Part 3

(_Ascities_)

CAUSE.—Usually seen in aged cattle fed on poor food where the blood becomes so poor, so to speak, that Dropsy follows. The presence of worms frequently stimulates excessive secretions of fluid, producing Dropsy.

SYMPTOMS.—The abdomen is abnormally increased in size, flanks are gaunt, paleness of the membranes of the mouth and eyes and a general weakness. Pressure with the hand on the abdominal walls will produce a splashing, watery sound.

TREATMENT.—The cause at first should be determined and the disease treated accordingly. If due to worms, withhold all food for twenty-four hours. Place two ounces of Oil of Turpentine in gelatin capsules and give with capsule gun. Follow this in six hours with two drams of Aloin, three drams of Ginger in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. Feed nourishing food as wheat bran mashes and one cup of Flaxseed meal once a day. In their drinking water place one dram of Potassium Iodide two or three times a day. See that this water is drunk and give no other until this is consumed by the animal.

ECZEMA.

CAUSE.—Insanitary surroundings, as warm, damp stables. Overfeeding, swills, decomposed vegetables. Applying irrigating drugs to the skin.

SYMPTOMS.—Redness of the skin and the animal rubs itself; is usually confined to a small area at first, but eventually spreads. Considerable inflammation is present, also eruptions of the skin which discharge white, serous, sticky fluid, terminating in scabs and thickness of the skin. Sometimes suppuration or formation of pustules containing pus are present. These symptoms do not always occur in regular succession; in some cases the serums oozing from the skin will be more prominent than in others.

TREATMENT.—Determine the cause and remove it. If due to poor food, improve the quality. Also feed laxative food, as hot bran mashes, steamed rolled oats. If the bowels do not act freely, administer Aloin, two drams, and Ginger, three drams. Place in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. An ointment made from the following is very effective as an application in this condition: Blue Ointment, one ounce; Zinc Oxide, three ounces. Mix well and apply two or three times a day. A tonic usually has a very good effect in the treatment of this disease, and I would recommend the use of the following: Pulv. Gentian Root, four ounces; Potassium Nitrate, four ounces; Ferri Sulphate, four ounces. Mix and make into twelve capsules and give one capsule two or three times a day with capsule gun.

ERGOT POISON.

(_Ergotism_)

CAUSE.—Ergotism is produced by cattle eating fungoid growths which attack kernels and seeds of rye and blue grass, etc. These kernels or seeds grow dark in color and become abnormally large and curved in shape. The infected grass or hay when eaten by cattle contract the arteries, especially those of the legs, just above the feet, although all the arteries in the body are contracted to a certain extent. This disease is frequently seen in Spring and Summer.

SYMPTOMS.—Ergot is prescribed in cases of bleeding, because of its contracting effect upon the arteries (closing or stopping the flow of blood) where the blood supply is the weakest, as in the extremities. It is cut off and this, of course, causes the skin just above the hoofs to break or crack as though it were cut with a knife. This shuts off the entire supply of blood to the foot, which mummifies, and the lower portion becomes gangrenous and eventually sloughs off. One of the first effects of Ergot Poison in pregnant cattle is abortion, due to the blood supply to the womb being shut off by its contracting effect on the arteries. Cattle are particularly susceptible to Ergotism.

TREATMENT.—When Ergotism is so advanced as to produce sloughing of the feet it is best to destroy the animal. If other animals are affected slightly, find out the cause and remove it. Look to the hay or pasture as the producer. Administer one-half ounce of Chloral Hydrate, two or three times a day in their drinking water or mix it with sufficient quantity of Flaxseed meal to fill an ounce gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. If the skin is slightly broken above the foot, wash with five per cent solution of Carbolic Acid. Where the feet have become gangrenous amputation of the foot or feet is necessary, which is not advisable unless the animal is very valuable.

FLUKE.

(_Liver and Lungs_)

CAUSE.—This disease is contracted by cattle grazing on marshy lands. There are two different species of Fluke that affect the liver and lungs of cattle. They are both flat, leaf-like worms. The Common Liver Fluke is about one-half inch long, while the so-called American Fluke is somewhat larger. In their life history these Flukes depend on snails as intermediate hosts. At a certain stage of development the young Flukes live on snails. They become encysted on stalks and blades of grass which are finally swallowed by grazing cattle. This disease is most frequently seen in young cattle.

SYMPTOMS.—The animal shows no marked signs at first, but eventually the appetite diminishes, rumination or chewing of the cud becomes irregular, the animal becomes dull, hide-bound, hair standing, the visible mucous membranes of the mouth and eyes become pale and bloodless, the eyes discharge watery fluids which ooze down the face, temperature varies from two to three degrees above normal and milk supply, if in aged cattle, remarkably reduced. In all cases there is great thirst and the animal becomes very much emaciated and refuses to eat. Swellings about the belly and breast, etc. Diarrhoea at first, alternating with constipation, but finally becomes continuous. The diseased animal succumbs to the malady in from two to six months.

TREATMENT.—Medical treatment is unsatisfactory. The disease will be prevented to a considerable extent by giving animals plenty of salt and in the marshes containing pools of water introduce or plant carp, frogs and toads into the infected tracts. These will destroy the young parasites and feed upon the snails which serve as their intermediate hosts. Or, prevent the cattle from grazing upon swampy marshes by fencing them out.

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE.

(_Infectious Aphtha—Epizootica Eczema_)

CAUSE.—This disease is produced by a specific agent or germ, the exact nature of which is not known. It will pass through the Berkfelt filter, which is the most minute filter known to science, and is therefore known as a filterable virus. This is an eruptive fever and belongs to the class of Exanthematous diseases such as smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, etc. Every outbreak starts from some pre-existing infection. The infection is distributed by manure, pastures, barnyards, hay, drinking troughs, box cars, ships, boats which have been previously occupied by animals affected with this disease, travel over public highways or man may carry the infection of this disease on his clothing and transmit it to healthy cattle, etc. Foot and Mouth Disease not only affects cattle, but attacks a variety of animals, as the horse, sheep, goat, hog, dog, cat, also wild animals as buffalo, deer, antelope, and man himself is not immune from this disease. Children also suffer from Foot and Mouth Disease, resulting from drinking unboiled milk from infected cattle. Therefore, when purchasing cattle be very careful, as you may be buying an infectious disease. Keep the newly purchased animals to themselves for two or three weeks, if possible. This will give ample time for the majority of infectious diseases to develop.

SYMPTOMS.—The disease usually makes its first appearance in three to six days after being exposed, by chilling, rise of temperature, and in a day or so pustules varying in size from that of a pin head to that of a pea appear. They appear upon the inner surface of the lips, gums and upper surface of the tongue. The feet also become affected between the digits. The udder usually becomes affected, especially in milking cows. As soon as this disease becomes well established the affected animal evinces great pain when attempting to eat. The animal generally refuses food. In many instances they shut and open the mouth with a smacking sound owing to the stringy saliva flowing from the mouth. The ulcers in the mouth continue to enlarge until they attain the size of one-half to two inches in diameter. The mucous membrane covering these ulcers breaks and a watery discharge escapes. In a few days the surface of the ulcers takes on a whitish appearance. The same changes take place in the feet and the animal becomes very lame and the udder very much swollen, the ulcers discharge, etc.

PREVENTION.—When any of the above mentioned symptoms are noticed, non-affected animals should immediately be removed to non-affected quarters. This disease is not communicated through the atmosphere but by the animal coming into direct contact with the infection or virus; hence it is not necessary to move unaffected animals any great distance but merely to clean, sanitary quarters which have not been subjected to any possible infection from the diseased animals. It must be borne in mind that the attendant or helper cannot be too careful in the matter of his own actions and dress as the infection is easily carried through clothes, fecal matter, etc., adhering to shoes or any matter or articles, such as buckets, brushes, rub-rags, blankets, etc.

The existence of this disease should at once be reported to the State Veterinarian of your State or to the United States Bureau of Animal Industry at Washington, D. C.

TREATMENT.—I cannot recommend any treatment as being satisfactory or a cure, for although under some treatments the animal appears to make a good recovery, in the majority of cases the feet are disfigured and crippled, the udder permanently injured with growths, animal unfit for milking purposes, and the mouth, tongue and teeth left impaired; the mouth and tongue strictured from wounds and the teeth loosened from the gums. Furthermore, should an animal make apparent recovery, it is not immune from a recurrence of the disease. In treating the disease, there is not only danger of spreading the disease to other animals, but to man. The flesh or milk from animals apparently cured should never be used unless first examined by a qualified meat inspector.

Without question, all animals showing severe symptoms as above described should be at once slaughtered and buried six feet or deeper, covering carcass with Quicklime and then promptly filling grave, according to the Government regulations, which should be followed explicitly. Be careful to disinfect scene of slaughter, as bloodstains, etc. The United States Bureau of Animal Industry regulates the disinfectants to be used and the strength thereof, and as these are subject to change from time to time, I must refer you in this matter to the proper Government authorities.

MEDICAL TREATMENT.—If permitted by Government authorities, I would suggest the following treatment as being beneficial: In mild attacks of Foot and Mouth Disease benefits may be derived by cleanliness and the applications of antiseptics as placing Boracic Acid, one dram; Potassium Chlorate, two drams, in a bucket of water, compelling the animal to drink it. Repeat this dose two or three times a day. Also compel the animals to stand in tubs or troughs containing a one in one thousandth solution of Bichloride of Mercury for at least five minutes, twice daily. When other parts of the body become affected, as the cow’s udder, apply Carbolated Vaseline twice daily. This treatment should be continued until all ulcers have ceased to discharge. Always keep in mind that this disease is contagious and is transmitted to other animals, as well as to man. For disinfecting corrals, barns, clothing, hands and anything which the diseased animal might come in contact with, I would recommend Coal Tar products, diluted one part to fifty parts warm water. Spray, sprinkle or scrub.

FOOT ROT.

(_Foul in Foot_)

CAUSE.—Due to filth or from hard substances accumulating between the two digits, producing irritation and inflammation and suppuration.

SYMPTOMS.—Lameness. On examination the foot is swollen, hot and painful to the touch. When the case is of long standing, suppuration occurs and pus will ooze from between the digits, and is very offensive in smell. This condition causes the digits to slough off, if no attempt is made to relieve it.

TREATMENT.—Cleanliness. Where there is considerable inflammation present, apply Hot Bran or Flaxseed poultices. Keep clean and treat as an ordinary wound. The following prescription will be found very effective in Foot Rot: Oil of Origanum, four ounces; Oil of Pisis, four ounces; Oil of Turpentine, four ounces. Saturate oakum or cotton with the above liniment placing between the digits and bandage. Feed laxative food, as hot wheat bran mashes and vegetables.

FOUNDER.

(_Laminitis_)

Inflammation of the internal, sensitive structure of the foot.

CAUSE.—Overfeeding, overheating, driving on rough, stony soil. Cattle compelled to stand on hard floors without exercise frequently suffer from Founder.

SYMPTOMS.—The animals lie down a great part of the time. Feet hot and tender and if made to walk they do so with great difficulty. One or all four feet may become affected, although it is more frequently found in the front feet. The temperature is somewhat elevated, varying from 104° to 106° F., breathing very rapid, appetite fairly good and there will be great thirst. Founder in cows reduces the milk secretion, owing to the great fever that is present.

TREATMENT.—Apply cold packs to the feet, ice packs preferred. If the animal can be made to stand in a stream of water having a soft bottom, it, perhaps, is the best method of cooling off the feet. Give a physic of Aloin, three drams; Pulv. Gentian Root, two drams. Place in a gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. To their drinking water add two or three drams of Potassi Nitrate three or four times daily. Animals suffering with Founder should be provided with soft ground to stand on, as their feet will be tender and subject to the chronic form of the disease.

GARGET.

(_Congestion of the Udder_)

CAUSE.—Very common in heavy milkers before or just after calving when the bag is very much enlarged and very sensitive; exposure to chill or standing in drafts or even neglected for too long a time in milking. Injuries may also cause Garget.

SYMPTOMS.—The bag is very much enlarged, showing signs of inflammation. The swelling extends well forward following the milk veins. The cow has great difficulty in walking due to sensitiveness of the bag. When milked for two or three days the swelling disappears after the secretion is fully established, but as a rule is tinged with blood. Sometimes small clots of milk or cheese-like particles are ejected with the milk.

TREATMENT.—Give a physic consisting of Aloin, two drams; Pulv. Ginger, three drams. Place in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun: Hyposulphite of Soda, sixteen ounces; Nitrate of Potassi, four ounces. Mix and make into sixteen powders. Give one powder three times a day in drinking water or place in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun. Also dissolve Bichloride of Mercury, two grains; Boracic Acid, two drams, in one quart of boiling hot water. When this solution cools to about blood temperature, after stripping all milk fluid or pus from the affected teat or teats, inject with an ordinary bulb injection syringe after placing a teat tube into the end from which the air escapes when the bulb is pressed. Now, place the end of the syringe retaining the teat tube in the affected teat, the other end place in a bottle or vessel containing the solution and gently press the bulb and inject about a pint of the solution in each affected quarter. Leave the solution in the teat for only fifteen to twenty minutes and milk out thoroughly. Repeat this treatment two or three times a day.

For an external application the following ointment has given remarkably good results: Blue Ointment and Zinc Ointment, equal parts. Mix well and apply two or three times daily.

HARD MILKERS.

CAUSE.—A thickness or contraction of the mucous membranes lining the teat, or growths inside the teat.

TREATMENT.—All antiseptic precautions should be carried out in this operation, as boiling the instruments and then covering them with Carbolated Vaseline. Then with a hidden bistoury or a knife concealed in a tube, force upward into the teat, then press out the little blade and draw the instrument down the teat, making about four incisions equal distance apart around the inner surface of the teat. The use of self-retaining teat dilators prevents the contraction of the cut surface. Permit them to remain in the teat for two weeks, removing them only when the milk is being stripped from the teat. Always place them in boiling water and cover with Carbolated Vaseline before inserting.

HOLLOW HORN.

Horns of the cattle tribe are normally hollow, although a core extends well into the horn. This, however, is merely a prolongation of a porous bone of the head which affords a point for the horns’ attachment, consequently when a cow is sick and the temperature is elevated, the horns are naturally hot, it being the symptom of a disease and not a disease of itself, should be treated under its special heading.

The supposed disease “Hollow Horn” once upon a time was treated by boring a hole into the horn with a small gimlet and pouring Turpentine into the opening. This treatment is useless and harmful. It produces inflammation of the frontal sinuses of the head and chances are death of the animal will follow as a result of the treatment and not of the disease.

INDIGESTION.

CAUSE.—Animals with a voracious appetite will overload their stomachs with food that is hard to digest or is decomposed, causing the organs of assimilation to become weakened, sluggish and incapable of doing their proper work.

SYMPTOMS.—The animal ceases to ruminate (chew its cud); stands quietly, hair rough, nose dry, temperature elevated one to two degrees, breathing usually faster than normal with slight grunts at each expiration of air from the lungs. The secretions of milk are suddenly diminished. If the hand is placed against the left side and quickly removed, a marked depression or pit will remain, which shows that the paunch is full of undigested food. Bloating is also frequently accompanied by indigestion.

TREATMENT.—Administer Aloin, three drams; Ginger, three drams. Place in capsule and give with capsule gun. Permit the animal to drink all the water possible. If bloating is present give two-ounce capsules filled with Turpentine with capsule gun. A tonic is quite necessary in this condition, and the following I am sure will be followed by good results if the case is not of too long a standing: Sodium Bicarbonate, eight ounces; Pulv. Nux Vomica, four ounces; Pulv. Gentian Root, four ounces; Pulv. Ginger, four ounces. Place two tablespoonfuls in gelatin capsule and give with capsule gun every six hours. Very good results are also obtained from rectal injections of soap and warm water. Feed good nourishing food sparingly, compelling the animal to exercise, etc.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BAG.

(_Simple Mammitis_)

CAUSE.—Injuries, as blows, kicks, etc.; lying on cold, rough ground or floor, standing in drafts, sudden change of weather. Derangement of the system is likely to affect the udder; poorly milked or stripped cows are often victims of Mammitis. Infections in the teat from inserting dirty instruments, as using a bicycle pump for the treatment of Milk Fever. Cows with a retained afterbirth are likely to infect the udder by switching their tail. This condition is very common in heavy milkers following calving.

SYMPTOMS.—The animal chills, hair stands, temperature elevated from one to three degrees above normal; ears, horns and legs cold, which may suddenly become very hot; pulse rapid, breathing hurried, bag hard and swollen and very tender on pressure. When attempts are made to milk, a watery substance comes away, almost colorless at first, but later becomes tinged with blood and pus and has a fetid color. The cow’s muzzle is dry, appetite poor, but great thirst exists. This condition may affect one or more quarters of the udder. Abscesses may form and the udder break and a thick yellowish pus oozes out or the milk glands may solidify and cause hard, lumpy growths in the udder.

TREATMENT.—Prevention. If an animal is once slightly affected with inflammation of the bag, it is likely to develop a bad case of Mammitis from the slightest injury or exposure as stated above, which depreciates a cow considerably as a milk producer, especially on the market. Great care should be exercised when purchasing a cow for milking purposes. See that the teats and udder are sound, free from lumps, etc.

MEDICAL TREATMENT.—Hyposulphite of Soda, sixteen ounces; Nitrate of Potassi, four ounces. Mix and make into sixteen powders. Give one powder three times a day in drinking water or place in a gelatin capsule and give with a capsule gun. Also, dissolve Bichloride of Mercury, two grains; Boracic Acid, two drams, in one quart of boiling hot water. When this solution cools to about blood temperature, after stripping all milk fluid or pus from the affected teat or teats, inject with an ordinary bulb injection syringe after placing a teat tube into the end from which the air escapes when the bulb is pressed. Now, place this end of the syringe retaining the teat tube in the affected teat; the other end place in a bottle or vessel containing the solution and gently press the bulb and inject about a pint of the solution into each affected quarter. Leave the solution in the teat for only fifteen to twenty minutes and milk out thoroughly. Repeat this treatment two or three times a day.

For an external application, the following ointment has given remarkably good results: Blue Ointment, two ounces; Lard, two ounces. Mix well and apply twice daily.

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.

(_Conjunctivitis_)

CAUSE.—Injuries, irritating gases, standing in dark and poorly ventilated stables or foreign bodies in the eye, as chaff, etc.

SYMPTOMS.—A constant flow of tears from the eye running down the animal’s face, which are due to the inflammation of the lining membranes of the eye. The eye is partially or completely closed.

TREATMENT.—If due to a foreign body, remove it. In order to accomplish this, the animal must be placed in a stanchion, the head twisted and the eyelid turned back. Do not use burnt alum as this will only make the condition worse. Use Boracic Acid, thirty grains; distilled water, one ounce. Apply to the eye three or four times daily, using an ordinary eye-dropper.

INFLAMMATION OF THE HEART SACK.

(_Pericarditis_)

CAUSE.—Cattle being ruminants, do not masticate their food finely before swallowing; consequently foreign bodies, such as nails, wire, etc., are picked up with the food and taken into the rumen or paunch. These sharp objects penetrate the walls of the paunch, rumen or first stomach and pierce the membrane or sack surrounding the heart, which produces an inflammation of the heart sack, or Pericarditis.

SYMPTOMS.—Symptoms develop very slowly or indications of indigestion will be present as the appetite is variable, temperature elevated, breathing labored, the animal avoids walking down hill as it causes pain from the stomach and intestines pressing the lungs against the heart. The symptoms, however, are so slight that they may easily escape the notice of a casual observer. The animal eventually becomes poor, emaciated and dies. If you open the heart sack, it will be found full of watery pus.

TREATMENT.—Unsuccessful, as this disease is seldom diagnosed correctly, and if it is an operation is necessary and this does not prove successful in the majority of cases.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.