eyes inflamed and discharging pus, red blotches will show themselves back of the ears, inside the legs and on the abdomen. At this stage the diarrhoea is watery, dark and tinged with blood, and very offensive in odor, breath is very fast and labored. The hog grows very weak and dies.

TREATMENT: Prevention must always be borne in mind. Do not feed filthy food. Always feed good, wholesome food, and give clean water to drink.

Watch the condition of hog's bowels and regulate them by feeding. Burn manure and bedding and disinfect carefully. Do not permit your hogs to drink out of running streams of water, especially if Hog Cholera is in your neighborhood. When buying hogs, it is well to keep them off by themselves for two or three weeks, as they may be diseased. Do not permit neighbors, their stock or dogs on your premises when Hog Cholera is raging, as the infection of Hog Cholera can be spread very rapidly by matter from the affected hogs adhering to the shoes of man, to the feet of stock and dogs, etc.

I am positive that if this method were properly practiced by all hog raisers and feeders, Hog Cholera would be a very rare disease.

SERUM TREATMENT: This is successful in some cases, and in others unsuccessful. The latter perhaps is due to poor serums, or the disease being so far advanced in its progress that the hogs are beyond recovery.

Serum treatment is very expensive and, as it requires a strictly septic operation of injecting the serum, the average hog raiser or grower is not qualified to administer the treatment properly. An additional and necessary expense is the services of a Veterinary Surgeon. Therefore, I strongly urge adoption of preventive measures as stated. Use some good disinfectant, such as Crude Carbolic Acid, which destroys the Bacillus of Hog Cholera. Also administer hog regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter. This will expel worms, tone the system, regulate the bowels and fortify your hogs against Hog Cholera.