The Veterinarian Part 23

SYMPTOMS: A soft, puffy swelling about the navel or umbilicus, varying in size from a hazelnut to that of an ostrich egg. When a pig is placed on its back the intestines will gravitate into the abdominal cavity, providing the intestines have not adhered to the walls of the rupture.

TREATMENT: This is more difficult than the Scrotal or Inguinal Rupture operation, as often times the intestines will adhere to the inner surface of the rupture and, unless the operation is carefully performed, there is great danger. Great care must be exercised in preparing the pig by fasting it for twenty-four hours. After this is accomplished, prepare an antiseptic solution, Carbolic Acid, five per cent, or Bichloride of Mercury, one in one-thousandths; also have a needle and absorbent silk or cat-gut ready. Place the pig on its back, with its head downward.

Now, wash the seat of operation with either antiseptic solution. Then make an incision through the skin carefully; as stated before, intestines sometimes adhere to the inner surface of the rupture. If such is the case, wash the hands in the antiseptic solution and with the fingers carefully break the adhesions or separate the intestines from their adhesions. After this is accomplished, sew the inner lining of the abdominal cavity with absorbent silk or cat-gut. Then sew the outer skin with cotton or linen cord and your operation is complete. Feed the hog sparingly for a few days following the operation on easily digested, laxative foods.

NETTLE RASH

(Urticaria)

CAUSE: Irritations of the skin produced by sprinkling hogs with irritating solutions and powders, or from irritating dips when treating for lice, etc. Feeding highly nitrogenous food predisposes hogs to this disease; also filth, poorly drained sheds and pens; is especially common in young pigs. Nettle Rash is not contagious, but what produces it in one hog may produce it in several at the same time.

SYMPTOMS: Red, swollen blotches appear on the skin very suddenly, especially about the ears and the inside of the thighs, perhaps due to the skin being thin and deprived of hair. The hog rubs it on account of the intense itching, and he will not thrive when in this condition. In most cases there is a fluid oozing from the blotches, causing dirt and filth to adhere to the hair. However, if the disease is properly treated, a recovery is sure to follow in about two weeks.

TREATMENT: Prevention against this disease is most important, and it consists in keeping shoats and pigs in clean, well ventilated sheds and pens. Do not sprinkle them with irritating solutions or powders, or irritating dips, but when the disease once shows itself give each pig or hog affected a dose of Epsom Salts, one ounce to every twenty-five pounds of hog weight, in feed, swill or drinking water. If the weather is hot, keep them in a clean, cool place, also purify their blood by feeding regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter.

Apply some good Coal Tar disinfectant, one part to one hundred parts of water. This is non-irritating, and will destroy hog lice, and will heal the pustules of nettle rash. Apply twice ten days apart. It also must be borne in mind that pens and sleeping quarters must be disinfected; the old bedding and manure burned and replaced with good, clean straw or hay. Feed easily digested food, slops, etc.

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

CHAMPION POLAND CHINA BOAR KING HADLEY 57722.

Owned by W. J. Baker, Rich Hill, Mo.

PARALYSIS OF THE HIND QUARTERS

CAUSE: There are a great many things that may produce paralysis of the hind quarters. For instance, shipping hogs in crates; fractions of thigh bones; Rickets, due to feeding food that is deficient in mineral matter; hogs piling up; kicks or injuries to the back; frequently seen in sows nursing a litter of pigs and in a run-down condition. Constipation and indigestion also produce paralysis of the hind quarters. Some think it is caused by worms in the kidneys; this is not always the case. It is true that the presence of a parasite around the kidneys may cause irritation of the nerves of the spinal column and result in paralysis.

Yet, it is more often the result of weakness and loss of nervous power of the hind parts.

SYMPTOMS: Regardless of the cause, the symptoms in either case, for they cannot be distinguished, are weakness of the back, wriggling of the hind parts, and finally the hogs sit down on their haunches. After some effort, they get up and run in a straight line quite fast, but swing to one side for a while and then go over to the other side, and finally get down so that they cannot rise, but drag themselves about. The appet.i.te is good until a day or two before they die.

TREATMENT: Place the hog in clean, comfortable quarters, with plenty of fresh water to drink. Give sour milk, fruit or vegetables, containing regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter. It contains nerve stimulants and blood purifiers. If the hog is constipated, add two to four ounces of Epsom Salts to its feed.

Treatment of all such cases requires perseverance, recovery being slow and not always certain.

PILES

(Prolapse of the a.n.u.s)

CAUSE: Although the pig may look well, he has a weakness of the circular fibres of the intestines, due to irritating foods that either constipate or produce diarrhoea.

SYMPTOMS: Very plain. A protrusion of the r.e.c.t.u.m all the way from two to four inches. The pig irritates the protrusion by rubbing it against the sides of pens, etc.; it cracks, bleeds and in warm weather will become fly-blown and maggots acc.u.mulate in large quant.i.ties.

TREATMENT: In the first stages of this disease, wash the protruded parts with an antiseptic solution of Carbolic Acid, one teaspoonful to a pint of water. Give rectal injections of Soap and Warm Water or Sweet Oil, give about two ounces of Castor Oil internally and feed soft, sloppy food. In chronic cases of long standing, remove the exposed portion of the intestine after washing nicely with the antiseptic solution. Remove the protrusion with a sharp knife and st.i.tch the cut end of intestine edges to the a.n.u.s. Feed easily digested food, such as wheat bran, mixed with flaxseed meal on which boiling hot water has been poured, cooling before feeding. Also give regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter.

PIN WORMS

CAUSE: Hogs consume the eggs that encapsule well matured embryonic worms with their food or drinking water. These worms multiply very rapidly in the small intestines and are from one-half to one inch in length.

SYMPTOMS: No signs are noticed unless the worms are very abundant, as they are small and difficult to see with the naked eye. The princ.i.p.al point of attack is in the back part of the small intestines, where considerable inflammation is set up, especially when there are other worms, such as the Roundworm, present.

TREATMENT: Is of little value, as the worms in the intestines are very difficult to get at, but as their presence causes very little disturbance, it is hardly worth while treating; however, preventive measures should be applied by disinfecting, burning manure and bedding.

The following has proven a very effective treatment for Pinworms: Powdered Qua.s.sia, one pound; Sulphur, two pounds; Glauber Salts, one pound; Powdered Tobacco, one-half pound; Sulphide of Antimony, one pound; Hyposulphite of Soda, two pounds; Beechwood Charcoal, one pound; Common Salt, two pounds.

The above must be well powdered and thoroughly mixed. Give one heaping teaspoonful to everyone hundred pounds of hog weight. To small pigs, give doses in proportion to weight. Place it in their feed or slop twice a day. In addition to being a vermifuge, it is an alterative and tonic that should be given pigs and hogs which do not thrive properly. Best results are obtained in treatment of Pinworm when the princ.i.p.al food consists of vegetables, mashes and slops.

PLEURISY

CAUSE: Exposure to cold, damp, chilly weather, especially to drafts, or by a large number of hogs being allowed to pile up during cold nights, etc.

SYMPTOMS: Chilling, temperature elevated two or three degrees above normal; breathing fast. The hog will show great pain when pressed over the lungs by flinching, squealing or grunting; coughing suppressed, ribs rigid; breathing mostly with the muscles of the flanks; appet.i.te poor and eventually there will be fluids acc.u.mulate in the lung cavities. At this stage, the breathing is labored and difficult. If the ear is pressed over the lungs, the fluids can be heard, and in the first stage the sound will be similar to that of rubbing hair between the finger and thumb.

TREATMENT: Remove the cause. The treatment is satisfactory if applied in due time. Place in clean, comfortable shed, seeing that it is well ventilated, omit drafts; apply equal parts of Aqua Ammonia Fort., Turpentine and Sweet Oil over the lungs and give two or four ounces of Castor Oil in milk. Feed easily digested food, such as hot wheat bran mashes, containing hog regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter. It is also well to feed vegetables.

RHEUMATISM

CAUSE: Exposure, as in cold, damp houses. Overfeeding also has a tendency to cause swellings of the joints and muscles.

SYMPTOMS: Lameness of one or more limbs, swelling of the joints about the legs and feet. The hog does not care to move, refusing its feed in most cases; temperature slightly elevated; breathing quick and short; he will drink water frequently if offered.

TREATMENT: I am of opinion that Rheumatism in hogs would be a very rare disease if they were properly provided with clean, dry quarters, with a liberal quant.i.ty of bedding. Do not allow hogs to pile up, as it is very injurious to them.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: Consists of feeding sloppy food to which add one-half dram of Sodium Salicylate two or three times a day in their feed.

Vegetables and green gra.s.s are very beneficial in this disease, as they have a cooling effect on the blood. The hog tonic and regulator recommended on first page of this chapter is very beneficial when given with food of a sloppy nature.

RICKETS

CAUSE: Food deficient in mineral matter or lime; filth, lack of exercise, and crowded quarters, all tend to produce a softening of the bones and swelling of the joints.

SYMPTOMS: The pigs affected generally appear in good condition and seem to be doing well, but suddenly they become paralyzed in the hind quarters, owing to the weakened condition of the bones, which sometimes fracture without receiving injury or any additional weight to that of the pig itself. The bones of the snout, back, limbs and feet bend and become deformed. The pigs grow weak, poor and stunted and perhaps the best treatment is to destroy them.

PREVENTIVE TREATMENT: Careful feeding of good, wholesome food. This disease is very seldom seen where hogs are frequently fed corn.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: When the first signs of Rickets appear, feed regulator and tonic as prescribed on first page of this chapter. It contains the mineral matter needed by the hog.